01.26.07

Notes for a McNamara Center wedding

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 2:07 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I have performed many wedding ceremonies at the McNamara Center at the U of M and it’s a great site for wedding receptions in Minneapolis, plus they allow wedding ceremonies there. It’s often mis-spelled as the MacNamara Center of the University of Minnesota. You dont have to be an alumni of the U of M to rent the site for weddings. It’s an unusual spot, which has been declared a masterpiece of modern architecture. It’s beautiful inside with wood everywhere and 4-story high ceilings. The McNamara Alumni Center at the U of M is definitely one of the most unusual, non-traditional wedding sites in Minnesota, but it really works well, since it’s specially built for events. Not only is there plenty of space, but they have dressing rooms, a dance floor, and it’s in a prime location, as it’s right in the heart of the University area, within walking distance of Dinkytown.

Patrick Fitzgerald of D’Amico, who also caters wedding ceremonies for the Mill City museum is the person to contact. Patrick Fitzgerald at 612-238-4012 and his email is pfitzgerald@damico.com According to the McNamara website, site rental of the McNamara Alumni Center for weddings is $3,500, which includes the Johnson Great Room for the wedding ceremony, Memorial Hall for the wedding reception (for up to 7 hours), with access to rooms for photos 3 hours before guest arrival, a one-hour rehearsal (usually the night before, or the Thursday before. You also get the facility to yourselves, a dance floor, the built-in stage, custom set up, tables and chairs, two private dressing rooms for bridal party (one for the men, one for the women), two fireplaces, a University police officer for security, a wireless microphone for the officiant, a CD player for the wedding ceremony, music selections, several on-site event staff, plus the Heritage Gallery will be open.

You can even check their booking calendar online for availability, which is very handy. No other wedding ceremony site in Minnesota has this capability, except for Lake Harriet Spiritual Community church in Minneapolis (they rent out their Minneapolis wedding chapel for wedding ceremonies and receptions). The McNamara Center can also show you a 360 degree view of the interior on their website!

Little-known fact: The MacNamara Alumni Center is not only next door to the Radison Hotel, it’s connected by a tunnel. Perfect for wedding guests who don’t live in Minneapolis or St Paul, or simply don’t want to drive home after the wedding reception.

Having one main hotel right by the wedding can be great because then all the guests get to visit each other all weekend, instead of being isolated at different hotels. You can get special rates if you promise to book a certain number of rooms, plus you can get a special parking rate for your guests to park at the McNamara Center (even if they don’t stay at the hotel).

Below is a map to find this gorgeous (and unusual) wedding reception site in Minnesota:

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01.25.07

Notes on the Mill City Museum for wedding ceremonies

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 2:08 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

A new Minnesota wedding reception site that is also appropriate for wedding ceremonies is the Mill City Museum in downtown Minneapolis, which is at 704 South 2nd Street, right by the new Guthrie Theater.  Pictured above is the Ronald William Guzy Mill Commons, which holds 220 wedding guests.

D’Amico caters the events and handles all the booking for weddings. 

The person to call to rent the museum for a wedding ceremony and reception is Patrick Fitzgerald at 612-238-4012 and his email is pfitzgerald@damico.com  Patrick is a great guy - very friendly, knowledgeable, and easy to work with.

This wedding reception site is definitely unconventional, but for some couples, that’s perfect.  In the winter, the Mill City Museum hosts weddings in their big main entrance hall, which has gorgeous columns and high ceilings.  Most weddings, though, are held outside in their Charles H. Bell Ruin Courtyard (pictured to the right), which holds 130 guests for a wedding reception. 

The Mill City Museum courtyard overlooks the Mississippi River and St Anthony Falls, plus Riverplace and St Anthony Main is across the river.  The picture to the right shows the museum and was taken right beside the falls at the lock and dam.

The site rental fee for weddings at the Mill City Museum is $1500 for Saturdays in the summer, plus $350 if the courtyard is used.

Below is a map of downtown, which shows the location of the Mill City Museum.  If you know where the Metrodome is, it’s a few blocks from there.  Since it’s right downtown, many couples book hotel rooms down there and Guests can do so, too, thus extending the wedding event into a whole weekend.  The closest hotel is the Holiday Inn Metrodome, which is right up Washinton Ave, across 35W.  On the map below, the hotel would be just off of the bottom right-hand corner.

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01.24.07

Reasonably priced Ketubah for Jewish weddings

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 10:55 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I perform many interfaith Jewish and Christian wedding ceremonies in Minnesota, both in the Minneapolis and St Paul area, and one of the items used is a Ketubah, or wedding contract.  These are usually highly priced because they are illuminated and often framed and kept for posterity, but not everyone can afford several hundred dollars for a Ketubah.

If you don’t already have a source for a Ketubah, if you don’t want to pay the usual $200-$1000, the Kippot Center sells an inexpensively priced Ketubah with a leather holder for $30 at:
http://www.kippotcenter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=163

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Recommendations for a Minnesota wedding band

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 2:11 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

For most kinds of music appropriate for a wedding, I highly recommend Diane Martinson with her band named Elevation.

Personally and professionally, I love Diane Martinson and her partner, JJ Saeker.  Diane sings solos for weddings in Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota and she has an amazing voice and the two of them are wonderful together.  I’ve heard Diane as a soloist many times at weddings at all sorts of Minneapolis and St Paul wedding locations, both indoors and outdoors, and she has an incredible voice and style.  The two also have a Minneapolis band for weddings named Elevation that does R&B and Funk.  Couples with which I have worked have raved about the band and their sample clips look sound terrific.  Elevation is a 6-8 piece wedding band: The 8-piece wedding band includes three female lead vocalists, a male lead vocalist/bass, a male back-up vocalist and keyboard player, drummer, guitarist, saxophone player, and trumpet player.  Elevation’s fee is pretty much at the going rate, which is $2-3,000 for the evening, depending on the number of people in the band and the number of hours you’d like them at your wedding reception.

It’s always difficult to describe the sound of a band, but I think I know what you mean when you say R&B and Funk.  Elevation does lots of other styles, too, and they have some great music/video samples on their website that can give you a good idea of what they can do.  The links are at http://www.dianemusic.com/elevation.htm on the right-hand side of the page, about halfwy down.  The song clips include Jump Jive and Wail, Sir Duke, Unforgettable, Supersition, and I Will Survive. 

Note that the term they use to describe the type of Minnesota wedding band they book are is a little corny, but this is a standard term.  Their description is “Variety Band” – as I said, that particular term sounds corny, but keep in mind that ”variety band” is a standard music term and it just means that they are talented and experienced enough to do requests at a wedding reception.  They’re VERY cool.  Minneapolis and St Paul are known for bands of all kinds, but not many musicians and bands are really experienced with weddings (and really good!)

Elevation performs all types of music for wedding receptions and will travel anywhere in the Minneapolis or St Paul metro area. 

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01.08.07

Housekeeping…

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 6:10 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

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Como Conservatory has now opened a new wedding reception site!

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 2:00 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I’ve heard from a couple that a new wedding reception hall has been opened at the Como Conservatory in St Paul, which is something the Conservatory has needed for a long time.  The Conservatory is the most highly sought-after wedding site in the Minneapolis St Paul area (the most sought-after in the state, actually), but up till now wedding receptions there have been limited because of the small size of the Conservatory.

Como Zoo’s new Visitor Information Center has many rooms, though, and several of them are perfect for wedding receptions in Minnesota.  One of them is a huge reception hall where you can have dancing, which is on the second floor and has views of both the Como Zoo and of the Como Conservatory.  The other wedding reception site is called the Covered Porch, pictured here, and on one side you can see the Conservatory and on the other side you can see the Zoo and it’s historic Carousel.

The site is also reviewed at my page on wedding sites in Minnesota.  The reception site is catered by Lancer Catering, and I’m awaiting an email from them for information about rental rates.  Stay tuned!

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01.06.07

New Wedding Reception Hall in Minneapolis - Celebration Hall

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 9:07 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I just got an email from the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater in Minneapolis on East Lake Street, informing me that they have renovated Celebration Hall and that is available for rent for wedding ceremonies and receptions.  I’ve never been there (it’s new), and it’s not on my reviews of wedding ceremony sites in Minneapolis, but FYI, here’s a picture of the interior from their website:

This two-story ballroom is located on the third floor of Plaza Verde at 1516 East Lake Street in Minneapolis, and is a former Masonic lodge built in the 1930s.

Celbration Hall rents out for weekend wedding ceremonies or wedding receptions in Minneapolis for a fee of $850.  You have to bring in your own (approved) caterer, but they have a kitchen for the caterer to use.  The contact at Celebration Hall is Melissa Schmitz at 612-721-2535 x16.

Above is a picture of the adjoining Heart Of The Beast Puppet Theater.

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01.05.07

Notes on recommendations for a violinist for Minnesota weddings

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 2:11 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

Hiring one musician, such a violinist, is a lot cheaper than hiring a full quartet or quintet for your wedding.

If you’re interested in a violinist to play for your Minnesota wedding ceremony, I recommend first seeing if Cheryl Zylla is available.  Cheryl performs with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, the Bach Society Orchestra, and Ensemble Sebastian, and she plays for wedding ceremonies in the Minneapolis and St Paul area.  Cheryl’s email is cheryl@a-beautiful-violin.com and her phone number is 763-476-6786 or she can be reached at 612-226-1065.   Information on Cheryl can be found on her website for at http://www.A-beautiful-violin.com  Her fee for 2008 is $240.

Cheryl Zylla also is part of a trio and a string quartet, both of which are also available for weddings. 

If Cheryl is unavailable, I can give you other names, or she can almost certainly recommend another experienced violinist. 

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