wedding

5 Things To Consider When Choosing A Wedding Venue

One of the many great things about living in the Twin Cities is that there is no shortage of beautiful wedding venues to choose from when planning your wedding. We’re confident you’ll be able to find the perfect wedding venue for your big day, but at the same time, when you have all these options to choose from, it can be hard to figure out which venue is best for you. This sentiment rings even truer when you consider that you probably don’t have a lot of experience choosing a wedding venue, so you may not know what things to look for or which features are a must have.

Everyone has different styles and tastes when it comes to their wedding venue, but in today’s blog, we want to share a few things that all brides and grooms will want to consider before they sign a contract with a venue.

Factors To Consider For Your Wedding Venue

Here’s a look at five things you and your future spouse will want to consider when choosing a wedding venue.

  1. Can They Accommodate Your Date? – First things first, you have to make sure that the venue is available on the day you’re targeting for your wedding. If they are already booked on your dream wedding day, there’s not much you can do. Unless the specific day has meaning to the couple, it’s easier to see what days are available at the venue and pick your wedding day from what’s available instead of trying to pick a specific weekend and hoping that the venue is open on that day. This is especially true if you’re trying to book less than a year out.
  2. Consider Your Guest List – You don’t need to have your full guest list in order before you book your venue, but it’s a good idea to get a ballpark estimate of how many people you intend to invite and how many you think will attend. Will all guests get a plus one? Will kids be invited? Start thinking about how many people you expect to attend, because that may impact your venue options. Some more intimate venues can only handle a set number of people, and if you book before you really think about your guest list, you may have to trim the list down further than you initially hoped.
  3. Inside/Outside Ceremony –  Do you hope to get married while the sun shines on your face and the birds chirp in the distance, or do you want to get married inside a beautifully decorated wedding hall? Start thinking about whether you want the ceremony to take place indoors or outdoors, and if you want an outdoor ceremony, be sure to have a backup plan in place in case the weather doesn’t comply. We have a number of venues like The Grand 1858 and The Riverside that can accommodate indoor or outdoor ceremonies based on the weather that day.
  4. Ease Of Access – It’s also a good idea to consider how easy it is for your guests to get to and from the venue. Parking isn’t always easy to find in the Twin Cities, and while you may be able to set up a shuttle service from your hotel, it pays to give some thought to how easy it will be for your guests to get to and from the venue. A lot of our venues have on-site parking or are very close to popular hotel choices, meaning your guests won’t have to make special arrangements to get to your wedding or get home when the fun is done.
  5. Budget – Finally, it only makes sense to have a budget in mind before you agree to a contract with any wedding venue. Your wedding venue may be one of your first expenses during the wedding planning process, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it plenty of thought before you pick a venue. At Entourage Events Group, we can help walk you through our pricing options and explain how going with an event’s service that can help with other aspects of your wedding can save you a lot of time and money down the road. We can help you find a venue that suits your budget and your vision.

If you do these five things, we’re confident that you’ll be happy with your wedding venue selection. And if you’d like help with this process or just want to learn more about the beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces we have available, click here to set up a walk through or give our team a call at (612) 564-3777.

5 Ways To Personalize Your Wedding

Weddings tend to follow a pretty traditional structure, with a ceremony, meal, reception and dancing, so it’s important to find ways to put your own personal touch on your big day. But what are some ways that you can personalize your wedding day so that it truly feels special and unique to you and your spouse? In today’s blog, we look at five ways you can insert some personal touches into your wedding day.

Personalizing Your Wedding Day

Here’s a few ways you can help your wedding feel a little more personal.

  1. Get Married By Someone Special To You – Let a friend or family member that is special to you and your spouse perform the marriage ceremony. As we’ve talked about on the blog in the past, it’s relatively easy to get ordained in Minnesota, and they’ll be able to add some personal touches to the ceremony that a professional you’re not all that familiar with won’t be able to. Talk about it with your fiance and see if there is a friend or family member who would consider performing the marriage ceremony.
  2. Musical Choices – Are there certain songs that are special to you and your future spouse? Does your family always play a couple of the same songs at every wedding? Sit down with your DJ and go over some of the must play songs for your reception, and really consider which songs you want to play during parts of your ceremony. Choose something that is special to you and your fiance.
  3. The Decor – A division of Entourage Events Group is dedicated to design and decor, so we can help breathe some personality into your ceremony and reception through decor and design. We can match colors to your theme or incorporate cultural elements into the decor so that the venue feels unique to the couple. Our design team will sit down with you well in advance of your wedding to help go over some design options and share some ideas for how we can help bring out your personality through our decor.
  4. The Menu – You can also celebrate your roots or show off your adventurous personality through your meal options. Whether you’re a traveler who wants their guests to sample some of your favorite dishes around the world, or you just want to showcase your heritage through some food choices that honor your culture, we can help find a menu that feels personal to you and your spouse. Our professional culinary team is more than happy to sit down with you and craft the perfect personalized menu.
  5. Drinks – Finally, if you want to get creative with your menu offerings without touching the main course, personalizing your drink menu is an easy and fun way to put a personal twist on the evening. You can put the bride and groom’s favorite cocktail on the menu, or we can offer some drinks that are favorites of the family. Our bartenders will enjoy the challenge of creating a cocktail or drink menu that has some extra meaning for the couple, so start thinking about how you can personalize your day through your beverage offerings.

For more tips on how you can personalize your wedding, or for help planning your big day, reach out to the team at Entourage Events Group today at (612) 564-3777.

6 Genius Ways To Save Money When Planning Your Wedding

For many couples, their wedding is a once in a lifetime event, and when viewed through this lens, it can be easy for expenses to add up in a hurry. No matter who you are, nobody wants to overpay for services or have unneeded expenses on their wedding day, so even if you plan to be pretty flexible with your budget, it pays to look for some ways to cut costs at your wedding. Below, we share six smart ways you can have the wedding of your dreams and save a little money in the process.

Tips For Saving Money When Wedding Planning

As we mentioned above, you can still have a picture perfect wedding while also keeping costs in mind. Here are somes of the ways smart couples look to cut down on unnecessary expenses when planning their wedding.

  1. Digital RSVPs – Most people still send out invitations through the mail, but you can get creative with your RSVPs to save a little money. Instead of paying for postage for your return RSVPs, direct your guests to a website where they can instantly and easily let you know if they can attend your wedding. If you want to get really fancy in the digital age, put a QR code on the invitation that takes guests directly to your RSVP page.
  2. Rent Your Bridesmaid Dresses – This tip will help your closest friends and family save a little money as they celebrate your big day. Instead of having your bridesmaids buy a specific dress for your wedding, consider having them rent a designer dress for a fraction of the cost of buying it outright. Places like Rent the Runway and Le Tote can provide fashionable designer dresses at a much smaller cost.
  3. Reuse Bouquets – As we talked about in this piece on how to maximize your floral budget, consider reusing your bridesmaid bouquets as decorations for your wedding. Use them as amazing centerpieces or to compliment the dessert table to cut down on floral expenses. Your florist worked hard on those bouquets, so show them off!
  4. In-House Catering – Oftentimes it’s cheaper and easier to go with an on-site catering company as opposed to bringing in food from off-site. At Entourage Events Group, a number of our premier wedding venues have on-site catering that can ensure everything is prepared as expected and on time. When working with an in-house caterer, there will be no surprises when the final bill comes.
  5. Outsource The Decor – We’re going to toot our own horn again simply because decor is an area where you can save money if you’re smart. Instead of buying a bunch of decorations that you’ll use once and then try to resell for a fraction of the cost on Facebook Marketplace, consider renting your decorations or hiring an event’s company like Entourage Events Group to decorate your wedding. We have tons of beautiful decorations that you can pick from, and best of all we’ll handle setup and take down, so your family and friends don’t have to try to decorate your venue on the day of the wedding.
  6. Plan In Advance – Oftentimes the sooner you need something, the more it’s going to cost you. Don’t put off finding a florist or a baker for your cake until your wedding is a month or two away. Shopping around when time is on your side usually helps you make an informed and budget-conscious decision instead of being handcuffed because you are running out of time.

If you do these six things and streamline the wedding planning process by hiring an event’s group like Entourage Events Group, we’re confident that you’ll have a spectacular wedding that won’t end up costing you an arm and a leg. For more information or to set up a tour of one of our venues, reach out to our team today at (612) 564-3777.

5 Ways To De-Stress The Wedding Planning Experience

Planning a wedding can be a wonderfully fun and amazingly stressful time in a person’s life, and while some people thrive under stress, others would rather the wedding planning process be as stress free as possible. If you want to do what you can to help eliminate stress from the equation, you’ll want to be proactive in how you approach certain aspects of your wedding. In today’s blog, we share five tips for de-stressing the wedding planning experience.

1. Start Early

Regardless of whether you want a short or long engagement, it’s imperative that you start making plans soon after getting engaged. Most venues operate on a “first come, first serve” basis, meaning the longer you wait to book a venue or a caterer, the greater the likelihood they’ll already be booked on a specific date. There’s no harm in contacting places early, especially if you’ve already picked a specific date so that they can get you on the calendar and you don’t have to stress about finding someone else because your first choice was already booked.

2. Indoor/Outdoor Availability

Because Minnesota experiences all four seasons, the weather can be quite unpredictable, even when you try to pick a day when the weather is historically nice. It’s completely normal to feel stressed about how the weather could impact your big day, but you can eliminate some of that stress by choosing a venue that offers both indoor and outdoor wedding options. If you want an outdoor wedding but the weather doesn’t comply, we can just move things indoors, and the weather won’t ruin your day. Both The Grand 1858 and The View offer indoor and outdoor ceremony options so you know whether won’t be an issue.

3. Remember That It’s Your Day

We understand that you want your guests to have a great time at your wedding, but it’s important to remember that it’s you and your future spouse’s big day, and you don’t need to bend over backwards to accommodate everyone else. Choose what you want and don’t stress over that decision. If you don’t want kids at your wedding, don’t feel like you have to include them on the invite, or if you need to cut down the guest list, consult with your future spouse and come up with a decision and stick by it. Remember, it’s totally okay to say no to requests, because it’s your day.

4. Outsource To The Professionals

We’re going to toot our own horn here a bit. Arguably the most stressful part of the wedding is getting everything to come together on the big day. Finding a venue, decorating the hall, figuring out where you’ll get dressed, hiring a caterer and a DJ, and so on. Make this process a whole lot easier by connecting with a company who can do all of this. At Entourage Events Group, we can set you up with the perfect venue, dazzle with one-of-a-kind decor, and let our catering and entertainment divisions feed your group and then get them out on the dance floor! Working with one company to arrange all of this makes it easy to stay connected and ensure everything goes exactly as expected as your wedding day arrives.

5. Perspective Is Important

And finally, one of the best pieces of advice that we can give is to keep things in perspective along the way. We understand that you want everything to be perfect, but try to remember that everything will be just fine if something unexpected happens along the way. If the stationary of your invites are a different color of fuchsia than you expected, or one of your bridesmaids is taking her sweet time picking out a dress, take a deep breath and relax. At the end of the day, you’re going to be married to your best friend, surrounded by family and friends who love and support you, and that’s what really matters. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and while that’s easier said than done, it can be helpful to take a step back and consider the bigger picture if you are beginning to get stressed about any aspect of your wedding.

To learn how Entourage Events Group can help take the stress out of the wedding planning process, pick up the phone and give our team a call today at (612) 564-3777 or fill out this short form to get in contact with a member of our team!

Entourage Events Group Logo
Entourage Events Group Logo

Are you interested in having your wedding or event in our event venues? Or have us cater or design your event? Either way, let’s chat!

(612) 564-3777
info@thentourage.com

Click here to send us an inquiry

©2010 – 2021 Entourage Events Group

The Entourage List

Get on our exclusive email list for all the latest Entourage Events Group specials & happenings.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Go to Top