The American Swedish Institute

We got married on 09/20/2019 and knew the moment we first walked out to the courtyard that this would be our venue. Everything about this place is gorgeous and completely lived up to our hopes. Although our first coordinator left a month before the wedding, everything went smoothly and our replacement did a fantastic job. They helped me plan every step and made it super easy. Our ceremony was on the front steps of the mansion and our reception was in the courtyard. We had to move inside at 10pm due to city law but that didn't stop us from having a good time. They provided table cloths, extra tables, and bartenders. The catering was so delicious, although I didn't get a chance to eat much with everything going on. Over all we are very happy with our experience and can't wait to visit again. I would recommend this venue to anyone!

We had a fabulous experience at ASI. The Institute was responsive and helpful, the food was great, and the atmosphere was perfect.

Our family and friends have been telling us it was the best wedding they've ever been to! Short, sweet with the historic background is the way to go. Our guests loved viewing the mansion before dinner, the food was great and Amanda did wonders for us!

I was married at ASI on 10/20/2018 and could not be happier with every aspect of the event. My husband and I worked with Amanda to plan and coordinate our event, and she was a huge help in making sure things were easy to understand, that we were aware of deadlines before they came up. She was also very friendly and easy to work with. She also made sure that the event would be a reflection of the two of us-- if we had a concern or wanted to tweak something, she handled it! Slate & Stone, the in-house caterer, impressed both of us with their offerings-- everything we tried was top-notch and fit the season. A few of our guests had dietary restrictions, and ASI was able to accommodate them without hesitation. The day of, things went off without a hitch. Our guests knew where to go, dinner was perfect, the bartenders were friendly, and gifts and cards were kept safe and secure-- which let my husband and I enjoy the night with our guests! I'd recommend ASI to anyone.

While we didn't have a wedding there, the place where I work, the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, did have our annual gathering, which is like a gala, there. And I must say, when the food is great, everyone will rave for months. We had a packed event with 250 people seated, with a pre-event in the mansion and it went off without a hitch. The mansion's little ballroom was perfect for an intimate talk, discussion and film clip. The small bar and passed appetizers there people loved due to the ambiance and character. The photos there were also lovely. The main reception had a good feel considering we integrated a silent auction where Fika is on the main floor, which then people had the option to head upstairs to the seated area with the bar. That flow was natural and people loved just walking into the space. We can't ignore how helpful the attached parking lot is to out of town guests. It's my #1 issue with Saint Paul is that worry. Having it here, we had no concerns on people getting there and they all loved that they could walk right up. Expectations were easy to convey. If my event didn't outgrow the space, I would totally have another gala here. With heavy heart, we had to choose another site for 2019, but were I to have another small major donor event, the Mansion is utterly perfect for that. Their event planner Amanda is a professional, able to work with me halfway into planning as a staff member took another position and she accommodated every odd request to frantic call I made with grace and ease. She alone is worth having an event there because of how organized and calming her presence is. You'll see once you meet with her what I mean. And if I were to get married today instead of 6 years ago, I would've totally chosen this site over St. Anthony Main, no question.

This venue is magical. Our wedding was BETTER than we could ever imagine and Amanda Vanderplas is to thank for that. She was in regular contact with us, answering any questions we had. The catering company, Slate & Stone, is incredible. We had our reception outside in the courtyard and the weather was quite chilly. Despite the cold, our food came out piping hot and everyone's mouths were watering. I will never regret choosing ASI as our wedding venue.

We held our wedding reception and dinner at ASI on July 28, 2018. The venue is already gorgeous so very little decorating/flowers needed. Amanda, the Catering Sales Manager, was so easy to work with and she and the staff swooped in and quickly swapped us into an indoor room when an isolated shower unexpectedly showed up right before dinner. The employees were delightful and really added to the energy of the evening. Family and friends raved about the dinner and desserts. We opted for a mansion viewing versus a dance after dinner which worked out perfectly. Couldn't have enjoyed the day more.

We celebrated our daughter's July wedding with ceremony on the steps of the mansion and dinner reception following in the courtyard. The setting was absolutely gorgeous and precisely what the couple was looking for in an urban setting. The event managers and staff were so helpful with attention to every detail.

I just had my wedding at ASI on 9/16/2017 and we were completely blown away! I attended the Swedish School on Saturday mornings as a kid at ASI and it was so much fun to come full circle and get married on the front lawn of the mansion. After booking with Lisa Krueger, the event coordinator, I was in constant communication with her. She answered every single one of my (many) questions over the past year. She was extremely flexible and allowed me to put my own spin on the day. She is amazing!!! The food was phenomenal! I was getting compliments all night from guests about how pleased they were with the food (lemon rosemary chicken, peach bourbon braised boneless short rib, and butternut squash ravioli). It was such a fun, special night that no one wanted to leave. I definitely recommend this venue to anyone looking for a unique, cultural experience! Skol!

We just held both our ceremony and reception at ASI, and could not be happier with our choice. Every detail was catered too, and the venue itself is amazing. Lisa, the event coordinator at ASI, made our event the smoothest, most stress-free event I've ever been a part of. The food was exceptional, and if I could do it all over again I would love to relive our wedding at ASI!

Maggie and all the Slate and Stone/ASI staff were fantastic to work with. The venue was beautiful, intimate and unique; the food was delicious, affordable, and well presented. The staff was engaged and helped keep our wedding the look and budget we wanted. Thank you again to them all!

We recently held our companies Annual Awards Banquet at ASI (February 2017, 125 People) & had a great experience. Our cocktail hour was in the mansion & our plated dinner in Larsen Hall. The Herbed Profiterole appetizer is not to be missed & I received many, many positive praises of the food. The desserts were anti-climatic, but the chocolate torte tasted much better than it looked. The staff was great, delivering everything we had discussed & allowed me to be in the space early to do some setup. I received numerous compliments on the venue from my co-workers & would definitely recommend for anyone looking for somewhere with added interest.

American Swedish Institute (ASI) was a FANTASTIC venue for our wedding in every way possible! The entire staff was exceptional, and the person we worked with the most (Lisa) was extremely accommodating, responsive, and had great suggestions. They really thought through the event from our point of view, and we are so grateful for them. It was so fun, in fact, that we are already thinking through our 5 year anniversary at ASI!! We highly recommend this venue!

ASI was the perfect place for a wedding reception! The staff was so easy to work with, especially Lisa Krueger! We had a magical wedding in large part to this beautiful venue!

We were married in the courtyard on Memorial Day weekend and had our reception in Larson Hall. Lisa and the Slate and Stone/Culinaire staff did a fantastic job. Everything went smoothly, the location was gorgeous and the food was delicious. Top notch.

My winter wedding was held there November 22, 2014. The facilities were great for the small (60 guest) wedding my husband and I desired. As we wanted a secular wedding finding a beautiful venue that we could actual have the ceremony preformed in during the end of November in Minnesota left us in a bind but the American Swedish institute delivered. The ceremony was held in the front salon and our cocktail hour was in the main hall but the guests were allowed to mingle though the main floor and up to the mezzanine area as well. Our site coordinator changed mid planning but that was not a problem both helped us beautifully. On the actual wedding day she was able to judge and make recommendations when to move from the cocktail hour to the plated reception taking the stress of myself and mother. Our reception was held in the Nelson cultural center on the second floor in the area just up the stairs. This gave us a wonderful view of the Mansion lit up for the evening as well as an intimate space for us to mingle with all of our guests. The food was amazing. Our appetizers included Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce, deviled eggs, and two types of brochetta . We had a wonderful bone in chicken and mustard sauce with potatoes and carrots as a side and a unique salad to start off our plated meal. We skipped the traditional wedding cake in favor of deserts. Half our guests were served cheesecake and the other half berry cobbler.

Just had my wedding at the American Swedish Institute (both the ceremony and reception). It stretched our budget, but it turned out to really be the factor that made our wedding amazing and special. It is so beautiful, both inside and outside. The cocktail hour was in the actual mansion and we received so many compliments from guests. The ceremony was outside and the venue was a beautiful back drop for the ceremony. I think the best part of our experience though was the service. We had two representatives, Lisa and Maggie, who worked with every single we had, which was quite a lot. We didn't have a wedding planner, so they were especially helpful is figuring out all of the details for us and also pointed out items that we could save costs on. The food at the reception was also amazing. We had an open bar and the venue worked with us at having custom drinks that one of our groomsmen invented. We had an awesome experience- the service provided and beautiful venue were worth every penny!!

My daughter's recent wedding reception was held at the Swedish Institute. I was a little nervous about holding it there since I'd read some less than stellar reviews of the place, but my daughter and her fiancé loved the space and my entire family is Scandinavian. We decided to risk it, hoping that changing to in-house catering had also meant they'd improved their service. I'm so glad we did! Everything was perfect, thanks in large part to Kaitlin Astleford, who's the catering sales representative. Kaitlin worked with us from when we signed the contract through the reception. She was professional, responsive, accommodating and nice. She was there through the entire reception and made sure that all of our earlier requests were carried out and that everything ran smoothly. The Turnblad Mansion provided a gorgeous venue for cocktails and appetizers, and our guests also loved being able to explore the exhibits and upper floors of the mansion. Larson Hall in the Nelson Cultural Center was a beautiful space for dinner and dancing (we had 21 tables for guests, plus a 7 piece band and weren't at all crowded). Several of our guests remarked on the delicious food (courtesy of Slate and Stone Catering), and the service provided by the waitstaff and bartenders was professional and efficient. We couldn't have asked for a better wedding reception and would highly recommend the Swedish Institute!

ASI is an absolutely stunning, unique venue. The architecture is incredible and the spaces they have suit just about any need. Unfortunately, event planning staff at the venue is so lacking and the service so terrible that, even with the incredible space, I wouldn’t recommend this as an event venue to anyone. At its price point ($5000 to rent the facility, not including catering and alcohol through their in-house service, which runs comparable to D’Amico and other high-end caterers), ASI is competing with some of the most well-established venues in the Cities. However, the service we received felt more in line with what would be provided at a park and rec facility. It was absolutely not worth the money. To start, in the year and a half that we were planning my wedding, we had no fewer than 5 different event coordinators assigned to our event. Communication within the event planning staff was utterly lacking – each time we had a new coordinator assigned it was like starting at square one and the information we were given changed constantly. We had to fight tooth and nail to get the event staff to even honor the terms of our contract. Dealing with ASI was easily the single biggest stressor of the entire process. However, even with all of the planning issues, the worst part about the entire process was the day of the wedding. A month prior to the event, we sat down with our (second to last) coordinator, who was actually quite competent. She spent a good part of an afternoon walking us through the day, helping us to think through the event and the venue. We established a timeline and discussed the items that she would be taking care of, as well as the items that would be delegated to others. Unfortunately, at some point between that meeting and the wedding she left. I wasn’t informed of the change until two days before my wedding, but was assured that her replacement had all of the necessary information and would be there to take care of everything. That didn’t happen. It was clear that her replacement didn’t have information regarding any of the items we had discussed. Not only were things not taken care of, the coordinator was nowhere to be found – he left after the cocktail hour. The party still happened and everyone had a great time. We made it work. But, for what ASI is presenting itself as, a bride shouldn’t be, for example, running around in her wedding gown trying to find an employee to adjust the lights for dancing (we had our first dance in the dark). And when a client is told explicitly that things will be taken care of by the event staff, they should be taken care of. I spent too much of my wedding day worrying about the details that weren’t being taken care of. ASI needs to drastically improve its event planning; in particular, its communication among its staff and with clients. If you absolutely love the venue and want to give it a try anyway, the only way I would do it again is to have the best wedding planner that I could find working on it from day one, all the way through send off and clean up - a day of planner won't be enough. ASI simply cannot be relied upon to handle what needs to be done to ensure an event happens smoothly.

Gorgeous setting for a wedding ceremony and/or reception. I had my wedding in June, and unfortunately a new Events Coordinator had just replaced the more experienced one, which caused a few extra bumps in the road, but overall she did well and I'm sure she will only improve as she gets more experienced with procedures there. My biggest complaint was that the reception room was not ready on time to begin set-up. They promised our vendors could get in at 12pm, but it wasn't until 12:40pm that the room was cleaned from the night before. This caused chaos with my florist and other designers who were setting up the reception hall.

ASI is a very nice venue, but they will nickle and dime you for eveything.

We were married in the Turnblad Mansion at the American Swedish Institute in December 2012. It was beautifully and simply decorated for Christmas so we had minimal additions to make. I booked this venue 11 months prior to the wedding date and didn't find out until the day of the wedding when we arrived that there was a huge choir performance going un up until a few hours before the ceremony. The parking was a nighmare, people kept entering the changing room and trying to get pictures done was a joke. I was extremely dissapointed with the way the staff handled this event. They acted as if we had to wait until the choir was finished before taking pictures, when that was not what we were originally told. This made for more hassle that it was worth. All said and done, I probably would have chosen a more professional venue, but for the price it was truly a great value.