Semple Mansion — Attraction in Minneapolis

I will give this place 5 stars for the beautiful venue, and all the character in the mansion that lend to gorgeous pictures with the bridal party.

If I could give negative stars for the rest, I would. The day that we showed up for my little sister's wedding we found that the refrigerator was broken. When we told the lady running the venue she said "Oh, yeah it was out last weekend and we had someone come fix it... guess it's broken again." From that point on no one from the venue did anything to help with the refrigeration issue from calling any contractor in the area to helping get ice or anything. It would have at least been nice for them to put forth an effort since we had a lot of food/drinks that needed to be kept cold the day of and had to get creative and make several ice runs.

There are literally NO utensils at this venue at all for use - don't expect to find a bottle opener, a spoon, a can opener or anything else you wouldn't think to bring on your wedding day because the venue should at least have the basics.

There was a sparkling grape juice toast directly after the wedding and the venue was providing all the champagne flutes. One of the ladies helping with the wedding decided just to pull a few of them out of the dish washing trays to ensure they were clean. We had an entire tray's worth that had food in them (not just water spots) as well as lip stick and lip marks. When I brought this to the attention of the second lady to show up that day to run the venue, she said it was impossible to get lip stick/lip marks off of glasses (excuse me??) and that I should just take a paper towel and wipe them off. When she asked my oldest sister what was wrong, she said she didn't have time to get all the glasses cleaned and the lady from the venue said, "well, do you have anyone else that can help?" Never once did she offer to help us with anything at the event space until she heard us arguing about it, stormed over to the bar area and yelled at everyone to get out and she would take care of it. My thought is, sorry to inconvenience you since WE PAID YOU TO DO THIS.

Also, my little sister had gone through the seating arrangement for tables for the reception showing where the desserts, photo booth, and coffee bar would be set up; day of the wedding comes and when the photo booth vendor shows up, my family and I had to rearrange all the tables to accommodate them in the space my sister had originally indicated to them.

Last, but not least, my little sister had the venue from 9 am until 11:30 pm and all the way up until 5 pm there were people coming in for acupuncture, massage service, and apparently some sort of makeup service. They came in asking all of us where those vendors were, and of course we had no clue since we were unaware there would be businesses open on a Sunday during the time we were at the event.

All in all, my little sister had no clue any of this happened because myself and the rest of the family shielded her from all of this. Her day was beautiful and just the way she planned. We had to jump through hoops to make it that way for her, and this venue almost seemed as if they couldn't care less that she was getting married. Never once did they check in with her to make sure...

Our wedding took place Sept, 18 2020. We had fabulous weather and the venue was fantastic and exactly what we were looking for. Katherine and the crew communicated with us throughout the entire process. They worked closely with us regarding multiple COVID issues and made sure there would be no surprises. Never at any point did we feel like they were just out for our money.

Venue: Yes, this is an old mansion. Obviously old buildings have their own character as it pertains to scent, but in no way did it smell like mold like a certain review reports, and never at any point did any of our guests mention that it smelled bad. You can also tour the venue and check everything out yourself as many times as you want before making any decisions. We found that it had beauty and charm and an old school feel we were looking for with plenty of space for our guests. The bathrooms are a bit tight and the pool table left a little to be desired, but neither took anything away from the day be wonderful. The bridal and grooms rooms were great spaces for all involved. All in all we had a great experience in a wonderfully charming building.

Bar: This was the only venue that would allow us to bring in our own alcohol! Highly recommend this option. So, we did that and then paid the per-person fee they charge for the bar. Because of COVID, we had guests dropping left and right leading up to the wedding day. Katherine worked with us and let us pay her on the day of the wedding for the bar instead of the 2 days prior. Yes, its only 2 days but she ended up saving us some money and was extremely understanding. This was a very nice thing for her to do for us. The bartenders they provided have be doing this for years and were on top of everything. Things went very smooth and all guests had nothing but good things to say about the bar situation.

Food: We used Brie Catering. Went with appetizers following the ceremony and then dinner up on the 3rd Floor. Food was delicious and again, Brian worked with us up to the day of the wedding on the guest count and saved us some money. Solid move by Brian. He's a very energetic guy who is very passionate about providing a good product.

Décor: We used Semple's in house Positively Charmed. Leslie was very easy to work with and everything was in place and ready to go the morning of....

Semple Mansion has my wholehearted recommendation. I was married at Semple Mansion two weeks ago, and I couldn't imagine a more perfect wedding venue. If you are looking for a classy, elegant, stunning wedding venue in an ideal location in the city, look no further!

As soon as I stepped foot in the mansion, I felt my search was over. The main level has a perfect space for your ceremony, along with a bar and lounge area for cocktail hour. The basement has the super funky Wine Grotto, where you can have an additional bar! The groom and groomsmen also have ample space to get ready and hang out in the basement where these is a billiards table.

Upstairs, there is a stunning bridal suite, which was one of the main features I was looking for. It was so valuable to me as a bride to have that spacious, private area as I got ready with my girls. It's also the perfect place to disappear to for a few minutes when you need space on your wedding day.

Finally, the ballroom is a showstopper. The ballroom is the perfect setting for a formal dinner, and after dinner, you can either have your dance upstairs in the ballroom or back downstairs (we chose upstairs).

The mansion is of course stunning on its own, but I recommend contacting the in-house decor vendor, Leslie at Charmed Boutique. Leslie has a gorgeous inventory of decor that complements Semple Mansion perfectly, and she is delightful to work with!

The layout of the mansion is simply perfect for a wedding. There are ample spaces for your guests to spread out throughout the day, from the Wine Grotto in the basement to the front porch outdoors to the spacious ballroom upstairs. I was having so much fun upstairs that I actually forgot to even visit the Wine Grotto!

Beyond the venue itself, the incredible coordinator, Katherine Bailey, makes the entire process so smooth and enjoyable. Katherine is the best! She is incredibly helpful and responsive, and I am so grateful to have had her on my team.

I will always remember this place so fondly. Do yourself a favor and book Semple Mansion for your wedding!...