Macalester College Ballroom and Memorial Chapel

ass you honestly hardly had to do any decorating at all. We were worried about the noise level being too loud for guests with the glass but that was not an issue at all! We got so many compliments from guests on the food and venue, it was perfect for a large (300ish person) wedding and could have held even more. The price was way better than the other venues we looked at that would have been large enough and it was such a unique space, most of our guests had never been there which we liked. There were no hidden costs and they were very generous with helping out and didn't charge for many things that I know some other venues do like corking fees, cake cutting fees, votives etc. You do have to use their caterer but the food was good and so were the prices compared to other places we looked so that was not an issue! They let you bring in your own vendor for the bar so you can shop around and save money there. They allowed us to have the cocktail hour outside (we just had to rent stanchions) which was perfect on such a nice summer evening. We used plastic barware and canned beer though outside and also inside because the floor including the dance floor is hard and gets slippery with spills so we wanted to avoid broken glass which was a great decision. FABULOUS venue and a hidden gem among St. Paul reception venues!

est part. In addition, we liked that it had a "chapel-feel" but there was no particular-religious affiliation to deal with, which was perfect for the ceremony we had crafted with our officiant. The event coordinator we worked most with was Andy, and he was so helpful! I can't remember how many emails we all sent back-and-forth and all the questions in between, and Andy did his best to answer each and every one. The week of, we were assigned a student-coordinator who would work with us on the more detailed plans, and Kevin did a fantastic job. Even though he didn't read all the emails, he knew exactly what to do and was helpful in answering any day-of question that came up. He was very capable and we had no worries the day of.

+ guests). We were then able to walk across the street to the ballroom which is huge and all windows - absolutely gorgeous! The college was very easy to work with and really affordable. You can have access to the ballroom the entire day. They have a caterer on site - Bon Appetite, which also quite affordable and probably some of the best food I have had at a wedding. You have to find your vendors for liquor and decorations, but Midway Rental and Complete Beverage have done wedding there before and it all worked out great! It really was an awesome place to have a wedding!