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I just wanted to start a thread for all the Minnesota brides out there! Minnesota is one of the healthiest, happiest states in the country and I personally love it here. There is fresh air to breathe, plenty of fresh water, and lots of beautiful state parks and forests to explore. Oh yeah, and the best sports teams ever! Go Vikings! Go Twins!
So all you Minnesota brides, lets introduce ourselves to each other. Where are you getting married? What's your date? If you have any great deal finds or vendor info please share, it's hard to find good reviews of MN vendors.
I'm getting married on a lake in Buffalo, MN on August 14th, 2010. I bought my dress at Glenrose Florals to Formals in Plymouth, MN, and had an GREAT experience there. They were so nice and patiently laced me into as many dresses as I wanted. I also have an amazing photographer who is very resonably priced. If any MN brides want any info on her please message me! As a tease, here is one of our engagement pictures:
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Hi! I'm a Minnesota Bride too! We're getting married next September. Our ceremony is at the University of St. Thomas and then the reception is at the Minneapolis Golf Club. Both places have been great to work with so far. I don't have a dress or a photographer yet but we do have a DJ--Midwest Light and Sound. I've been really impressed by how quickly they respond, how informative their reps are, and their prices. Plus, my FI's brother used them for his wedding and they were really good! I'm excited to hear from everyone else.
Yay Minnesotan here too! I got married on Nov 7th - our church is Bethlehem Lutheran in south Minneapolis and our reception was at Jax Cafe in northeast Minneapolis. Everything was totally awesome - ESPECIALLY our DJ, Neon Express. I was so thrilled with the job he did! I've never seen as many people dancing at a wedding as I did at ours :) They were really really budget friendly too, so that was even better.
Also, Deven Nelson for flowers - incredible! And really affordable. I can't say enough good things about her. I'll post some pictures when I have some!
I'm a Minnesota Wedding Planner. If any brides are considering using a planner or DOC, please let me know. I am very flexible with budgets and I love weddings!
You can email me at sweetleeevents@gmail.com
Does anyone know of a good videographer that doesn't cost $500? I really want to have someone do the videography for us, but I don't want to spend that much.
Hello to my Minnesota Brides out there!! I recently moved from North Carolina to Minnesota (I'm originally from here). We're planning a June 12, 2010 wedding!! Here's a breakdown of my vendors -
Ceremony and Reception - Centennial Lakes Park in Edina
Catering - Campion Rose Burns (LOVE THEM!! SOOO personable, and design a menu around what you want. VERY resonable on $)
Floral / DOC - Simplicity Floral, Cerie - from Owatonna, MN
Dress - The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul
DJ - Soundquest Entertainment
Officiant - Father Steve Prokop (Old Catholic pastor, does all denominations)
Photography - Krystle Wold - from Owatonna, MN
- she also too our e-photos at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. LOVE them!!
I'm so excited to meet fellow Minnesota brides!!!
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Miss Love Bird, Try Complete Music & Video. Talk to one of the Sherry's and let them know Lara sent you.
Hello Minnesota brides! We're getting married in August next year, at St. Stanislaus Church in St. Paul with a park reception in my parents' suburb in the west metro. Our wedding is going to be a crafty, DIY effort, except for my dress. :)
Gown: I got my gown from Macy's Bridal Salon in downtown Minneapolis (I had a great experience there, btw), and we're still looking for a dress for my MOH.
Pics: My brother is a photographer, so he's taking pictures, of course.
Flowers: We're going to do flowers from the farmers market.
Food: Food is going to be a combination of homemade and catered from local Vietnamese restaurants.
Music: we're making our own playlist. Fiance is an artist, so he loves music stuff and we might get one of his local musician friends to perform too.
@jduck84 - sounds like an AMAZING DIY/hometown wedding. I LOVE your ideas!!!
@larabee: I just looked at their videography prices online and their cheapest package is almost $1200! Way more than I can afford :(
Minnesota Bride as well, I am also getting married in Buffalo, MN at St. Johns
Reception: The Carousell Works in Big Lake
Flowers: Delano Floral, VERY HELPFUL and budget friendly.
Dj: Bellagala in the cities and the same company is coming to my house to do hair and make up.
Caterer: is A Catered Event, they are VERY reasonable and I have heard they have phenomenal food, so i'm very excited for that.
Photographer: Vetriano.com they have great deals year round and she is awesome to work with!
Hi MN Brides!
My FH and I live in Plymouth, but are getting married in my (tiny) hometown in WI July 31, 2010. We'll be utilizing a lot of Metro vendors, so very happy to see this post, especially the rave about the dress shop in Plymouth - need to start dress shopping SOON.
Wedding will be very "us". Light-hearted, laidback, fun, and hopefully we can manage to pull off something that comes off as effortlessly chic. Outdoor non-religious park wedding officiated by a good friend (which we wrote ourselves), indoor reception at local banquet hall. Lots of DIY touches - FH is an artist/graphic designer, so he's doing the invitations, photo trivia cards for each place setting, and our website.
Miss Chirpie - I would LOVE to find out who your photog is. What a great picture - love the lighting! And the fact that they are reasonably priced is even better! Can you message me the details??
Congrats all MN Brides!
Hi MN brides. I got married in Rochester MN this past October. I used several vendors from the Twin Cities area. Scott Bacon was a great photographer and produced high-quality photos for a lower price because he was just starting his business. I used Cafe Latte in St. Paul for some delicious chocolate turtle cakes at my reception. They also have beautiful cupcakes and other flavors of cakes. My guests loved it.
Louise Kegley is the best seamstress. Such a nice lady! And she has the lowest prices I have seen for bridal alterations. Plus, she is in St. Paul and is located conveniently for a lot of the MN brides. She wasn't located conveniently for me but I was happy to drive the 1.5 hours there and back for my 3 appts with her. She was the best vendor I dealt with during the whole process.
I used a number of vendors from Rochester whom I would recommend:
Catering by Design (expensive but very able to accommodate your requests and fairly professional)
Hyvee Barlow Bakery (for our larger wedding cake)
Le Jardin Floral (the flowers were gorgeous but there were some problems with the construction of the items and the selection of the flowers)
Church of St. John the Evangelist (obviously I can't knock down a church, but we did have some problems with the priest backing out on us and them not telling us about the music costs up front.)
Star Limo (great service, low cost if you book at the last minute - we booked a limo only 9 days before our wedding)
Jenny's Bridal (got our tuxes and bridesmaid dresses here and the staff was so friendly and accomodating. A whole different world compared to Mestads, DB's, or The Wedding Shoppe)
And some whom I would be more hesitant to recommend:
Rochester Art Center (extravagant fees and terrible management who thinks they can change signed contracts by threatening you)
J-Sun Entertainment (DJ - was cheap, but original DJ backed out on us at the last minute and we had a signed contract with him! What can I say, you get what you pay for with them)
Mestad's (got my dress here and they sucked big time, I hated going into their store every time. PM me if you need more info. I have wrote extensive google reviews about their terrible service and mistakes.)
The Doubletree and the Hilton Garden Inn in Rochester - I definitely do not recommend them for a group block of hotel rooms. They did nothing but mess up our block multiple times. This lead to me getting many phone calls and emails from guests who weren't able to book under our block. They also didn't hand out the welcome bags that I had left for guests. I was with when my mom checked in and I had to remind the staff to hand the bags out - they didn't even know they existed. And they had them thrown all over the floor - gross, I had food in those bags for the guests! They also made a lot of promises to us about the free shuttle service but when it came time to book it they changed their time limits of the shuttle a lot. What was supposed to be a 4 hour shuttle turned into only 1.5 hours of use in the end. They also didn't provide any great deals for the bride/groom room. They would only give you a free standard room or a suite for $200/night. Not really a great deal for someone who just brought your business 50 plus guest rooms.
Hair Studio 52 - I would not recommend this place period for your hair, makeup or salon service. I had 3 hair trials here because the first two with the same stylist were so terrible and that stylist was a rude biatch. Then I had a makeup trial here that made me look like a geisha because the artist was trying to push her more expensive airbrushing service instead of listening to what I actually wanted. In the end I did my own makeup on my wedding day after doing a free trial at Sephora that turned out great and buying makeup from their store. I did do my hair at Hair Studio 52 on my wedding day, but with a different stylist. It wasn't the best situation and I didn't feel that great walking in there on my wedding day but I just had to blow it off and deal with it. I will never go back there again and I don't recommend them for any bridal party or bride.
Ohh Minnesota how I miss you! The FI and I met in the Military, I just recently got out due to injury. The wedding is going to be back in MN even though we are both still out and will be staying in Washington state.
So July 3rd, 2010 MINNESOTA HERE WE COME!!!!
We are getting married in St. Cloud, Reception is at Mulligans. so excited and yet scared that it is coming so soon!!!!
Hello MN Brides!
I am a professionally trained Makeup Artist here in the Twin Cities area and would absolutly love to help you ladies look your very best on your special day. One of the biggest mistakes brides make on their wedding day is not hiring a professional makeup artist to do their makeup. You spend lots of money for everything to be perfect, but forget about the most important thing...YOU!!! You want to look stunning in the pictures you'll be looking at for the rest of your life. I can help you do that! My prices are reasonable too!
If you are interested in seeing some of my work, look me up on Facebook under Makeup by Marwa.
You could also contact me at (612) 801-6601 or email me at meshmawy@hotmail.com for more information.
Congrats to all you lovely Brides and Brides-to-be out there!!!
Marwa
Hi ladies,
My fiance and I just bought a house in Maple Grove and set a date last weekend! The wedding will be May 28th, 2010. Ceremony at The millenium Garden at Plymouth creek center. We are doing a early afternoon ceremony and having coctails, apps and dessert at our house. For about 100! I havent quite figured out that piece yet.
I found my dress last weekend at Mestads in St. Cloud. I really loved it there, Heidi my attendant was great and not pushy at all. I went in with the goal of finding a dress I didn't hate, because all the ones I tried on thus far were terrible, and I left having ordered a dress I am in LOve With.
I am trying to decide on a photographer and an officiant this month. Some photogs I am considering are Millerfordphotography, Vetriano and Wendy woods. If anyone has any experience with any of them or has another suggestion I would really appreciate it. Having said that I want two photographers for the ceremony, photojournalistic style and a total price between $1000 and $1500. So any help would be awsome.
For the officiant I really liked the info packet I got from A beautiful affair of the Heart. Has anyone used them or know anyone who has? They had great ideas for the ceramony and I liked how they are all ministers but dont do just one kind of denomination.
For flowers I am hoping to spend around $500 so anyone who knows someone cheap please let me know. thanks ladies, Congratulations!
Hello!
I'm getting married on October 2nd, 2010 in Maple Grove. Both the ceremony and reception will be at the Elm Creek Chalet (in the Elm Creek Park Reserve).
Photographer: Dana Schoppe - she has a fantastic personality, is very affordable, and takes beautiful photos.
Dress: The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul - ok service, nothing special.
Alterations: Louise Kegley - I haven't met her yet, just booked my first appointment. I've heard great things about her.
Cake: P. J. Murphy bakery - they are so much cheaper than any other place we looked, and the cake is quite yummy
Caterer: Divine Swine - we're going with BBQ for our somewhat casual reception. The food is fantastic and cheap
Officiant: Judge Susan Miles - I didn't really like the idea of having a non-denominational minister, so a judge is perfect for our ceremony
Everything else is DIY! Hopefully I can get it all done in time.
Hello!
I don't know about the price, but a friend of my cousin's does great things with flowers. Ashley Fox: www.ashleyfoxdesigns.com
Queen of Cakes is awesome for a cake and Terry is amazing to work with.
Hello!
I just got engaged on June 3 and we are planning on having the wedding on July 1, 2011. We wanted to get married on a Friday to save money and we think that people will most likely have of the Friday before the 4th off July weekend. Luckily we do not have too many people coming from out of state. We are planning on having the wedding at Saint Marys in White Bear Lake and reception at Dellwood Hills Country Club. I will use Lexington Floral for my flowers. We have close friends who will do the photography, music and wedding cake.
Still looking for ideas about bridesmaids dresses, and wedding invitations.
~Lydia
Hi all! I, too, am a Minnesota bride with an upcoming wedding on October 2, 2010. Who doesn't love Fall in Minnesota!? We are having our ceremony and reception at the Millennium Hotel in the beautiful glass dome on the 14th floor! My fiance and I lived in Florida for the past few years and really grew a love for Minneapolis and its gorgeous skyline while away. We found it very fitting that we get married with the skyline as our backdrop.
My vendors so far:
DJ - Bellagala
Photographer - My brother (FREE photography!!)
Officiant - Jeff Lindsay of Colonial Church (Edina)
Flowers - Kathy Krahn, personal friend
Cake - Buttercream Bakery (we weren't planning on going with a cake, until we tried their cakes... UNBELIEVABLE!)
Everything else has been DIY... we have been trying to save money where possible without making the wedding look inexpensive and/or tacky!
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I'm a Southern MN bride and am getting married in my hometown of Mankato! We're using local vendors for everything, most I've heard about through word of mouth, but all have been absolutely wonderful and reasonably priced so far!!
Reception: AmericInn & Suites - A little small, but in the middle of winter it makes a very cozy space which is what i wanted. It also has a lower cost and lets you bring in the caterer that you want, rather than being stuck with a certain caterer associated with the venue. The reception hall is also connected to the hotel, so we don't have to worry about guests driving home after a night of drinking and having a blast with us, which is important to us.
DJ: Kern Brothers Entertainment - Reasonably priced and puts on a good show while involving guests! I haven't personally seen his show, but have heard from my mother and many others that he does a great job!
Photography: Melissa's Productions - Great price! Met her at a Bridal Show in Mankato. She works out of her house and is also a recent newlywed so she understands what we're going through. She is very helpful and a great photographer!
Flowers:TBD
Cake: Going with a two-tier cake for us and to cut, then serving cupcakes. Looking into local places, not sure who we are going with yet.
Dresses: The Silhouette; Easton, MN - Adorable shop hidden in Southern MN! I have heard great things about this shop for years! My cousin got hers there 11 years ago, and I've heard great things throughout the years! They have a wonderful selection of both bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses, and don't charge for simple alterations! Mine I have to pay for a halter to be made (as they have to order in special fabric), and I have to pay to have the dress made to fit my height (as it has beading at the bottom so they can't just cut it).. Even still that's less than $100 total! I would DEFINITELY recommend this shop to anyone!! I found my gorgeous dress there along with my bridesmaids dresses!
That is an amazing location! I've seen photos from there but have never been there!
@Ginger87: Thank you! We absolutely love it, and it is so reasonably priced!
My fiance and I are MN born and raised! Our wedding will be Sunday June 19, 2011. Our vendors:
Dress: Heartstrings Bridal, they are really nice and patiently laced me into tons of dresses. They didn't offer a ton of suggestions and options which I personally like, I make better decisions that way.
Ceremony: Millenium Garden in Plymouth
Reception: Bayview Event Center in Excelsior, they are pretty expensive for Saturday but on Sunday we got a great deal, like half off!! Its right on the shore of Lake Minnetonka so the view is beautiful and we have the lower lake room which includes a large indoor space and an attached tented patio. They use an in-house caterer which we liked since less work for us to find more vendors.
Cake: Buttercream. Delicious cakes and Bayview has a contract with them so the cake goes toward our food minimum and no cake cutting fee. The base cake is $3.75/slice so it seems reasonable enough.
We are also probably going to rent a 1-2 hour boat ride through Bayview to help fill in a long gap between ceremony and reception.
Hello all. I was born and raised in Minne & FI is from California (he is adapting well to life here :-)). Here is the break down of our venders for our August 21 wedding.
Dress: Rubenesque Bridal. Cynthia is the best. She is with you every step of the way. It is a great little shop for plus size brides. The owners (Cynthia is one of them) are former Davids Bridal employees.
Ceremony: Marjorie McNeely Conservatory or as I will always call it Como Conservatory
Reception: Midland Hills Country Club. It is a private club but you don't have to be a member to use the venue (we aren't). Jan is very accomodating and a great communicator. She answers all emails right away. Only had minor communication slow downs thanks to lots of weddings & events scheduled back to back during one week. I highly recommend them. They even have small rooms for small receptions like ours (30-50 people small). One of the few that did.
Linens rented: Linen Effects. Robin is a blast. We found exactly what we were looking for when we went to their studio in Minneapolis. Unfortuantely when I changed our table type (round to rectangle) we had to change our linens. She was very flexible and did mock ups of others I had found on their website via email. That way we didn't have to come down to the studio again (our jobs aren't very flexible). All of their linens are beautiful, they also have chair covers & napkins. We only did the table cloths and napkins. Midland Hills chairs look nice enough to leave uncovered. Their prices are reasonable too.
Hair & Makeup: Amber from Smart and Chic Bride. I can't comment too much other than to say she is flexible with scheduling. I was supposed to have a hair & makeup trial this weekend with her. Unfortunately I ended up real sick with a migraine. She got back to me right away and rescheduled me for next week. The company Smart and Chic Bride match you with a stylist that matches what you want to do (airbrush etc). They are very professional.
Photographer: Denise Mack of Denise Mack Photograhy. She is super nice & I can't wait to work with her. Her work is amazing and exactly what we are looking for.
Florist: La Petite Fleur. It is a small business in St Paul & owner/florist is Carra. She is very down to earth, highly knowledgable & very creative. We have decided to let her creative juices run wild with our reception decor. I can't wait to see what she comes up with. You can look her up on Facebook too. She always puts new pics of her creations on there.
Our day of planner: Angie at By your Side weddings. She is very organized and had lots of ideas. She creates a detailed down to the minute schedule. Communication is key with any vendor and she is great at it.
To fill in the gap between ceremony and reception we are going mini golfing (same place we had one of our first dates). Unfortunately Island lake Golf doesn't block others from playing while your group is using it. Boo on them.
HI All
I am a MN bride getting married June of next year! The ceremony and reception will be at The W Hotel in the Foshay tower downtown Minneapolis. I am now trying to pick my photographer and DJ. If anyone has suggestions that would be great!
Hi everyone,
My FH and I currently live in Fargo,ND, but are getting married in our hometown of Maple Grove,MN.
Ceremony- Lord of Life Lutheran Church Maple Grove, MN
Reception and Catering- Medina Ballroom Medina,MN
Cake- Penney Steele Custom Cakes Medina, MN
Hair and make-up- My aunt
The rest is kind of up in the air for our June 2011 wedding!!! I need help finding a good photographer that won't cost me as much as a semester of college.
Thanks,
Ms. peach
Yay Minnesota! We're actually going to have a DW in the US Virgin Islands, but we're planning on a Minnesota reception at the Como Park picnic shelter. Very relaxed but still coordinated. : ) It's not until 2012 so we don't have a ton planned but I do know that my mom will be making our cake(s). She makes wedding cakes, more or less for fun, and she will definitely be doing ours because they are delicious. Oh, and I'll be swiping peonies from her garden as well as my sisters' gardens. Guess the reception will be in early June right?!
Hooray, Minnesota brides! FI & I currently live in ND due to military PCS, but we're getting married January 15th in St. Paul MN, where I'm originally from. Our vendors are:
Ceremony: St. Clements Episcopal Church
Reception & Catering: St. Paul College Club
Dress: Brides of France
Wedding Planner: Sarah Trotter of Lasting Impressions Weddings (she is wonderful & has made planning out of state stress-free!!)
Flowers: Sadie's
Cake: Buttercream Bakery
Photographer: Eye-Spy Photography
DJ: Bellagala
Still finalizing make-up & hair. Can't wait!
hi y'all! i'm a transplant minnesotan - born and raised in texas, but my mom is originally from here, dad moved here in high school, all the family's here, they just moved to texas for a job before my bro or i were born. i'm getting married April 2, 2011, and here's what I have so far:
Dress: L'Atelier Couture (Sample sale!)
Ceremony: St. Stanislaus Church (yay, jduck84!)
Reception: University Club of St. Paul, Downtown Clubhouse Ballroom (*sigh*)
Hotel: Hotel 340, in the same building as the Downtown Clubhouse ballroom
DJ: Instant Request (heard great things from friends)
Floral: Marah Cole - i absolutely love her, she's really willing to work within a budget, and is so sweet
Rings: Diamonds from Truax Diamonds, band from Arte Bella (will go back and design our wedding bands when the time comes)
Cake: TBD, had an awful experience at Buttercream when I was going with a friend of mine for hers, so don't think i'll go there. Possibly Wuollet's (they have cupcakes that are delicious, huge, and cheaper than anywhere else), but i'm open to ideas
Photographer: The Antique Key in conjunction with Sisu Studio (fellow Hamline Law grads)
So excited to have found a minnesota thread on here!
We're getting married in Minneapolis on March 5th (brrrrrrrr) at the Day Block Building, it's a space above Spill the Wine on Washington and 11th, SO amazing, all hardwood floors, exposed brick, windows everywhere. looks out onto the river. Plus you can bring in your own food and booze :)
caterer: Create- LOVE LOVE LOVE them. they are flexible, working with our budget, great about allergies/ celiac/ my FI hating onions. we're doing an app buffet, so everything will be mini.
cake: making my own dessert table w cupcakes.
photos: becca dilley- she is awesome, super sweet, i love her work. she didn't do our engagement pics tho, one of my BM's is a photog and I wanted to have someone who loved us take our e-pics.
dress: priscilla of boston- went in to try on for fun, fell in love.
Bridesmaids dresses: priscilla of boston- grey chiffon, strapless, short
booze: trader joes for wine, my FFIL and FSIL are brewing kegs for us, we'll have summit bottles and surley cans as well. maybe a signature cocktail if we get our acts together
hotel: holiday inn metrodome- right by the venue, my friend works there, only $89 a night for our block! plus free airport shuttle for out of towners
flowers: bachmans. I am being bratty and want peonies in march, so i wanted somewhere big who could get me good ones. plus they're actually relatively cheap for what i wanted
Music: i have a friend who plays viola and sings, so she'll do the ceremony, bellagala for the DJ. they were cheap, don't know if i'll like them or not, but they seem professional at least
Any suggestions for
-bartenders
-hair/ makeup
@Genevieve: Did you love it??? Was it everything you imagined??? I am so glad we decided to go with this venue; it really makes decorations less stressful, knowing that I want the skyline to be the main focus :)
Yay for Minnesota weddings! I just thought I would throw my info in here too. We're getting married this Saturday...eeek!!
Ceremony: Pax Christi Catholic Community in Eden Prairie
Reception: 413 on Wacouta St. Paul - love, love, love this place and Lynn the owner is so awesome to work with!
Caterer: Lettuce Cater: The food we tasted was great and they really worked with our budget
Beverage: Complete Beverage
DJ: Instant Request: They have been easy to work with and I love their online event planner.
Hair/Make-up: East of Eden Salon Eden Prairie: Staff is fabulous and easy to work with. They have been very accomodating.
Photographers: Christine Wood and Anne Ingman: Both AMAZING!!
Videography: Sunset Blue Productions: SOOOO excited about this :)
Cake: Buttercream: Their cakes are absolutely fabulous!
Flowers: A 2 Zinna in New Ulm, MN
@kenzieb07: The venue was perfect! I ended up being dissappointed with the setup team I hired b/c the venue was booked out he night before so we couldn't setup until the afternoon of the wedding. All of the guests liked the venue.
@Genevieve: That's great to hear! We got lucky and we are able to get into the venue at noon on our wedding day to start decorating (our ceremony starts at 4:30). Aside from the setup team, did you enjoy working with the venue? How helpful was the wedding coordinator??
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