Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

tiful backdrop to a small, intimate wedding, the Arb has some great options, and then so many places to take lovely wedding pictures. We had our wedding in the Prairie Garden in front of the fountain with a small group of family and friends and it was so nice and intimate, and we lucked out with beautiful weather. We took sooo many pictures in a ton of different spots because there are more pretty backdrops than you can count to choose from. It is a public space, so there might be other visitors around, but during the ceremony there will be staff around to keep the public at a distance. If you want to have a reception on site as well, there are also a variety of options for a big range of guest counts, and some areas you can add on for additional space. You also get to choose from a few caterers (we went with The Deco- fantastic food and wonderful staff) and the Arb provided the bar. All of that went very smoothly. We had about 30 people and rented out the Fireplace Room and the Snyder Balcony, which are connected by a hallway, and it was the perfect amount of space for dinner, dancing, and a photo station. The only reason I didn't give them a full 5 stars was because there were a few times when communication took a while. They have seasonal staff, so I did get passed around to a few different people depending on who was available. The staff was always very friendly and professional though, and willing to answer any questions and work with me to make my vision happen. The price for renting the space was very reasonable as well.

nd outdoor options. And there are beautiful flowers, greenery and character everywhere you look. The only thing better than the location and the beauty - is the people we worked with. We worked with Harry Gabe, who went above and beyond to help make our day flawless, and answered every question we had along the way. The catering team was absolutely wonderful - the food and drinks were great, and the staff did an incredible job serving our wedding of 180 people. We could not imagine getting married anywhere else!

o many compliments on the beauty of the venue. Avery was amazing when communicating and answering all of my questions as they came up!

I loved having two rooms to get ready in and that we were able to have ceremony and reception at the same place.

ptember, I tried contacting the Events staff as we needed to amend the number of chairs to set up and we had some other questions as well. I sent three emails (about one per week during this timeframe) and also left a voicemail message. No response. I was starting to stress out a bit as you might imagine! The week before the wedding I finally connected with someone on the events staff (whew!); got all my questions answered, adjusted the number of chairs needed and reduced my stress level all in one phone conversation. Though I never did see anyone from the Events staff on our wedding day, all the setup was perfectly done. If you’re hesitating at all, please don’t. The settings are so beautiful you won’t regret having your wedding here!

lain about questions not being responded to. Catering team changed over management and it really showed when the servers had no information on what my signs meant, where people were sitting, who was getting which cake, etc. Management asked for a very detailed description of everything but the servers weren't given the info. Food tasted amazing, servers were perfect, and the day went without too many issues!

! The staff were very helpful and patient as we went back and forth on the details. The food was delicious, the space was set up just as we asked. No complaints at all. Highly recommended.

ng nature which is why we decided to have our wedding ceremony and reception there. However, the Arboretum came with its issues. We were consistently told that "The arboretum is an educational facility first and wedding venue is much lower on the priorities list." That's understandable, but it's a poor excuse for short comings in regards to hosting important life events. In my opinion, give it your full effort or don't do it at all. The Arb has now had a turnover of 2 event coordinators in less than a year and upper management doesn't seem to care to provide the support and staffing to host/manage these weddings. The Arb can have as many as 3-5 wedding ceremonies per day, so they should be staffed accordingly to manage these events. There were also inconsistencies with what we were told by the old event coordinator verses the new one in regards to parking, what was included with our booking, transportation, etc. Again, this is frustrating and unprofessional. Both coordinators were incredibly nice and worked hard with what they had, but I truly don't think the Arb upper management was providing sufficient support (or even remotely cared) for the coordinators. Honestly, the most disappointing part of our day was the catering and service at the reception. The Arb requires you to use their caterer which I didn't think would be a big deal. Wrong! At our food tasting prior to the wedding, the food was great! Portions were well sized and the food was prepared perfectly. We selected fingerling potatoes (6-8) and thick sized asparagus for our sides. We left the tasting excited for our wedding day. Unfortunately, we were later left disappointed and embarrassed when our wedding day finally arrived. To start, we were served dinner 40+ minutes late with no explanations as to why there was a delay in service. Salads were warm indicating they had been sitting out for a long time, portions for the beef tenderloins were very small (3 ounces instead of the 6-8 like we were told they'd be), beef tenderloins were burnt or well done (we were told they would be medium-rare), and side portions were scant (three stands of stringy, thin asparagus and two small fingerling potatoes). It was truly embarrassing to have my family and close friends be serviced subpar food and even more frustrating to pay a significant amount of our wedding budget on poor quality food. Shortly after food was finally service to guests, Arb staff were very gruff and impolite with guests because tables needed to be moved for the dance floor. Very unprofessional considering they had just serviced food late, and to then in turn, rush guests out of their seats to stay on track with the evening's schedule. You'd think by the end of the wedding season that the Arb staff and catering would have their shit together... After the wedding was over, we emailed Arb staff with our concerns and complaints. I really didn't want future brides or grooms to be let down like we were. Arb staff were receptive, apologetic, and took a little money off of our final bill. I genuinely hope they take our feedback to heart and implement the changes necessary to create a more pleasurable wedding experience. Finally, if I were to do this all over again, I would reconsider booking the Arb and look at other outdoor wedding venues instead.

nswered my hundreds of questions leading up to the day and helped our vision of a intimate outdoor ceremony in the beautiful gardens come to life. We loved sharing the beautiful gardens with our guests, and we had a perfect fall day! We can't thank the staff enough for all of their help, support, and positivity!! You all certainly know how to plan a beautiful wedding!

d nobody would walk on the path behind us during our ceremony, but she also kept us calm when we visited the night before our wedding to scope out the location. Kara also literally ran to get a rug we needed right before our ceremony and didn’t appear fazed at all. The arboretum itself has a wide variety of ceremony spaces for different sizes of groups, styles of ceremony, and budgets. Our only complaint would be that it is not a great location for the reception. They restrict catering to their in-house chef and there were not many options for people with dietary restrictions beyond vegetarian. As a ceremony space, however, it was perfect, and we were thrilled.

details off my shoulders. They are so laid back and made the entire wedding party very relaxed. The venue was perfect and can be tailored to whatever you envision for your wedding. It is the perfect outdoor location for a wedding without the crazy rental fees and expenses. We toured a couple of places before deciding on the arboretum, and we feel as though we truly chose the right place for us and would recommend it to anyone struggling to make a decision!

ry accommodating for a variety of special needs. We had a beautiful ceremony and reception. It's a great place to make happy memories.

helpful! We truly could not have asked for a better team to work with as we moved around all that comes with planning a wedding. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a wonderful wedding experience and will use them for any future needs we have!

she was awesome - always very responsive and enthusiastic. We also reserved classrooms for getting ready (one for grooms and one for bridesmaids). It was nice to have the open space but we did have to dash across the hallway to the public restroom to change. They provide you with one or two full length mirrors for hair and make up. We ordered lunch through the arboretum catering and they delivered on time and the box lunches we had were tasty. If you want alcohol, you’ll have to purchase the beer/wine from the arboretum cafe which was a bit of a bummer we couldn’t bring in our own, but I understand the reasoning behind the rule. Overall it was a beautiful place to be married and our day was great. Kara was there to coordinate the rehearsal the evening before and there on the day of and we could not have done it without her!! I would recommend this place!

r and simple understanding of pricing, to the communication from booking to rehearsal day, to rehearsal-which Kara did a fabulous job directing us all, as we were clueless, to the GRAND FINALE of the big day! Kara was there every step of the way, and was a HUGE help. They provide a gold cart service to get your guests to your location very quickly. They set up all chairs prior. The location is BEAUTIFUL. And all of this was SO affordable. We highly recommend this location for weddings. Thank you so much!!!

answer any questions or concerns. I worked mostly with Kara, who was amazing. She was there on the wedding day.

ARB staff made the indoor event incredibly perfect. Food was great and carried out seamlessly. The family and guests had a terrific time.

y, a pre-ceremony hot chocolate bar for guests, and of course, had the fireplace going in the room.

the months leading up to the event. I am so thankful that I was able to work with her! On the day of the ceremony arboretum staff checked in with me and my family and ensured that everything was perfect. It was absolute perfection and went off without a hitch!

the packet of information. During the planning months, after being booked, we had some issues with communication in a timely fashion, but that resolved with some feedback from our wedding planner to MLA. We are so happy that we were able to have our special place for our wedding and then all the gardens for our pictures. We had the reception in the Snyder Auditiorium which was lovely. Our guests all commented on how beautiful and comfortable the space was. We did not do a seated dinner, only drinks and appetizers. We chose the butler pass for service and wish we would have done the buffet choice instead. Many guests commented that they did not have an opportunity to try many of the options of food or could not find someone with a tray when they were hungry. Most liked the dessert buffet since they could help themselves when they were ready.

ckage deals, unless you want to pay for all your linens and such. Also, they don't have round tablecloths for their round tables. We loved Carissa and all the help she provided. Our day ran smoothly and we had a great back up plan if the weather hadn't cooperated.

ked and things I really didn't like. First off I would not recommend working with Kristyn Wade from the catering department. She screwed numerous stuff up. First off, she gave us a catering menu to go off of but there were so many errors and discrepancies we ended up having to go off of the old menu. Secondly, she screwed up our tasting only thinking it was going to be my husband and me present when I had written in email there would be four of us. When I referenced the email to let her know I did indeed say four she didn't say anything. I was expecting an apologize perhaps....guess not. Thirdly, at our reception the champagne was never brought out. We asked to speak with Kristyn and she told us I had opted out of all alcohol. WHAT?! We chose the more expensive catering package because it included wine and champagne. Our contract even verified we had the more expensive package that included both. Again, no apology from Kristyn. Instead she told us we could choose either wine or champagne. We chose the wine with dinner. I guess it was too much work for her to have the staff open a couple bottles of champagne to serve my 16 adult guests in addition to wine. Instead my dad gave his toast using water. The ceremony itself was nice. We were told there would be staff at garden exits to ensure no one came in and it was kept private, however there were two strangers sitting on a bench in the garden during our entire ceremony. That shouldn't have happened. When you pay $800 an hour to have a private garden it should be kept private. I will continue to keep my Arboretum membership. I do not think I would recommend the arboretum as a venue site to anyone. If I do, I will make sure to caution them about the mishaps that occurred during our wedding and the planning that led up to it. We did send an email to a couple of the managers informing them of the issues. They never responded (Kristyn did, but only to once again not admit fault.) They did however have the time to dispute a review I left on another website less thank 24 hours after it was posted. I guess they have different priorities.

notice. The food was delicious but they had different food at the tasting than what I had requested to try. We also needed to recheck and recheck our catering order as it never seemed to be what we asked for until the last couple of days before the wedding. At the reception, we had to ask for our parents to be served and were told they didn't know it was the parent's table. Not sure how that was possible since it was listed in the contract. My biggest complaint was that not all guests received cake. Staff were not organized and gave some people extra pieces without making sure everyone had been served. Overall, it was an amazing day and I'm glad we were at the Arboretum. Guests said the facilities were beautiful.

ct day in the perfect location.

al. We recommend the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum without reservation and with much appreciation for giving us a magical day.

cey.

f also set up the flower arrangements (that were kept inside so they didn't wilt in the sun) and unity candle for us at the last moment. We also had an indoor backup plan, in case of inclement weather, but we had a beautiful sunny day. The reception was held in the Macmillan Hall. I was asked repeatedly if I needed anything by the staff and any requests were handled promptly. The food was excellent (I had many guests say it was an excellent meal, and not just good wedding food.) and the staff served everything with a smile. We were also able to customize our package options to 1. better control our costs and 2. offer some beers that aren't on the normal beer list to our guests. The flexibility was so nice. The in house coordinator for the grounds and catering were fabulous to work with! Aside from the fantastic service and food, the arboretum handled a medical situation professionally, by getting EMS on site right away and without any disruption to the event. It turned out to be a minor medical incident, an esophageal spasm, but at the time was a little scary since my great aunt couldn't catch her breath. She is fine now, but the quick action of the staff during a potential medical emergency is greatly appreciated. The wedding and reception were absolutely beautiful and my husband, our parents and I are exceptionally pleased with our day.

out having to add pricy decor. The staff was more than accommodating and easily answered all our questions. Throughout all of the planning, the staff at the Arboretum, and our coordinators were in constant communication, double-checking our plans and letting us know as soon as possible if there were changes to be made or environmental details of which we need to be aware. While the catering was slightly more expensive than we initially wanted, all of our guests raved about how great the food was; some saying, "This is the best *fill in food here* I've ever had." Overall pricing for the place is on the lower end in the Minneapolis area, so making your own fairy-tale is made easy!

ve tried.

bride.

ery accommodating. We have a variety of dietary needs and dinnerware needs. They were prompt in responding and very willing to work to find a solution. The wedding coordinator was...nonexistent. We booked the venue in October and were not assigned a coordinator until April, our wedding was in July. We didn't hear anything from them until 2 weeks before the wedding and they were emailing the groom. It was a horrible experience, I was dealing with details 2 days before the wedding that should have been worked out 2 weeks or 2 months prior. The room was beautiful and everything came together, but that is because I had amazing family and friends who set up the room in a frenzy just hours before the wedding began. If you are going to work with the coordinator be prepared to be an organized bride.

ceremony. The prices are on the high side, but the hors d'oeuvres reception had excellent food and everbody raved (heard it was better than their sit down meal). The coordinator I worked with was pretty unorganized and unhelpful. I think if the venue actually tried to provide answers for all the details, they would do much better for weddings. All in all it was a beautiful place.