The University Club of Saint Paul — Attraction in Saint Paul

While the venue itself is a classic and intimate atmosphere, perfect for our December wedding, the planning process was far from seamless. We should have known when our coordinator was absent during our initial tour, leading to a disorganized tour by a reception staff member. Over the next 12 months, communication struggles persisted, with lengthy response times to emails and confusion caused by turnover between coordinators. As mentioned in recent reviews, there appeared to be an understaffed and disorganized situation, causing unnecessary stress leading up to our wedding.

The peak of disappointment came during our rehearsal the night before, discovering our designated coordinator had left a week prior. This was probably for the best, as she was the least organized and unresponsive coordinator I have ever interacted with. However, someone should have reached out to us about this. There was no apology whatsoever. Furthermore, encountering rude and unhelpful behavior from the front desk attendant the night before our wedding added to the frustration. The countless hours invested in planning felt overshadowed by this lack of organization, creating unnecessary stress and uncertainty. The final moments leading up to our special day felt chaotic and uncoordinated.

On our wedding day, the front of house manager, Sami, stepped in to save our day. Her attentiveness and dedication were so appreciated, and we wish we had the opportunity to work with her throughout the planning process. The bartenders were exceptional, and our guests raved about the passed appetizers. There was a significant difference in the vegetarian meal from our tasting, which was supposed to be a quinoa risotto with roasted vegetables. Instead it was just boiled quinoa with bell peppers, sad raw tomatoes, and 1-2 mushrooms. Sami addressed this with grace, acknowledging is was a miscommunication among the chefs. Their attempt to compensate with more late-night pizzas was appreciated, but it was still disappointing.

The disorganization and lack of communication among event coordinators marred what could have been a flawless experience at such a beautiful, historic venue. Until they resolve their staffing issues, I would recommend considering alternatives for those planning a wedding. Our day was saved by the help of Sami and our other outstanding vendors, highlighting the flawlessness of their services against the backdrop of the...

Today I attended a “Celebration of Life” for Dr. Iris Helene Cornelius at the University Club of St. Paul on Summit Ave. Dr. Cornelius was a licensed psychologist with more than 30 years of experience working with businesses, community leaders and family organizations. She coached executives and professionals in a variety of family-owned and privately held companies and foundations. She led leadership development groups for women in business and conducted seminars on leading and learning within the corporate culture. She was a Trustee of the College of St. Benedict. and a former faculty member of the University of Minnesota and Macalester College. She served as a Board member of Catholic Charities, as a Regent of St. John’s University, as a Board Member of the St. Paul Foundation and the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. Dr. Cornelius was affiliated with the American Psychological Association, Minnesota Psychological Association, Family Business Alliance, Prairie Family Business Association, Family Firm Institute, and Metro Independent Business Alliance. Today, August 26th we gathered together from 1-3:00pm in the large meeting room at the University Club and had a gorgeous Memorial Program by members of her St. Paul/ Minneapolis Chapter of her Links Club Sisters. The Links, Incorporated, founded in 1946, is one of the oldest and largest of predominately African-American, not-for-profit, service organizations in the nation. The Links, Incorporated, is committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African-Americans and other persons of African descent. Music was performed by family member who brought his saxophone. Other family and community members stood at the podium and gave powerful testimonies to Dr. Cornelius’ amazing energetic life; always focused on lifting people’s spirits up and improving Mental Health. An IRIS garden plant bulb was given to each attending guest to plant at home. After the short program was finished, delicious refreshments were served and fellowship amongst the people attending! What an...

U club did not meet expectations as a wedding venue:

We had our wedding at University Club this summer. As wedding clients we found U Club to be unprofessional, disorganized, and unresponsive. After we signed with them 1.5 years ago, they had significant shifts in their staff. It seemed they were doing their best but stretched very thin. Unfortunately there was a period of a few months when my emails and phone calls went unanswered for weeks at a time. When they did answer my emails, it was unclear who the coordinator was and information was lost during those transitions. Because of these staffing changes and to clarify our event details, Univ Club organized 3 meetings before our wedding, which we were thankful for. Unfortunately, the coordinator was 30 minutes late to our first meeting. After our final walk-through, we were not given an updated invoice and I was shocked when an upwards $4000 credit card charge appeared on my AMEX 15 days prior to our wedding without a heads up or itemized invoice from U Club. It did not follow the payment schedule on our contract. I emailed the event coordinator for clarification and did not hear back for 4 business days. Our call to the office was not returned. After our event, my card was again charged before we received a final invoice.

We signed 13 other vendor contracts for our wedding. Our experience with U Club is below the industry standard. University Club is beautiful, historic, affordable, and the perfect size for our 80-person wedding. We were thankful they were accommodating with our requests to incorporate outside caterers, rented furniture pieces, florist, a DJ, and specialty cocktails. My fiancé is a St Paul native and grew up in this neighborhood, so it felt special and intimate. The U Club staff worked hard to make sure the wedding day ran smoothly. Unfortunately during the planning process we found U Club to be difficult to reach and disorganized, leaving us frustrated and stressed. At this time we are hesitant to recommend University Club St Paul as a...