Blaisdell Manor - Minneapolis

Went to a wedding here. Air Conditioning. The venue was lovely and the staff was all really friendly. Air Conditioning. From the outside the place looks like an old Victorian Home. Inside its been refurbished to be somewhat of a site of entertainment, for parties or what have you. Air Conditioning. For the wedding, both the ceremony and reception were held in the same room. They did a great job clearing everyone to cocktail hour to set up for the reception. The food was surprisingly delicious and the beer wine was flowing and constantly being refilled! Air Conditioning. For our food, you had a choice (which was on the response card for the wedding). I had the salmon, MP had steak. Other people at our table had chicken, vegetarian and a kids meal! Food seemed to be enjoyed by all. When the waitstaff brought our food they were all in tune and did everything as rehearsed. Bravo. One thing they lacked. Air Conditioning. Not sure if I mentioned that?!? People were literally dripping, I can't even imagine how the waitstaff was feeling. At one point they brought out fans...for serious. If the air conditioning had been working in that room, I think Blaisdell would have definitely been closer to 4 1/2 stars. I don't think its equipped to hold over 100 people in one room without getting snow machines or something..... I really think this place would be beautiful in the fall or winter. The wedding was lovely (except air conditioning). It does have a bit of an outdated look to it, but I think that's what this place is going for....

This review is on the wedding venue tour only given by Janet. We are starting to plan my daughter 's upcoming wedding and the Blaisdell was our second tour. Last night we went in for a 5:30pm tour. I felt she rushed us through the tour, as she had also planned another one 30 minutes later, and it felt like she did not want to talk any pricing with us. We were literally standing back in the doorway with her ready to push us out without even had talking numbers. At that point, while standing in the doorway, I was asking about the fees and taxes that get added to their venue rental. And she quickly spewed some numbers at me that she had written down. When I asked her if she had a copy of those numbers she said, no, but you can take a picture of what I have here ... and then laid out her numbers sheet for me to 'take a picture of. ' So, for you that want to save some time I will attach the picture of their pricing which comes in at $9,145 for the venue which covers the rental of the mansion from 9:00 am until midnight and 1 security guard. It includes round tables and very pretty chairs for most of the guests, and what she considered to be a 'harvest table for the wedding party... I took a picture of the harvest table as well in case your idea of a harvest table and theirs are a little different) She did not have the round tables there for us to see for the rest of our guests, but she 'assured ' us they were nice since she says they are covered with table clothes. When I asked her if table clothes were included in their venue rental, she said No, you need to talk to our preferred catering vendors. If you want to have your rehearsal there on a day other than day of wedding, add $250 to the total and you can use their space for an hour on the Thursday night before the wedding. Here are things that the price does not cover: A day of coordinator hire your own or you can hire the girl that works there, but she did not know pricing. Table clothes, napkins, glassware, silverware etc.... no, you need to talk to one of their 10 preferred vendors. Cost of trash removal no, you need to talk to one of their 10 preferred vendors. Honestly, their prices are not that far off of others, and the venue charges cover what is pretty normal, but thought the tour guide was pretty rude, vague and almost seemed annoyed by my questions. Maybe Janet was having a bad day, but based off the impression I was given, I would not recommend this place to anyone. UPDATE: I thought I would be able to add a few pictures but can not. But the 'Harvest ' table they have for the wedding party is actually more of a cafeteria style table with metal folding legs.... ;

Booked this venue for my wedding. They messed up the over priced cake, gift area, cocktail napkins and parting gifts to the guests. Required us to have security for the end of the night (a good idea), but the off duty police offer STAYED inside as the guests departed. We had table assignments that we went over with the Manor in advance and they served the father of the bride towards the end of the plated dinner service. The cleaning staff was super eager to keep the reception venue clean and kept discarding drinks of guests as they were dancing. Additionally they threw away everything we left- table arrangements, etc. (which if they would have told us, a bridesmaid would have picked up). Too bad- the venue is cute, great layout, and good food. They are outside of downtown, so don't have the event tax and you can order the beverages from a liquor store to save money. Overall- The event staff is lacking and a disappointment. Hire an outside wedding coordinator to keep them on track!

I spent an evening at the Blaisdell Manor for the Malpractice Ball on Saturday. The Malpractice Ball is formal gathering of law and med students from the University of Minnesota (read about the whole concept in Melissa L. 's review from last year). Basically, it 's a grad school free-for-all... in party dresses and suits. Blaisdell Manor has a mega-outdated look to it, like a granny 's parlour room that is never used. Except this place IS used, so it also has a spilled beer mustiness that comes from hosting fraternity and sorority formals (I 'm sure we did our duty too, with the open bar and all). The venue spans multiple levels, and it bothered me that everything (and everyone) was so isolated. The main floor is a big high-ceiling ballroom, and upstairs is less expansive but has a pool table. I spent most of my time in the basement, oddly enough, where they had karaoke set up. I loved that there were so many sitting areas available when my dogs were barking from dancing, but the place could use more restrooms. The two burgundy bathrooms downstairs are actually quite nice but looked like they had been decorated by my mom. Seriously, my parents ' guest bath is almost identical. Compared to last year, the staff was better equipped to handle us and I never had to wait too long for a beer. They had one bartender serving only tap beer. She was awesome. Aside from her though, I thought the Blaisdell Manor was pretty lackluster.

The professional schools at the U think Law, Medicine, and Public Health got together to hold their annual Malpractice Ball at Blaisdell Manor this year. That's when people can take a shower and put something on other than scrubs (med school), pleated jeans (law school), or holey sweatpants (public health). Although I saw a guy wearing zebra print jammers. Essentially, it's like prom for grad school. But this time, you can drink! And there are no chaperons! It's not like the enormous mansions on Summit Avenue or anything. The inside is built for holding social events. There's a terrible dark green carpet from the early nineties and it looks like it was decorated by my old neighbor, who favored pastel floral wallpaper and white wicker furniture. The second floor is pretty small, but there is a pool table. The main hall is on the first, complete with disco ball. No one was really dancing at first, but after the first few drinks, people were busting moves and such. There was also a lot of grinding, which is disgusting. This isn't high school anymore. I'm glad I sat far, far away from the dance floor. The problem with offering all you can drink for $20 a person is that you also need to provide food. Cubes of cheese and fruit don't cut it. I understand this is the catering plan the planning committee chose, but frankly, I was expecting cocktail wieners or mini tacos. You know, stereotypical party food. Fortunately, Eat Street is two streets down if you get the drunkchies. Pros: Kind of fancy. Bigger than my apartment. No chaperons. Pool table on the second floor. McDonalds and Eat Street is two streets over. Cons: Young adults grinding. Lame snacks. Dubious decor. Also, there were only two bathroom stalls in each of the bathrooms. TWO. There were at least two hundred people attending and when you have that many people drinking, it gets ugly fast. Oddly enough, guys decided to crash into the ladies room to pee, although they could have gone outside since, you know, there are bushes EVERYWHERE.