Walker Art Center | Walker On-Site Events + Catering

We had a history with the Walker and fell in love with the idea of having our reception there. We started the planning process at the tail-end of the pandemic and had been excited to have our special day at a special location. However, working with Sherri was frustrating and difficult. Although many venues and staff were affected by the pandemic, we were mindfully empathetic throughout the venue search. Calls and emails went ignored for several weeks despite being engaged with the venue staff. Details were vague. We were assured of on a couple of requests, each of which fell apart quickly. Timelines went from "for sure" to "maybe, not likely". Again, we understood the challenges of the pandemic and forged ahead given how excited we were about the venue. And yet, the lack of professionalism and communication ultimately caused us to cancel the process just before signing a contract. It seemed as if Sherri really didn't want to be bothered with a wedding. At one point we were told "we're working with 60 other people for weddings, so... sorry for mix ups". When we were able to get a hold of Sherri after two-plus weeks of missed calls and unresponsive emails, we were told "I don't check my office voicemail, and I hadn't seen your emails, but I was going to eventually get back to you when we saw each other" (at the next scheduled viewing). When we asked for an alternate point of contact, we were told "a sales person will handle this soon, so I won't have to do it any more". There certainly was a lack of trust and an implication of being a burden throughout the whole process. I had higher expectations of a “director” level employee. Overall we were severely disappointed, especially after trying to keep the ball going despite the setbacks. We hoped for so much more from a legendary venue. Perhaps your experience will be better as we return to normal but proceed with caution.

We could not be happier with our choice to host our wedding at the Walker Art Center! We looked at a lot of venues in the Twin Cities immediately fell in love with the downtown Minneapolis views, the outdoor ceremony space and the simple, but beautiful indoor spaces. We held our ceremony outside on the upper Garden Terrace with cocktails on the terrace below that and then moved everyone up to the Skyline room for dinner and dancing. So many of our guests are still raving about how beautiful it all was. My first piece of advice to anyone looking for a wedding venue is to not only pay attention to what you want in the space, but also the person you'll be working with there, as they will play a huge role in your planning as well as the day itself. For us, having Brenda as our contact at the Walker was another major selling point! She was knowledgeable, responsive, fun, and provided great advice along the way, making us feel like she was truly invested in giving us the experience we wanted vs. just making a sale. Since the Walker requires you to use Culinaire for all food and beverage (other than cake/desert), I'm also including this in my review. The food was pricey, but outstanding (and we have high standards when it comes to food)! We had passed appetizers during our cocktail hour as well as a full plated dinner and then pizza for a late night snack. Everything was delicious and the staff was even considerate enough to bring me a plate of two of each of our appetizers to make sure I had a chance to try them all during all of the craziness of the cocktail hour. If you are looking for a fun/elegant/iconic venue with great spaces both inside and out, I would highly recommend the Walker!

We just had our wedding at the Walker this weekend and it was fantastic!! They were accommodating with all requests (including cooling rooms down further), the spaces were beautiful, and the food by Culinare International was amazing! We worked with Joel Dahlberg and Brenda P and they were great. On occasion, Joel would be busy with other events and it would take a few days to hear back, but in the few weeks leading up to the event he was more than accommodating and available. There were a few areas where we were given surprise costs, like the dance floor is an extra charge, as well as most audio-visual needs. The staff during the event were excellent, and multiple guests raved that it was the best wedding they had been to. We did our cocktail hour in the Garden Terrace Room, dinner and speeches in the Skyline Room, and dessert and dancing back in the Garden Terrace Room. We did hire an outside wedding planner and day of coordinator because we weren't allowed into the event spaces until the day of, so our planner set up all of the centerpieces, escort cards, and other decorations. Overall we had so much fun that they kindly had to ask us to leave at the end of the night.

We loved working with the Walker and our site coordinator Victoria. The Walker was one of the first places we went to after moving to the twin cities and we fell in love with the art and the amazing architecture. Culinaire is now the catering company working with the Walker, and their food and service was impeccable - beyond delicious and unique! Victoria was very communicative and flexible every step of the way and you can tell that she cares about the couples she works with. We had a NYE wedding (so it was all inside) and used three separate spaces: the garden terrace room for the sunset ceremony (beautiful views of sunset and the city, super high ceilings, and a modern space), the Walker restaurant upstairs for our cocktail hour (moody and a beautiful contrast to the other spaces), and our reception was in the skyline room (there are no words for how amazing this space is). We wanted to highlight the modern architecture of the space and went for white floor length linens and loose greenery with white florals in concrete and minimalist planters (highly recommend kindred blooms!) and lots and lots of candles -- the space came alive and felt romantic, modern, and perfect for NYE. If you're looking for a modern venue that looks amazing in pictures but isn't industrial, this is the space for you. after our ceremony, my husband and I were able to sneak off for some quiet moments alone in our favorite gallery and it's one of my favorite memories of the day. The new renovation of the building is top notch and the service from the staff made us feel like we were their family. Can't recommend enough!