Windows at Marquette — Attraction in Minneapolis

My husband and I, were married at Windows in July 2021! Everything leading up to the wedding was picture perfect. But, the day of the wedding and everything after the wedding was UNPROFESSIONAL AND A TRAVESTY.

Kyle Heidelberger, was our original wedding coordinator (ONLY UNTIL A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING.)

We were accused of smoking and dirtying up the IDS Lobby (a public common area) that could have been any person walking through the IDS lobby/common area. SO, THAT WAS ANOTHER COUPLE HUNDRED DOLLAR FINE (ON TOP OF OTHER FINES THAT WERE GIVEN NO EXPLANATION.) No proof. We asked for pictures and videos, nothing was provided.

Communication issues were the biggest hurdle dealing with this place. They will only reach out when it's in the best interest for them. I've called multiple times, never to return my calls. AGAIN, YOU'D THINIK AFTER SPENDING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND SIGNING CONTRACTS, YOUR CALLS WOULD BE RETURNED.

Bartenders were rude all night. Giving our wedding guests trouble all night. Wedding bartenders along with the bartenders in the hotel lobby. They were rude to our guests all night. The bartending wedding crew, was charging our guests drinks. WE BOUGHT A WEDDING PACKAGE FOR ALCOHOL, YET NOT MAKING OUR GUESTS PAY??? The wedding bartending crew was hesitant to serve the bride and groom. What a joke. We've brought this to the venues attention, nothing was done. Shocker!

Bartending staff had an attitude when our guests went to the lobby to drink. The bar closed an two hours early. AND HAD THE NERVE TO GET MAD AT OUR GUESTS FOR ASKING WHY THEY'RE CLOSING TWO HOURS EARLY. Common theme, terrible service and lack of communication for an explanation.

Post wedding, on our honeymoon. We received a FRAUD ALERT from our bank. The venue tried taking out EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! WITHOUT COMMUNICATING WITH US!! What business operates that way!!? Zach Hilderbrandt, the current accountant tried taking out 8k, then 5k, and then 2k WITHOUT EVER SPEAKING TO US, MEETING US, OR EVER TRYING TO MAKE CONTACT WITH US.

Meanwhile, we were instructed we'd be made aware ANY TIME there's a payment being taken out of the account. AGAIN, NO COMMUNICATION. End result, my wife didn't have a credit card for two weeks after this unprofessional from Zach Hilderbrandt.

WHEN WE ASKED TO SPEAK WITH OUR ORIGINAL WEDDING PLANNER (KYLE), THIS IS WHEN WE WERE OFFICIALLY TOLD HE'S NO LONGER WORKING AT WINDOWS. Weeks after the wedding.

Also, bought the package to box up the food at the end of the night, by staff. Did we get the leftover food we paid thousands of dollars for? Haha you already know that food was in the spot it was left the night before. WE ASKED FOR A DISCOUNT ON THE FOOD!! "THERES NOTHING WE CAN DO."

We were also told from Zach Hilderbrandt, we could pay off the 8k over three months. We said agreed. Couple days later, "we're going to need a much more aggressive payment plan." They gave us a week to come up with an extra EITGHT...

Starting with the positives - the space was beautiful and the staff working at the event the night of were fantastic. The food and appetizers were also great. However, the event management staff were very unorganized which lead to a lot of last minute issues before the wedding. A member of the staff was promoted (Kyle), which lead to our wedding being handed off to a new point of contact (Sydney) a few months before our wedding. Scheduling a tasting took months - we started trying to schedule in July and ended up finally having a tasting the end of September (which lead to a delay in our invitations going out). After the tasting, the event staff email addresses and phone numbers changed without notice - we were unable to get in touch with anybody in the events management department for weeks. We scheduled a final walk thru two months before our wedding - at this walk thru we were told they would have to increase the price of our contract. Luckily, I kept proof of previous signed contracts with our original pricing and previous communications with event staff promising our pricing would not change. However - this is not a fight you want to have two months before the wedding. Every little detail needed to be confirmed and re-confirmed. For example, we had a waived cake cutting fee as part of our contract. However, the event staff said this probably did not include the ability to plate bundt cakes. After emails back and forth - they were able to conclude the staff could plate the bundt cakes. The night before the wedding we were supposed to meet with an event staff member to charge our card for the final amount due. The staff member never showed (after waiting at the front desk for 30 mins which caused us to be late to our rehearsal dinner). We gave the hotel front desk our card number and the event staff charged us a surprise $6,000.00 (was supposed to be $1,000.00). This was not fixed until the Tuesday after our Saturday wedding. The day of the wedding, the event staff did not put the correct number of chairs at the tables (we only had 10 tables) - which our wedding coordinator had to fix the day of (luckily there was a stack of chairs in the corner of the room). We also told our guests we paid for their parking, however the event staff forgot to provide us with validation stickers (again our coordinator fixed this - honey b. coordinating is amazing). If you book with this venue - keep your paperwork and emails organized. Be prepared to be very proactive and keep an eye on charges...

First helpful hint-ask about the promotions they offer! We saved some money on a wine pour, get ready room, comp suite with parking and upgrade dance floor (white was so pretty!)

We had Amazing Wedding 10/15/2022 at Windows on Minnesota! Started the day with a get ready room prepared by the hotel and added on breakfast for the wedding party on the 3rd floor which was so spacious and made PERFECT get ready photos! Groomsmen used a suite to get ready in and we loved having our own spaces to keep the morning calm and special for all of us. Our ceremony was off site, but used Stars for a cocktail space for our 200 guests which had perfect views and LOVE the passed mushroom arancini appetizer!! My only recommendation is adding an extra bar (3rd bar for us) so the lines are not long for your guests.

Our reception was in Galaxy and the plated dinner options were truly amazing with our chosen options of Beef short ribs, asiago chicken, pesto salmon (thank you Chef Evan and Chef Mike for making this an option!) and the mushroom risotto! I continue to hear from our guests that each dinner and pear salad was so good! Special shout our to Angel in Engineering for helping us with a special request!

The banquet staff Michael, Diane, Melissa, Grace, Ricarda, Randy, Mohamud and Milton were so kind and accommodating to our guests. We brought in Sammy's Sweet Cupcakes which avoided the $5 per person cake cutting fee and loved each flavor.

Sydney, Sarah and Scott were awesome with all our details and set ups along with communicating and updates that occurred. my husband and I were very chill and organized during the planning process and I know they juggle so many events.

It was the best day ever and thank the events team for making so many details come to life and allowing us to be carefree and enjoy our day! -Nate and Kat

P.s. Our Vendors were AMAZING too!! Ceremony: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Downtown Campus Photography: Meg's Eye Photography Videography: WeDoWeddingVideography Florist: Sadie's Floral Jeweler: Gittelson Jewelers Makeup: Glow with Dej: Dejanira Busch Hair: MN Lux Artsitry: Alisa Coleman Dj: Instant Request (upgrade to the cold sparklers-you will NOT regret it!) Music/Piano: Jonathan Tauscheck Caterer: Windows on Minnesota Transportation: Executive...