A'BULAE

2023 are no longer available (a change not communicated to us), and there's been a significant decline in organization and communication overall. I sent far too many emails pointing out repeated mistakes made on the timeline, our BEO, and the estimated bill. Even after doing two thorough run-throughs with my coordinators, myself, and venue staff, the simplest detail, the color of the included easels, was incorrect on my wedding day. The preference forms they have you fill out must never get reviewed because the day of staff did not follow the answers in the forms and were constantly asking my vendors questions that were answered in the form. I believe these changes and issues are primarily the parent company, Bellagala's fault. They seem to make many cost-cutting corners and had a huge staff/management team turnover at the beginning of 2024. I believe some of the staff are set up for failure, and the issues are not their individual fault. For instance, you are paying $10K+ for the venue rental and don't get floor-length linens in your package. The decor is outdated, and the paint is literally chipping off the walls. The "tasting" they offer is a small pre-set menu with 100+ other people. You could barely get a word in with any of the staff to ask questions about the food, especially the items you didn't get to try. The speakers are “old and on their last leg.” This is what my DJ was literally told by the emergency contact when it was discovered the speakers were broken and the REQUIRED $600 “sound coordinator” didn’t know what to do (not her fault, she wasn't trained long enough, and despite me bringing up how concerning that is, she was still assigned to work my wedding.) Not only that, but my DJ was told, “It’s a busy Saturday and I don’t think someone can come and help, so make do.” We were refunded for the sound coordinator fee, but that whole mess should have never happened in the first place. They have known problems and don’t fix them. Just see the other reviews about the AC and elevators not working over and over again. Some of the day-of venue staff, and Bellagala "managers," are in the wrong industry, and should be ashamed of how they treated my top-rated vendors. Two of which have sworn off A'BULAE for good. They accused them of stealing gifts and kept rearranging my table decor, despite my coordinators showing them pictures from binders I created, with the EXACT layout. The venue staff adjusted my timeline without asking (put desserts and late-night snacks out hours after I wanted them to), and not because of a kitchen-related issue. I know there are always three sides to every story, but two vendors, both with over 15+years in the industry and with hundreds of 5-star reviews, vowing to never work at A’BUALE again, means something. Echoing others, there are many other venues in the general area you could pick from for the same price, with better inclusions and professionalism. I’d proceed with booking A’BULAE or Le Venere with extreme caution. There are rarely weddings that go off without a hitch, but the mistakes and oversights made on and leading up to my wedding day were, in my opinion, avoidable. Giving 2 stars because the food was pretty good and the bartenders were awesome!

a wedding virtually. They did a few little touches to try to make our day special and they were really good at planning and flow of the day. We started planning quite a while before our event (as you have to these days with weddings) and there was a lot of turnover and policy changes in the 1.5 years we planned. I ended up preferring the people we worked with towards the end but the changes were a bit of a headache. I did my best to get them as many details as possible and fill out all of the forms they asked for. But it seemed like on the day the team there didn't communicate as well with the planning team. I was asked many things multiple times that I had already told them and a few things that didn't get executed the way I had asked. Honestly small things that didn't disrupt the day but a little frustrating when we did so many calls and forms with them to be clear on what we wanted! The venue is gorgeous and they really are pros at throwing a wedding specifically and have most of what you need included which I really appreciated!

fice staff as well leading up to the day who helped us knock out everything with precision and was perfect. The day of staff took care of us so well, couldn’t thank them enough.  Couple highlights: guests would not stop talking about the food, especially the potatoes and the cupcakes. We did lemon, chocolate mint, raspberry, and strawberry and they were gone so fast. People loved them! We even had a couple people reach out post wedding asking where we got them. 10/10 recommend the venue and staff

ir team was amazing, they were AMAZING. But... going into 2025, they have a complete staff turnover. The communication dropped off, our meeting timeline fell through the cracks and I had to reach out again and again to get connected with someone and finally get my planning meetings scheduled. I was supposed to have a meeting just after the new year in January and by the end of January, nothing from them. Finally they let me know my original person has left and they are training new staff and can't meet with me and get started until that, delaying things I NEED to plan my wedding. This meeting didn't end up happening until March. Then they change things that were originally available to us such as being able to buy Kegs. DO you know how expensive this venue is and then they want to make it even more expensive. They gave us an option to provide an open bar to our guess but then they took away this option to "Save us money". Personally I think they knew they could get more money out of their couples if they took away this option. If you want something that is available when you are going to sign, PUT IT IN THE CONTRACT. They will change it up and you just have to go with it. They also changed the tasting so now it is this HUGE group event of around 200 people (previously done with individual couples), & no customization. Unless we wanted to pay to do another tasting we had to go into our reception blind about how the main entree was going to taste. Hor'dourves, amazing! Main entrees, extremely disappointing. We had the chicken parm, eggplant stacker and four cheese ravioli. Dessert was yummy and so was the late night pizza but for the main meal to be so EH, it was sad. The communication with the venue definitely went downhill as well when the new staff came in. I would have to follow up multiple times to get answers and I get it is a busy season but my wedding was also just a week or two away. Getting ready in the morning, if you want to have any drinks available to your wedding party, expect to pay an arm and a leg... they are nice enough to let you bring in your own food from somewhere when you get ready but having alcohol like mimosas for the morning, expensive! The reason they get 4 stars and not lower is because the venue is beautiful but mainly the day of staff was actually AMAZING and were a joy to have on the day. The Bartenders need a raise too because they were the most amazing people. Everyone day of made sure the day went so smooth and everything was set up perfect, but I am also sure a lot of that is due to the amazing individuals we hired from Bellagala, everyone there was amazing to work with. Beautiful Venue, Wonderful day of staff, but be sure to put every detail you like in the contract unless you want to potentially lose out on something if you aren't getting married right away like we did.

I asked for an itemized list and was told they “don’t have a nice neat itemized list”. So you never really know what you’re paying for or how much you have left. Obviously we picked this venue for the awesome rooftop. I made the weather call at 8AM when weather looked ok to use the rooftop. At noon it was then saying lightening and hail so I wanted to change to an indoor ceremony and I got a LOT of push back even though it was 5 hours away. The team on staff on my wedding day were all new to me, I’d had lots of meetings with ABULAE staff and didn’t know who any of the people were and they seemed to not be very flexible or knowledgeable. I had seen set ups of an Indoor ceremony and they seemed clueless so I had to direct them on how to set it up and had my bridal party move everything. Lead to a very stressful wedding day! Overall it is a pretty venue. We got lots of compliments on the food (you do have to use ABULAE’s catering). The bar package is unnecessarily expensive and if you want to do “his” and “hers” cocktails it’s like a regular price of $13-$15 per cocktail. Overall, I’d probably look elsewhere before choosing ABULAE!  There are a ton of other venues propping up around the twin cities.

priced for the level of service provided

ouple should have to endure on their wedding day. When we initially booked A’BULAE, we were impressed by the concept of an all-inclusive venue with dedicated vendors and day-of support. Unfortunately, what followed was a series of issues that culminated in a wedding day that felt disorganized and unsupported, despite all our planning efforts. 1. Cocktail hour bar service was severely understaffed, with only two bartenders for nearly 200 guests. Long lines led many guests to skip drinks entirely, despite this being a prominently featured and premium service. 2. Event coordination was lacking across the board. Our final updates were never reflected in the event documents. Tables and centerpieces weren’t set when we arrived. Our monogram was never displayed. The rehearsal was completely unstructured, and our multiple attempts to hire a day-of coordinator were ignored. 3. Dinner was delayed by over an hour, with numerous guests receiving cold entrées. This disrupted the timeline and detracted from the guest experience. 4. The early access suite was not ready when we arrived, and no staff were present (at least not any that had any idea what was going on) during the hours we paid premium price for. Beverages ordered in advance for the morning were delivered far too late to be enjoyed. 5. Three uninvited individuals gained access to our wedding, ate and drank, and were caught smoking marijuana on the patio. No staff intervened; a family member had to address it. When we raised this afterward, management acknowledged that their security staff had no way to identify or remove uninvited individuals — raising serious concerns about the purpose and effectiveness of security. In response to our feedback, the General Manager stated that they would use our wedding as a “learning experience” for future events. While perhaps well-intended, this reaction felt dismissive and insufficient given the seriousness of the issues. Even after the wedding, itemized receipts have not been provided, despite repeated requests. After discussing what steps were needed to rectify these grievances, there was yet another administrative error and significant delay, that has put us in a position today – nearly two months later, where we are still waiting on A’BULAE to follow through on promises made in writing. For a venue that promises high-end, all-inclusive coordination, A’BULAE failed to deliver on the most basic expectations. Communication was unreliable throughout the planning process, and the burden of managing key details ultimately fell on us and our families. We would not recommend A’BULAE to other couples.

the continent left early because Abulae’s AC was barely functioning, was directed primarily toward their staff quarters versus the guest area (we checked!) and the fact that WE had to buy multiple fans to try to keep our guests minimally comfortable on the day of the wedding! They were unbothered throughout and seemed to not have a care in the world. All through the day their staff was negligent, spacey, and seemed to have no urgency as to what a terrible venue space they were providing due to how uncomfortable everyone was from the heat. I will always regret choosing this venue, and I would urge anyone I know to avoid them at all costs. I’ve been to weddings there in the past, but they were severe staff turnover issues and their current crop of employees is absolutely horrible and ruined what would otherwise be a beautiful day due to their negligence. If you want your guests to not be miserable, avoid them at all costs!!

ize every aspect of the day, making the entire process seamless and stress-free. Their attention to detail and professionalism allowed us to fully enjoy our special day without a single worry. The venue itself is absolutely stunning, offering a beautiful backdrop that made for the most amazing photos. Whether it was the breathtaking ceremony space or the elegant reception area, every corner of the venue was thoughtfully designed and well-maintained. What truly set A'BULAE apart was their incredible team. The staff were not only professional but also some of the nicest people we’ve ever worked with. They were attentive, accommodating, and genuinely invested in making our day everything we dreamed of. The day-of coordinators were phenomenal—always one step ahead, ensuring everything ran smoothly and effortlessly. If you're looking for a gorgeous venue with a dedicated team that will make your wedding day stress-free and unforgettable, we highly recommend A'BULAE. We are so grateful for their hard work and commitment to making our day so special!

s. We loved that everything was in-house, making it easy to work with them. The space speaks for itself and is gorgeous. Guests commented on how lovely the space was for both the ceremony and reception. We would also love to give a shoutout to Katelyn who helped us every step of the way!

e snow, but inside was sparkly and magical, just the way I wanted it. We always knew where we stood, what needed to be done. and felt cared for by them.

oothly! First, the A’bulae venue is gorgeous and perfect for any weather condition (which helped me not to feel stressed!). The people working at A’bulae respond to emails promptly and professionally. They also help lay out a day-of schedule and handle a lot of the planning. They reach out and meet with the couple several times throughout the wedding planning process to put everyone at ease. Another plus is their in-house decorations, linens, chairs, and tables they set up for weddings. They have several options you can choose from. Further, while A’bulae does require you to use their in-house catering, the food is amazing. All the apps and entrees we chose were delicious. Above all, my favorite part about A’bulae is how they allow you to personalize your wedding as you see fit. My husband and I made our own monogram and cake topper, we made a slideshow to scroll during the social hour, my husband played piano, and we did an about-the-couple trivia game on the screens. It was really fun and made the event special and unique to us. A’bulae worked really hard to make this happen. Even when there was a slight technology issue, they called someone to figure out the solution remotely, and they had the problem solved very quickly. The team worked hard to make everything seamless. Overall, we had an amazing experience, and I’m really glad we chose A’bulae.

ch of the afternoon outside but the lighting was still amazing because of the windows and the sunset on the roof top was PERFECT for photos! The staff was so helpful throughout the process giving us month by month directions and had great communication when I changed plans multiple times! I cannot recommend doing everything "in-house" and limiting the vendors to make planning and the actual day more enjoyable and a'bulae offers that! I have already had two people book this place after seeing our wedding! Cannot recommend it more! I also need to shout out their bar staff because they did an amazing job accommodating to our guests!

e ability to make our wedding personal. I highly recommend A'Bulae to anyone looking to get married in Saint Paul.

phere at A’bulae is simply enchanting. Its blend of industrial charm and modern amenities provided a stunning backdrop for our special day. Whether indoors in the elegant dining space or picturesque rooftop, every area of the venue was impeccably maintained and thoughtfully designed. The staff at A’bulae were outstanding. They were attentive, accommodating, and genuinely dedicated to making our day unforgettable. From our initial visit to the wedding day itself, they guided us through every detail with professionalism and care. We would like to give a special thank you to Katelyn Reid who helped us at every step of the way and was attentive throughout our meetings and emails. A highlight was the exceptional food and beverage service. The catering team at A’bulae crafted a culinary experience that delighted our guests. The menu options were delicious, and they seamlessly accommodated dietary preferences and needs. We had several guests say the food was amazing! Our experience with A’bulae was nothing short of amazing. They provided the backdrop for a wedding day that exceeded our dreams. If you’re seeking a venue in the St. Paul area that combines elegance, charm, and exceptional service, A’bulae is the perfect choice. They created memories for us that will last a lifetime, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

tate the best experience. On the wedding day the whole venue was gorgeous! I receive so many compliments from guests on the venue and how great the food was with the in house catering :) 100% recommend A’BULAE!

ney and the morning of our wedding. Alexis was absolutely flawless and seamless with coordinating the evening portion of our wedding. We heard multiple comments from our guests about how smooth the wedding flowed which we couldn’t agree with more. Thank you for all the hard work and flawless execution. It made for a perfect wedding day, we will be reliving it forever!!

idal / grooms suites to get ready in and convenient parking for guests. Both the rooftop and ball room make for great spaces. (One of the main reasons we chose A'bulae was the staff and that we liked both the indoor and outdoor spaces in the event of bad weather. The staff was also exactly what we needed. From setting up our first tour, to the day of the wedding - all of the venue staff were all incredibly easy to work with. They communicated quickly, helped us make decisions, and took care of so many small details when our attention was elsewhere.

We had our wedding ceremony at a different venue (church), but A'bulae was still a part of the full day. The Winter Promo is legit!

were always timely and they were incredible helpful and patient as we navigated with the school to make this event possible. We are having our Father/Daughter dinner and dance there again this year! You will not be disappointed having any event at A'Bulae!!

to accomplish, but everyone on the team at A’bulae is so helpful — they communicated clearly and quickly, made suggestions when requested, were there to answer ANY question I had, etc. They made the planning process so much easier than I expected! The day of the wedding, they constantly had multiple people around to keep us on track with our timeline and make sure everything went smoothly. We’ve received SO many compliments from friends and family about how beautiful the venue was and how it went so well! 10/10 recommend A’bulae to any engaged couple!!

you to all of the team who helped pull our day together so smoothly, we are forever grateful! Highly recommend.

nable through email and answered all of our questions in a timely manner (and I had a lot of questions). Once we booked our date, we met with Katelyn to plan and coordinate the details for our wedding. I cannot speak highly enough of Katelyn. We had a large wedding of 300 people and Katelyn helped us manage every detail seamlessly. She went above and beyond to make adjustments as needed and helped us make our day more personal. By the time our wedding day came around, she felt like one of our close friends. We chose Abulae since it was the most "inclusive" of all wedding aspects and it made the weeks leading up to the wedding so much easier. Venue Decor - the floor-to-ceiling windows, lighting throughout, gorgeous flooring, chivalry chairs, and bridal suite design were all flawless. We used very minimal outside decor (just a few flowers on the tables) and it was a dream. The added projectors on the white walls to display different scene scapes felt so whimsical at the end of the night. Rooftop - we were blessed with the most EPIC sunset on the roof. Most of our guests wanted to hang out here since the weather was wonderful and we added a bar. The cafe lights added this gorgeous touch once the sun went down. We had our ceremony on the rooftop and we couldn't hear any city noise during the ceremony. It was about 80 degrees and sunny so we opted to wear sunglasses (which we bought specially for the wedding) and the pictures came out perfect. There was a nice breeze up there too so we didn't get too hot during the short ceremony. Catering - Abulae does catering in-house and the food was remarkable (especially for feeding 300 people). Everyone was served in a timely manner and the food was just as good as our original tasting. I was very impressed as catering wasn't the most important thing to me and it turned out to be a highlight point. Staff - The Staff deserves 10 stars. I already mentioned Katelyn who helped us along the way and was our daytime coordinator, but I also have to mention Nikita, Madison, and Kelly who were amazing. They solved every little snag with ease so I didn't notice a thing. Our security guards were so stealthy that you hardly noticed they were there. They had to address one situation with a guest and no one even knew there was an issue. The bartenders kept the bar flowing all night and everyone said they were so nice and fun to be around. For having 300 people, the space never felt crowded, there were so many different areas to be and there were more than enough staff to make everything happen in a timely manner. I would have my wedding here over and over and over again!

anning easy. The team is friendly, professional and above all this is a STUNNING venue to host your wedding at. We had a winter wedding and flipped the room from ceremony to dinner/reception, and it was no issue for the team. They also have the best getting ready rooms. You will not be disappointed if you choose A'BULAE

lagala that were familiar with the site and staff. We worked with Ann Grant and Sara Lybarger and can't recommend them enough. The food and appetizers were amazing with the in house catering and we got so many compliments from guests about the venue and the staff. Our pictures on the rooftop (even in the winter) turned out great! If you are looking for an elegant all in one venue A'bulae will be a perfect fit.

eam delivered on the cocktail hour as well as an unbelievable tenderloin dinner. The onsite bridal suite and groom's den were the perfect place to get ready before the big event.

er had and the team was so flexible to incorporate our ideas and traditions into the day. When I forgot a juice for breakfast, our event coordinator jumped up to go out and get us some. The team at A’bulae can’t do enough to make your day perfect. We are so lucky we found A’bulae, Sara, and Ann would went overboard for us. Our guests were blown away and we had no worries on our wedding day allowing us to just sit back and have fun!

what we like, and bring in other options to make it what we wanted. The space itself is beautiful and easy to make it feel grand yet intimate at the same time. The staff is great, we had some hiccups throughout the planning and they worked quickly to resolve the issues and made sure to make up for any mistakes. They did their best to keep communication clear and answered all our questions quickly. On the wedding day itself, we had the dream team with Laura, she went above and beyond to make our day turn out exactly as planned! She was professional, friendly, patient, and just amazing! We highly recommend using A'bulae for your wedding, we had so many guest compliment the space and we had an overall great experience.

with, but it actually took a LOT of stress out of planning and everything ended up being beautiful and delicious. Most importantly, Ann was incredibly responsive during our wedding week to anyone who reached out, and the staff was not only warm and welcoming but FUN and engaged with our guests. From the security guards, to Ann, to the bartenders, it was a 10 out of 10. And all I had to do was bring flowers - the rest was taken care of :)

night was when the CHS field sign across the street lit up with our names on it! (Ask about buying it on the tour!) I hope we have a friend or family member get married there so we can go back and experience it as a guest!

truly one of if anything can go wrong, it will (from people cancelling due to covid, a winter storm, the pastor cancelling, etc.), but Ann worked with our family on each and very issue and was not only supportive, but helped up us problem solve and went above and beyond what I felt her responsibilities were as an employee of Bellagala. She reached out to a connection and found us a new pastor the day before the wedding, helped rearrange our tables the day of the event, helped calm a sick bride and more. I know that despite everything that happened, we were in good hands with Ann. I just cannot tell you enough how appreciative our family was of her help throughout this process up through the day of the wedding.

uests were raving about the venue to us. A'bulae gave us our dream wedding and we highly recommend!!!

also had a great point of contact for Mintahoe that was extremely helpful as well. I would definitely recommend them!

king changes up until the very last minute, and they were so accommodating. We worked with a few different people throughout the planning process, and all were great. You could tell that they really just wanted help make everything exactly how we envisioned it! The flexibility was really great especially with the pandemic complicating wedding planning. They always responded to our emails within a day with detailed suggestions on how to address any concerns that popped up, pandemic-related or not. The digital services were such a great component too! Our priest was not able to make it to the reception, and they were able to play a video of him saying a prayer on the TVs in the reception space before dinner started. It was such a great place to get ready in the morning, and I can't overstate how nice it was to have the whole place to ourselves. The reception space was large and beautiful, the dance floor was big with great lighting, and the rooftop was something that our guests really enjoyed! I wish we could do the wedding day all over again just to be able to spend more time on the rooftop (my husband and I were on the dance floor all night)! We really enjoyed sunset on the rooftop though and got some fantastic pictures out of it! Overall they were just extremely accommodating and really made it such a fun event. The staff were all fantastic! We hired a day of coordinator since our ceremony was off site, and they worked so well with her. I also can't stress enough how great it was having so much included in the rental cost! It was a higher rental cost than other places we looked at, but we saved a lot of money by using their chairs, linens, chargers, lanterns, lighting, etc. It was also just nice not having to worry about hidden costs adding up, since there really were no hidden costs. The only downsides I would say are that you are required to use Mintahoe catering, which is on the pricier side (but also really great to work with), and that the entrance is just through a parking garage and not more picturesque. If you like the look and style of A'bulae, don't hesitate! They'll make sure you have the wedding day you're dreaming of!

ery responsive to emails and made the wedding planning process much easier! Mintahoe, the catering company, had delicious food options. The venue is beautiful. The bridal suit and grooms suit were wonderful spaces to get ready in. The rooftop ceremony was absolutely perfect! We cannot recommend the venue enough. It was AMAZING!

ere to answer any and all questions we had very quickly. The day of all I had to do was hand over the things I wanted set up and they took it from there. They made my day stress free and we one thousand percent recommend A’bulae to anyone!! ❤️❤️

loved A'BULAE from the day we walked out of the elevator to the 6th floor. We were awestruck and knew it was the one. On the day of our wedding day, we were so ecstatic. A'BULAE was more than we could've imagined. From planning to execution, everyone at A'BULAE made sure we were comfortable. It wasn't easy during this pandemic, but A'BULAE helped us pull off a little girl's BIG DREAM. P.s. Hannah and Emily were the perfect duo to work with!

mazing on it's own, so you can decorate as much or as little as you want and the space will look great. This and the fact that a lot is included in the price (linens, flatware, centerpieces, etc.) drew my husband and I to this venue, because we knew we didn't want the added stress of DIYing things. They also followed all MN state guidelines regarding COVID-19, and did a good job making sure everyone felt comfortable but still had fun. We had no COVID cases from our wedding! Our day-of coordinator was Hannah, and she was great to work with! She was attentive throughout the whole process and typically responded to any questions we had within 24 hours, which was especially appreciated this year given the pandemic. The two reasons this isn't a five star review are: -You have to use Mintahoe for food and alcohol, and while all of our guests raved about the food, Mintahoe isn't cheap and there were a lot of unexpected fees we ended up paying (ignore the food and beverage minimums because no matter what you will end up paying almost double) and, -We were not thrilled with how A'bulae handled the pandemic. Initially they were allowing couples to postpone, but in May we got an email stating no events from Aug-Dec of 2020 would be allowed to postpone (unless the state shut back down). This added a lot of unnecessary stress to the planning because we were basically planning blind at that point, and were not able to come up with a back up plan with our vendors in the event that the state did shut down again. Every time we reached out to A'bulae and/or Mintahoe, we got the same response of "we are confident we will be able to have your wedding as planned this fall." While we appreciated the optimism, both my husband and I knew that would not be the case, and we were correct, we had to make changes/adjustments given the current state guidelines for the pandemic. While it ended up working out, I wish A'bulae had been more flexible and transparent with their couples, as planning a wedding is already stressful, and adding a global pandemic in there just makes it worse.