02.27.08

Thoughts on Minneapolis and St Paul parks for wedding ceremonies

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 8:32 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

A bride just wrote to me today with some interesting questions about using chairs for weddings at Minneapolis and St Paul, MN parks. Here’s my thoughts:

Dear Rev. Coleman, thank you for your terrific reviews of Minneapolis and St Paul parks and gardens, and the information about their rental for summer wedding ceremonies! I was wondering if you could have chairs on the stone surrounding the large fountain at the Lyndale (Lake Harriet) Rose Garden?? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t be able to have them there.

Rev. Coleman’s answer: Red tape is difficult, isn’t it? The Minneapolis Parks Department does an absolutely wonderful job with the gorgeous parks in their system, especially with this this delicate, 100-year-old garden, the second oldest public rose garden in the US. I just love the Heffelfinger Fountain (pictured), a bronze and marble sculpture imported from Italy. The paving around it is not all that large, actually, and would only hold about 10-12 guests on the pavement. Most wedding ceremonies are held off to the side, where there’s more room.
The good people at the Minneapolis Parks Department had a much looser policy in the past, but over the years people probably abused the policy, and so the poor Parks Department then had to tighten up the regulations to compensate for a few people being inconsiderate. The Park’s Department budget has been slashed in recent years (as have most city budgets… witness the Minneapolis Public Library having to be closed on Sundays and Mondays…sigh), and thus the Parks Department had to lay off a lot of workers in the 1990s. Thus, the department didn’t have the budget to keep up with repairs necessary with their current looser restrictions, so they compensated by tightening up the rules in an effort to keep repair needs at a minimum. I’m sure the vast majority of weddings would be extremely considerate of any Minneapolis park, but it only takes a few irresponsible people who move chairs around onto the grassy area, which then damages the lawn, which then gets more damaged by the other visitors in the next week, and then the lawn eventually becomes a muddy mess by the end of the year. I suspect that this kind of scenario probably happened a bunch of times in the early 90s, and eventually the good people at the Minneapolis Parks Department were forced to tighten up the regulations. It’s a shame, isn’t it? I’m sure the vast majority of weddings were very considerate of gorgeous garden ecosystem, but it only takes a few inconsiderate people to damage a lawn for a whole season.

And why does the Irvine Park in St Paul allow chairs?
Well, I don’t work at the St Paul Parks department, but I am big fans of their work. I think that probably the reason that the St Paul Parks department allows chairs in Irvine Park is because the park is infrequently used during the week (that’s just my opinion, of course). In contrast, the Lake Harriet/Calhoun lakes chain of parks are only a small fraction of all the parks in the Twin Cities, MN area, but it has literally hundreds of thousands of visitors per year (the Lake Harriet/Calhoun chain of parks is by FAR the most popular park system in Minnesota), but over across the river in St Paul, the isolated Irvine Park hardly gets any visitors at all. So even if a few inconsiderate wedding guests did abuse the privileges in Irvine Park, the gorgeous gem of a park gets so few visitors that the lawn would repair itself pretty easily. There simply isn’t hundreds of other visitors per weekend walking on it afterwards. Grass and lawns can repair themselves, after all, but only if the grass has the time to do so without getting trampled on again immediately.

Just my two cents, derived from my having officiated literally dozens of wedding ceremonies in these two parks. This article is also written with the generous help from my father, who is a gardener and has plenty of opinions on how to keep lawns looking good (thanks, Pop.)

Warm regards,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
http://www.mnweddingminister.com

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02.25.08

New! Antique Rolls Royce car available for rent for Minnesota weddings

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 5:17 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I was meeting with a couple last Monday evening at my regular spot at Nina’s Coffee House in St Paul, when they expressed an unusual wish. This Minneapolis, MN bride and groom expressed an interest in renting a car for their upcoming wedding, and they asked for recommendations. I get many couples who ask for limo recommendations, but they wanted a regular car, not a limo. They were looking at possibly renting a sports car, but an antique car was preferred. Their reasons for renting a car for their wedding were that:

• Will be so excited at their wedding that they didn’t want to drive themselves
• Wanted to keep the special feel of their wedding day, even when traveling to and from the wedding site
• Didn’t want to worry about parking at the Como Conservatory in St Paul, MN, which can be quite busy on Saturdays
• Didn’t want to have to worry about alcohol in the car

Rob King, of Antique Limo in Minneapolis, MN, has an absolutely gorgeous antique Rolls Royce that he rents out for couples at their weddings. His service seems to the Twin Cities, Minnesota area - instead of renting to a large wedding party, to get the bride, groom, and all their attendants from the wedding site to the reception site, Rob’s service is much more intimate, as well incredibly classy.

So let’s say, for example, that like the couple I talked to this weekend, you’re having a wedding ceremony at the Como Conservatory in St Paul, which is right by the Como Zoo. On the afternoon of your big day, you’ve got your wedding dress on, your make-up is set, and now you’re ready to go to the Conservatory’s Sunken Garden for the ceremony. Rather than getting into your everyday commuter car with your groom, instead, a gorgeous 1962 silver (”Shell Gray” is what Rolls Royce called it) antique Rolls Royce shows up at your home, complete with driver! The driver whisks you away to your wedding site, and then after your wedding, when you walk out that front door to the cheers of your friends and relatives, you don’t have to then go find your car…instead, your Rolls Royce is waiting for you. When you get in the car, a bottle of champagne with crystal glasses is ready to calm your nerves ($25 extra, a great deal…), and then the Rolls Royce takes you away to your wedding reception. Instead of heading directly to your reception, though, which will be full of incredibly excited wedding guests, you can take a moment with your groom to relax and enjoy the time together. You can even stop off at a bar for a quiet drink, or split that champagne in a quiet picnic. That quiet breather may be the only time that you and your groom have alone together on your special day…it can be quite romantic and refreshing!

Rob has rented his services with his Rolls Royce in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for over a decade, with multiple weddings under his belt, so he’s very experienced and considerate. Rob is a really nice guy - I chatted with him on the phone, and he has a quiet, friendly manner, and is very easy to work with. The rental fee for his antique Rolls Royce, plus his service as a limo driver, is $400 for 2 hours (if you want more than that, which is rare, it’s $200/hour more.) Rob King’s phone number is 612-790-0225 (cell phone). For couples who want a moment alone after their wedding, and want to do it in a classy way, this opportunity sounds perfect!

Rev. Tomkin Coleman, Minnesota Wedding Minister & Officiant 

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02.08.08

Wedding Fair at Semple Mansion in Minneapolis, March 1-2nd, 2008!

Posted in Wedding Sites in Minnesota at 8:16 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

Most wedding fairs in the Minneapolis and St Paul area take place in January or February, but there’s a great one coming up in March at the Semple Mansion in Minneapolis, MN.

Semple Mansion is relatively new on the scene, as it was just renovated a couple years ago. This wedding ceremony and reception hall is huge and gorgeous, with marble columns and ornate woodwork everywhere you look. Here’s a complete review of Semple Mansion, with pictures, contact information, and rates, and here’s a direct link to their site.

This March 1st and 2nd, 2008 wedding fair will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and is held in conjunction with Minnesota Bride Magazine. There is no admission charged (!), and it should be a fun event. While I like the really huge wedding fairs held in places such as the Minneapolis Convention Center, I love smaller wedding fairs such as this one because they have such a warm, intimate feel. Rather than setting up booths in an auditorium, you’ve got a string quartet playing over here, cake samples over there, etc. It’s a really nice way of getting to know Minnesota wedding vendors, plus, you get to see the interior of the gorgeous Semple Mansion!

The Semple Mansion in Minneapolis is located at 100 West Franklin Avenue, which is just south of I-94, west of 35W, just south of downtown Minneapolis.

Home - Rev. Tomkin Coleman, Minnesota Wedding Officiant and Planner

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