Area wedding, event venues flourish

Sep. 25—Those who've been atop the new Eide Bailly building in downtown Mankato take in views probably never experienced locally.

"The windows and the views of Mankato are the focus," said Andrea Gaare of Absolute for Catering, who manages the new Sky One Eleven event and wedding venue on the seventh floor of the building on the corner of Main and Second streets.

"It gives a view most people, even those who grew up here, don't get to see — the river and the Historic Courthouse. It's just a cool view of the town."

The event center is the newest of a growing number of wedding/event destinations in the region.

Despite the continued growth in new venues, there remains plenty of demand for them for everything from weddings and corporate events to business meetings and private celebrations such as birthdays and baby showers.

Megan Felber, general manager of The Capitol Room in St. Peter, said local venues draw plenty of people from the Greater Mankato area but also a considerable number of wedding clients from the Twin Cities and elsewhere in Minnesota.

"I've heard from couples who come from the metro area that more people are inclined to come to smaller communities like St. Peter or Mankato because their experience is better and their price point is quite a bit lower," Felber said.

Cynthia Strauser, director of events for Chankaska Creek Ranch, Winery & Distillery near St. Peter, said their capacity and versatility for events increased significantly in recent years.

In 2012 Chankaska opened a large tent to host weddings and in 2018 constructed a large, elegant event center that seats up to 350 guests or can be arranged for smaller groups.

"When we added the event center, it created more potential for corporate and community events. We've definitely added to our corporate events for business meetings and also personal events — showers and birthdays and things," Strauser said.

Sky One Eleven

Justin Else, property manager of the Eide Bailly building, said Sky One Eleven opened late last year and already has seen a stream of events.

"For event centers they say it usually takes two or three years to get a lot of bookings. But we're already booking into next year."

They partner with Absolute of Mankato to do catering and manage events.

Gaare said that while they are getting a good number of wedding bookings at Sky One Eleven, they are working to add more.

"We opened in October and a majority of our events have been corporate events that are a couple of hours or a three- or four-day summits. We're hoping to get more weddings. We have about a dozen weddings this year."

She said businesses, which usually book gatherings for the weekdays, are drawn to the amenities and location. "Being downtown Mankato with all the businesses here, they take the opportunity to use it."

Absolute does all of the food and bar service for events.

"We really like that it's our own space and we don't have to travel all over to cater all the time. This is kind of our home space," Gaare said.

"We're hoping to grow not just the catering part but do more of the event planning. With the event planning you figure out the logistics of the other vendors the client might be using and the different ways they use the space. No event is ever the same as the one before, so that keeps you on your toes and thinking of different ways to do things."

The Capitol Room

Felber started when Dan and Emily Dinsmore began renovating the former Armory on the main drag of St. Peter in 2016 and she later became general manager.

The venue has focused mostly on weddings. "We do just a handful of corporate events but we want to do more of them."

She said the venue was steady in its first years until the pandemic shut things down. "After that there was a lot of backed-up events and it was crazy, but then it dipped a little. We're at a really comfortable level now and able to give couples the attention they need."

Felber said they're booked out a 1 1/2 to two years for weddings.

"We work with four local caterers, and we handle all the bar and beverage service. We can seat up to 273 people."

She said the trend in weddings this year is more florals and lots of color. "There are more florals in the design aspect instead of the candles and things."

Felber said that in the last couple of years they also started handling a lot of the planning and decorating, designing and day-of planning.

"We're more involved than we used to be. It's really the day-of where I or my assistant are here making sure everything is running as planned, making sure the bride or her mom aren't stressed about handling details."

She said a lot of the wedding photos are taken inside the venue, but many couples go to nearby Mill Pond or other local locations for some photos.

"We have a lot of Gustavus grads who get married here, so they go to Gustavus for photos. We're fortunate, people can go anywhere in town and have a great setting and we have a beautiful place for photos here."

Chankaska

Strauser said the past year has been their busiest as the end of the pandemic spawned events and weddings. "It's starting to come down a little now, so it's not so crazy."

She said they are connected to a variety of groups in the Twin Cities through their winery and distillery and event offerings. "We're getting our name out there. What we offer you can't really get in the Twin Cities — all the grounds we have and outside access and the vineyard."

She said they primarily host weddings, particularly on weekends in summer through fall. "Then there are the holiday parties and things the rest of the year. The tent is more for weddings than other events. It has a capacity for 225 guests."

A'BriTin Catering, out of Farmington, is used for larger events and weddings, but they also use Absolute and Najwa catering for smaller events.

One trend she's seen more of is in the drink area. "People are doing signature drinks, his and her drinks or a signature wedding drink.

"For the decor it's more colorful rather than neutral," Strauser said.