Manitou Event Center

tastic and we got many compliments on it. We chose the family style dinner serving which was a fun twist for our guests and they really appreciated it. The staff at Manitou, especially Sharon, is all incredibly kind, accommodating and easy to work with. I would recommend this venue to anyone. Our wedding was a blast and all of our guests kept telling us how much fun they had and how they loved the set up of the venue.

n White Bear is so charming! My fiancé and I could not have been happier with our reception, the staff did an amazing job pulling all of the details together. Recommend 110%!

eve how lovely the ceremony turned out. Our guest list was under 100 people, and this venue was the perfect size. The entire second floor is the event center, and although there is a restaurant below, you wouldn't know it once you're up there. There's a park across the street that is perfect for photos, or an outdoor ceremony (we took a lot of photos there). Additionally, there are several salons nearby (my bridesmaids and I went to one just down the street), which made getting ready the morning of less stressful! We were so impressed with our experience with Manitou!

time and loved working with everyone at the Station!

in event coordinators (the third one was the charm apparently!). All three coordinators told me different answers to my questions and when I would go to verify details with the new coordinator they would simply say "well she told you wrong". It was a very frustrating process which I credit a lot to the turnover of coordinators. They eventually worked with us on certain issues and the reception was beautiful. We were able to go a day ahead of time to decorate which I would advise all brides to do since the chair sashes were the wrong color. Had we not gone to decorate the day prior, our colors would have been wrong but luckily they had time to correct the error. The final coordinator was great to work with and knows her stuff but I would advise brides to take notes and keep any email correspondence through the process. It turned out to be really helpful to do so! I would also mention that the lead staff the night of the reception was AMAZING!!! I cannot sing her praises enough! She handled all the details, was very respectful, and dealt with any issues promptly!

room to make it look great for our wedding as it already looked so great!

g to changes or different needs we had. We received so many compliments on the food being the best wedding food they had every had. It was also great that they had a group of trusted vendors they work with on a regular basis for the cake, the hotel and the DJ. I couldn't have asked for a better venue for the value, everything went off without a hitch, and they helped make my day come together almost seamlessly and like a fairy tale. Thanks to all of the wonderful people at The Station Event Center for helping make our special day so amazing. Michele

feel warm and intimate. White Bear Lake area is such a great area located not far from main highways so it was easy for all guests to find the place. There are parks and a lot of photo opportunities for the wedding pictures within walking distance of the venue. My bride and I found this venue about a year or so before our wedding date and attended an evening where we were able to taste-test the food and meet some favored vendors. We LOVED the food and decided to have our choices served buffet style for our wedding which worked perfectly. Our wedding planners at The Station helped us with every aspect of planning the whole wedding day as well as the rehearsal dinner. I look back on all they did for us and are very thankful for their help and guidance and I never realized how much work planning a wedding would be until actually doing one. The people at The Station made the process very smooth and easy for us. Their preferred vendors.....we used were happy with all the recommendations The Station planners had provided to us. We ended up having both the actual wedding ceremony and reception right there at The Station. There was a 15 - 20 minute room flip between the ceremony and reception that worked perfect for people to mingle and get drinks and such. Both the ceremony and the reception looked wonderful, as The Station did a classy and spectacular job of decorating the ballroom. The planners also did a great job helping us plan for food quantities, drinks, appetizers, etc. I could go on and on about how great the planning was......but it really all comes down to the wedding day and how it went. To put it short and sweet......it was PERFECT and Kim and I would not have changed a thing!! I would love to name the names of everyone that helped us, but I imagine there are a multitude of people also behind the scenes that helped make our day turn out to be so special......we would like to thank each and every one of them for making our day so special for us and our guests. Speaking of our guests, the reoccurring theme of feedback we have received was how lovely and classy the venue was, and how great the food tasted. Many people stated how the food was REALLY delicious and nice and hot. We have all been to other weddings where the food that comes out is dry, tough, tasteless when served in quantity; it was nice that The Station served such delicious food that was kept nice and hot. Again, had we to do it all over again we cannot think of anything we would have done differently. Once again, thank you so much to The Station for everything you did to make our day so perfect. We highly recommend this venue to all who are planning a wedding in the area in the future. Thanks again, Dave and Kim Stieper

and a fiance in another country and they really made the whole process easy and the venue is just gorgeous! i would highly recommend using them!

ive which made life easier. Overall we had a great experience!

though it wasn't how they normally did things. I gave them a 4 on service because there were a couple things we were very clear on in reviewing how we wanted the transitions to go and we had to touch base with them about why the bar wasn't open when it was supposed to be. Overall, great experience and food!

Could not have asked for a better venue.

delicious, everyone was complimenting us on the food and saying it was the best food they have every had at a wedding. The staff was so great to work with; very helpful, patient, communicative, friendly, and laid back. They never made the task of planning a wedding stressful for us. They were also great at contacting all of our wedding vendors (cake, DJ, florists, and photographers) to coordinate with them. We never had to worry about organizing set-up times, Manitou did that for us! We recommended Manitou Station 100%!!!

ding so the staff could've been a bit more on top of it. I would recommend this venue and the food was amazing! Everyone still raves about it!!

helped everything come together. She was there to help me during working hours and on her off hours (even while she was on vacation). She always answered her calls and emails and got back to me right away. I had a fun night and I danced the night away. My guests were also amazind by the wedding, telling me how beautiful the venue was. I am so glad I picked Manitou Station and I would suggest it to anyone!

d return phone calls. She was always willing to work with my schedule and budget, and helped make the vision for our wedding become reality. We ended up being able to get in to the room the night before to set everything up and get the details just the way we wanted. The day of the wedding, I was able to just relax, focus on getting ready and enjoy all the little moments. We held both our ceremony & reception at Manitou, and used the room down the for the cocktail hour. The room was flipped in a very timely manner. We received many compliments on the cocktail hour food- you must try the scotch eggs!! The trend continued into the reception. We chose to have a plated dinner with the House salad, Rosemary Chicken, Baby Red Potatoes, and Green Beans. Everything was delicious!! The food was just as good when made for 125 people as when we had tried it at our tasting! They are also very accommodating to vegetarians, kids, and those with allergies. Our banquet captain, Ashley, was so great to work with as well. She had a great attitude all night, was extremely helpful and made sure the night ran smoothly only asking us questions when it was necessary. Also, as a suggestion, you should order truffles to go along with your cake The truffles are chocolate mint and they melt in your mouth! Every time I walked by the dessert table I had to grab one. One tip would be to make sure to let your guests know there is more parking available behind the building; maybe add the info to the directions if you are including that in your invites or make up a sign to put out front the day of... Our only complaint would be that the bartender did not seem to like children, even though we made it clear there would be at least 30. And she kept sending people to the downstairs bar when we specifically asked that they keep people upstairs as much as possible. But once again, Ashley was amazing and she worked with the bartender to have items that our guests were looking for brought up to the bar instead making our guests go down. Overall our experience was so amazing and if I had to do it all over again, I would choose Manitou Station every time. They are amazing to work with. They do not try to force anything on you and are willing to work with you. They are very up front about what things cost and what options are available to you. A huge thank you to all the staff at Manitou who helped make our wedding a great success!

was a breeze and the day of went just as easily. They had arranged the DJ and the cake delivery from Buttercream- we didn't have to worry about getting those details figured out which was nice. They did a lovely job at arranging the room for us with all our provided decorations and did the room flop in a very timely manner (we held the ceremony and reception at Manitou Station). All the staff that were on duty on September 28th were amazing. The servers, the bartenders and all the extras really made the day go as smooth as possible. The food was amazing (as we knew it would be from the food tasting). We ordered Caesar salad with prime rib or salmon with baby reds and green beans for our guests (about 200). Everyone loved it! Aside from Manitou Station having great staff and awesome food they also have a pretty swanky dance floor! I would highly recommend Manitou Station to any future bride- it was an amazing experience!

could have of very hoped! My florist did not do a good job but Mantiou Station picked up the pieces and made everything look great!

ting and the staff even helped take down decorations at the end of the night. The food was fantastic and many guests said the portions were just right. We also ordered late night snacks and our guests were very pleased with that. The staff was extremely friendly, we had the best bartender. She even got up on a chair and danced with my husband! One thing that we were not happy with was that the bartender did not get permission from me or my husband to tap into the keg on reserve. Before we knew it all the beer was gone and we were never even asked if we wanted that second keg used. We also received a call from Manitou a few weeks after the wedding with them telling us that we still owed $1200. That was a surprise to us as we thought we were all paid up. The staff could work a little bit harder on their financial end.

e of staffing changes from the time we first started working with them, things went very smoothly and we felt well taken care of. I can't tell you how many compliments we had on the food. We did the buffet with Prime Rib and Chicken in White Wine Cream Sauce - my mouth is watering at the memory even now...The staff were so polite and ready to help with whatever was needed. Any little hiccups were handled quickly and smoothly. Even Manitou's recommendations were perfect: the dancefloor was filled the whole night with the DJ, Joe Vruno, that they recommended, and our florist, Sue Nelson, did a beautiful job on the centerpieces. We would have our reception here again in a heartbeat; it was the perfect end to our wedding day.

cken, both were delicious but of small portions (so our guests said). Our wedding planner was amazing! Gretchen was down to Earth and did not force anything on me since I was a low key bride. She was accepting of my opinions and wants. We met just a few times prior to the event which was perfect for me! The elevator didn't work which was unfortunate. The bartender Char was phenomenal!!!!!!! She is the sweetest woman ever and was very kind when cutting off some of our guests :) the head waitress was awesome as well, ensuring the night went smoothly and didn't bother me with questions. The only complaint I would have is the required security guard...or lack of. Towards the end of the night an older man showed up and was disgruntled and would come and go out of the room, we assumed that was the security guard we payed $250 for, that was disappointing. But, overall the rest of staff was awesome and the food and drinks were delicious. Minimum $5,000 food and beverage but we surpassed that due to the guest count size and plates were about $25/person. Also, VERY flexible to vegetarian, vegan, and kids!! All entrees were raved over. If I could recommend a site- I would totally say to check out Manitou Station!!!

t we had. My husband and I and my parents met with the Manitou staff multiple times to make arrangements, and plan for our big day. Lorah the sales director, gave me info on brides and families to call who had previous receptions and weddings at Manitou Station. They all could not say enough good things about the place. Lorah also gave me lots of references for people I could use on my big day like: DJ, florist, etc. (Who were all great, and I ended up using their services!) We taste tested the menu that we wanted to serve before the wedding, and we all felt confident that our guests would love our dinner selection... and THEY DID! People raved about the food, and their whole experience on our wedding night. The staff at Manitou were very flexible with us and had the room ready and done the morning before our wedding, so we were able to come in and do our own personal touches throughout the upstairs. It was nice to be able to come in the morning before our wedding and be able to set things up. I didn't feel comfortable having other people decorate for me. So we had it done and ready to go for the next day. The day of the wedding the staff at Manitou had everything under control. They made sure that the social hour was going well before the wedding party arrived, and that all of our guests were seated and ready to go when we arrived. The service was great! We had salads served to our guests, and then we had a buffet style dinner. All of our guests received the food in a timely manner, and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall it was a great experience at Manitou Station, and we would book our reception there again if we did it all over again! Sincerely, The Bride, Brittany Brand

Station last year and was very impressed. So when I got engaged I knew I wanted my reception to be at Manitou Station. We had a short engagement so I was concerned that we would not be able to fine a venue to accommodate us, but that was not the case with Manitou Station. In under three months we pulled everthing together and it looked amazing. We could not have done it in that short period or time without the event planning staff at Manitou Station. I received quick responses to all of my questions during the planning process. The food was was great, my guests raved about the chef-carved Prime Rib. The space accommodated to the band we chose perfectly because the guests could dance or carry on a conversation. I would highly recommend Manitou Station.

orked out very well for us. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for both the ceremony/reception in the same location. A number of our guests mentioned the convenience of going to one place. They completely transformed the space from the ceremony set up (for 150 guests) to the set up for the reception in 30 minutes. Their attention to detail was outstanding. The food was awesome! My family is still talking about the bacon wrapped scallops and their famous scotch eggs. The staff was super friendly and extremely helpful throughout the planning process. We used their recommended vendors for our photographer and our decorations and both did a fantastic job at very reasonable prices. It truly was a magical day and I am so grateful to Manitou Station for making it so special!

r choices. Their attention to details is amazing. All our guest loved the the food. I still get compliments on her reception which was 3-5-11. That's how memorable Mantou Station and staff made it.

very beginning of the planning process, the staff at Manitou was extremely accommodating and helpful in making this truly one of the most spectacular weddings I have ever seen, or been a part of! My business colleagues and I, who have an event planning business, were so pleased with the professional staff, the attention to detail and willingness to help create what turned out to be an elegant and breathtaking reception! The comments that we received from not only the bride and groom, but the guests and many onlookers have been overwhelming! People are still saying that they have never seen such a gorgeous wedding, that the food was spectacular and the staff was so accommodating, kind and enjoyable! Manitou went out of their way to provide extra space for the guests during the cocktail hour, and the bartenders were not only professional, but charming and entertaining. Thank you to Gretchen, Lisa and all who helped make Amanda and Joel's wedding such an amazingly exquisite and pleasurable experience! I would recommend Manitou Station in White Bear Lake, MN to anyone looking for a beautiful, affordable, high quality venue! Sincerely, Julie, Step-Mother of the Bride

her crew for decorating) to the food, you knew that you were in the hands of professionals. You probably already know that Manitou Station has great food but just wait until they put on an event for you! The food they provided was absolutely amazing! The service from the bar and wait staff was almost like it was personalized just for our event. Our guests cannot stop talking about how classy the restaurant was and how good the food was. The entire staff really went out of their way to make sure we and our guests had a great time. At the end of the day the crew at Manitou provided us with the most beautiful reception we could have ever imagined. We will be recommending them to anybody that needs a place have a party or just a place sit down for an excellent dinner. Thanks for making our wedding day so beautiful and memorable. Ryan and Nicole Podewils