Venue

Love Makes the World Go Around

 in Celebrant / Unity Rituals / Venue / Weddings  tagged wedding venues / weddings / weddings around the world by

“Love makes the world go around” took on new meaning for me in the last few weeks as I traveled to the other side of the world and back. Everywhere I went I saw indications of couples celebrating their love in similar places and similar ways. Love makes the world go around… all around the world.

In traveling to Australia I was visiting the home of the celebrant movement. In fact, more than 50% of weddings in Australia are officiated by celebrants. While I often have to explain what a celebrant is to people when they ask what I do, in Australia my profession as a celebrant is generally understood and even celebrated.

Just as in our area, wineries are in demand as wedding venues. I encountered this one, all set up for the ceremony, with a lovely memorial table set up with pictures in remembrance of loving grandparents.

Love makes the world go around – Set for a wedding at a Barossa Valley winery.
Love makes the world go around – a remembrance table at an Australian wedding.

And on a different day of winery tours I saw this banner advertising a different winery as a wedding venue.

Love makes the world go around – Banner advertising winery wedding venue in Australia.

And finally, when visiting the French Polynesian island of Mo’orea our tour stopped at a scenic overlook, and what should I find, but a fence with love locks attached, showing that this ritual crosses from Paris, France to the US, to islands in the Pacific.

Love makes the world go around – Love locks on Mo’orea Island, French Polynesia.

We truly are more alike than different when it comes to the important things in life like celebrating love by gathering family and friends for weddings and using ritual to mark these special moments. As we returned home to begin the wedding season here in Minnesota, I’m convinced that truly, love makes the world go around. I’m happy to be a part of the process as both a Humanist Celebrant and a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant, working with couples to make their wedding days special and memorable.

Newly Engaged Couples – Congratulations!

 in Celebrant / Engagement / Officiant / Venue / Weddings  tagged celebrant / engaged / engagement / newly engaged / officiant / venue / wedding / weddings by

To all newly engaged couples, I offer my congratulations, and welcome you to the wonderful world of wedding planning. The holiday season – from Thanksgiving through New Years – is the busiest time of the year for engagements, so you are in good company as newly engaged couples. Often upon announcing your engagement, the first question to come up is, “Do you have a date yet?” While it may seem overwhelming with so many decisions in front of you, setting your date is the right place to start.

To set your date, though, you’ll need to discuss a few things including:
– do you want to have your wedding where you live now, where one of you grew up, or maybe a destination wedding is the right choice for you? Answering this question will help you identify the city/area to focus on.
– do you have a specific time of year you want to get married? It’s best if you maintain some flexibility here as some dates will already be booked.
– do you have a particular kind of venue in mind? Maybe a barn wedding or a celebration at a winery is your dream, or perhaps you’re looking for an elegant ballroom or loft event or a simple backyard gathering.

Once you have a vision for the where, when and what your ideal wedding day looks like, you’re ready to start researching venues that meet your criteria. I can’t impress on newly engaged couples enough to jump on this level of planning immediately after you become engaged (or even before if you know a wedding is in your near future). Many popular venues book a year or more in advance, so it is never too soon to begin your search. That said, if you have some flexibility, you might still be able to book your favorite venue – maybe for a Friday or Sunday celebration if all the Saturdays are booked.

As soon as you know your wedding date and venue, it’s time to begin your next round of research and secure the following vendors for your day:
1. Celebrant or officiant
2. Photographer
3. Planner or coordinator (if you plan to hire a professional)
4. Caterer (if food in not provided by your venue)
5. Florist
6. Bridal Salon for your dress (especially if your wedding date is closer in than 9 months away)

There are a number of tools available to help newly engaged couples navigate the complex task of planning your wedding day. Make sure to check out online tools at sites like Wedding Wire or The Knot along with articles at sites like Brides and Weddingbee. There are also hard copy books, binders and specialized planners available if you prefer to use something you can literally put your hands on.

The Engagement Season is certainly upon us. I’ve been booking 2019 weddings for a number of months, but my email and phone have definitely seen increased activity in the last week. So congratulations and welcome to all newly engaged couples. I look forward to hearing from you when you’re ready to select your wedding celebrant to help you have the ceremony of your dreams.

New Wedding Venues Discovered

 in Ceremony / Venue / Weddings  tagged ceremony space / wedding ceremonies / wedding venues / weddings by

Discovering new wedding venues is part of the fun of each wedding season. New wedding venues in southeastern Minnesota mean more options for couples planning weddings – always a good thing. This year I had the pleasure of performing ceremonies at three new venues (or at least new to me), and thought I would share them. Each venue offers both indoor and outdoor ceremony spaces, a requirement for our variable weather.

River Run Event Center, Mantorville, MN: This venue is located on the grounds of the Zumbro Valley Golf Course in nearby Mantorville. The space is managed by Victoria’s Ristorante in Rochester and offers patio space for outdoor ceremonies and a good sized indoor room for indoor ceremonies and receptions.
River Run Event Center

The Gardens of Castle Rock, Northfield, MN: This is a lovely venue on the grounds of a garden center outside of Northfield. There are multiple outdoor venues to choose from, but the only “indoor” space is a large, fully enclosed tent used for receptions. There is a large plaza area for social hour that includes outdoor fireplaces, seating groups, and bar areas. Nearby green space is available for outdoor games, too.
Gardens of Castle Rock

Cedar Creek Barn, Winona, MN: This property is fairly new as a wedding venue, and is still enhancing the property and amenities. The inside of the barn has been whitewashed to provide bright, clean walls, and the cement floor remains. No heat or air conditioning is available, but large doors at each end of the barn allow for air flow. A newly added pavilion increases usable space, but is not fully covered, so is less useful in case of inclement weather.
Cedar Creek Barn

Each of these new wedding venues has its own personality, amenities and charms and is worth your consideration as you search for the one that matches your vision for your wedding day. Refer to my earlier post on evaluating venues for tips on how to decide which might be best for you.

Evaluating Wedding Venues

 in Ceremony / Guests / Venue / Weddings  tagged outdoor weddings / wedding ceremony / wedding venues / weddings by

Evaluating wedding venues is one of the first tasks you undertake as a newly engaged couple. When you are checking out possible venues there are many things you need to consider, and it can become overwhelming. Each venue has its own charms… and drawbacks, and you’ll want to select the one that best fits your vision for your wedding. The following list gives you a place to start.

– First you’ll want to ascertain the venue’s availability for your wedding date, or what dates they have available, if you haven’t set your date yet.

– Consider both the indoor and outdoor ceremony spaces. Even if you’re planning an outdoor ceremony, you want to ensure there is an indoor space in case of bad weather. You want the indoor space to be a true, viable alternative as the many extremely hot, wet, and cold weekends this year demonstrate.

– For outdoor ceremony spaces, check to see if power is available. Your DJ and celebrant may need it to power speakers, and you want your guests to be able to hear the ceremony.

– Ask about seating – does the venue provide chairs, hay bales, benches, or do you need to provide the seating? Does seating from the ceremony space needs to be moved to the reception space, and if so, are you responsible for moving it?

– Also for outdoor ceremony spaces, look around. Is there an obvious place for the ceremony, or just lots of open space? If open space, will you need to provide decor elements to create a focal point or backdrop for the ceremony?

– Consider the sun’s location and height at the time of year and time of day your ceremony will be held. Will your guests be staring into bright sunshine?

– When evaluating wedding venues you’ll also want to consider your guests’ comfort and accessibility. Are there restrooms, ramps, wide and stable walkways, sufficient parking?

– Does the venue require you to use specific musicians/DJs, florists, bakers, officiants, caterers, etc? Can they provide the services you want?

– And finally, remember to get information on pricing. Ask about any additional or hidden charges. You want to ensure the venue costs are within your overall budget.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when searching for the right venue for your wedding day. Take your time, have a list of questions to ask and areas you want to see. Ask if you can take pictures so you can review them later and remember the specifics of each venue. Evaluating wedding venues can be exciting, stressful, overwhelming, and fun all at once, so go in prepared and you’ll be able to select the right venue to make your wedding day vision come true.

Interesting Wedding Venue Discovery

 in Venue / Weddings  tagged ceremony / wedding / wedding venue by

I discovered an interesting wedding venue in our region last week. While waiting for our dinner cruise to leave the dock in Stillwater, MN I watched guests, the wedding party and finally the bride and groom board the boat next to ours. The sleek, three deck boat was the site for an elegant, all white wedding!

An interesting wedding venue can be great fun, but also requires extra planning and coordination to make sure everything comes together as you envision. Here are a few things to consider:
1. You and your guests will be “captive” on the boat, so it is imperative that everyone arrive on time and can stay for the duration of the event. This may be a good time to plan for a social hour before leaving the dock to allow any late arrivals a chance of joining in the festivities. On the other hand, there are no options for early departures so everyone will have to plan accordingly (think babysitters or on call situations).

2. You will need to discuss with the boat’s owner what is allowed. For example, do they provide catering, cake, music, tables and chairs, bar supplies and bartenders, wait staff? What are you allowed bring on board? Flowers, your own DJ and sound equipment? Do they provide any event coordination services? Are you required to use them, and at what cost? What is included in boat rental fees, and what is billed additionally?

3. Your vendors will have to ensure timely and complete deliveries. They will need to know how early they will have access to the boat so they can plan accordingly. They will also need to know about the distance from parking to the boat so they can arrange for any equipment needed (dollies, carts, etc) to get equipment and supplies on board.

4. Space for dressing, hair and make-up will have to be explored. It is very possible that you will need to arrive ready to walk down the aisle with all services completed on land. On a related note, how do you feel about being seen by your guests before you enter for the ceremony? It may be hard to sneak down the dock and onto the boat without being seen by your guests.

5. And finally, but very importantly, where will the marriage legalities take place? You will need to identify a location address, city and county on your marriage license, so make sure you understand how that will work. The boat we were on moved past a few cities, crossed a couple of county lines and floated between two states. And there wasn’t a mailing address for the middle of the river. The easiest thing to do might be to take care of the legalities (the “I do’s” and certificate signing) with your two witnesses and officiant before departing so you can claim the dock address. Then you can have your full ceremony in front of your guests whenever it works for your schedule.

From my vantage point it looked like a great celebration was about to get underway on the Majestic Star last weekend. Guests arrived decked out in pure white – shoes, pants, shirts, coats, and dresses – making everyone part of the party from the very first moment. The dock seemed to serve as an extension of the aisle, with the bride and groom arriving last, to the cheers of their guests waiting on board. The mood was festive, the waters calm, and the interesting wedding venue ensured a special experience awaited.