Getting married is a huge decision no matter where or who you are. It’s a choice of a life companion, someone you intend to share the rest of your life with. On the other hand, your location, your budget, and your intentions do affect the form of your wedding.
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This means that the local laws (who can officiate a wedding), availability of local venues, and local costs may have a major impact on your wedding planning and your wedding as a whole. With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you plan the perfect Minnesota wedding.
Planning the Perfect Minnesota Wedding
1. Find a wedding officiant
Getting certified as a wedding officiant is not that difficult in Minnesota. Anyone who is ordained and is at least 21 years old can qualify. This means that you can even have a friend or a relative ordain you.
They can even get ordained online for free, and the process is not that long, which means that you could, technically, have them prepare even on a short-notice. At the same time, you could get a professional. Finding one is really not that difficult, and it’s definitely something you should consider.
A civil marriage in Minnesota can be solemnized by someone who is:
- A judge of a court of record
- A retired judge
- A court administrator
- Retired court administrator
- Court commissioner
- Ordained minister of any denomination
The bottom line is that you have many options, and this is one of the first choices that you have to make. Going with someone you know can be more meaningful, but at the same time, you may want to ensure that everything runs smoothly, which is why you may pick to go with someone who has actually done it before.
2. Pick the right venue
One of the most important decisions when planning a wedding is picking the venue. Once you have the venue, you have everything else.
After all, you can’t invite people before you can tell them where and when the ceremony is going to take place. The size of the venue will determine the number of people you can invite.
When it comes to additional services, like catering or decoration, you need to tell them where they need to deliver their goods. In terms of decoration, it’s even more complex, seeing as how they’ll want to know the layout and the amount of space available.
Keep in mind that you also want to know about all the amenities of the venue. You want to know the parking capabilities, as well as the acoustic capabilities. If they have some of their own equipment, finding the right wedding band or DJ will be a lot easier.
Fortunately for you, the number of suitable venues in Minnesota is pretty high. In Minneapolis, for instance, you can pick a venue like Lumber Exchange Event Center, which is ideal for social events, corporate events, and weddings. Some people even have their bachelor’s/bachelorette parties there.
Also, keep in mind that not all you see here has to be perfect, but you should never discard your subjective feelings about the place. So, the vibes of the place have to be immaculate.
3. Guest list, budget, date
Previously, we’ve talked about the importance of picking the right venue, as well as the importance of doing that early enough. The problem, however, lies in the fact that there are some things you have to do first.
You see, the previous section can be a bit misleading. We mentioned that you need to know how the big place is in order to know how many people you can invite. The reality is that you’ll make this choice the other way around. You’ll have a number of people you want to invite before you take a look at the first venue, and this will be one of the key factors when it comes to choosing the venue.
Another crucial factor you have to keep in mind is the importance of having a budget. You need to know if you can afford the place, but bear in mind that this is not your only expense.
The third factor is the time. The ideal season for getting married in Minnesota is from May to September. This means that it will be the hardest to find an unbooked venue during this period. So, if you plan to do it, you need to start early. Nonetheless, getting married outside of the season can be just as good. It can save you money and give you more options to choose from.
4. Start crossing things off your check-list
Once you have the budget, the date, the venue, and an officiant, you can start crossing other services off the list.
We’ve already mentioned catering and decoration but, when it comes to the big services, there are also the wedding photographer and the music. All of this depends on your budget, locally available talent, and your own interests. The last is especially important when picking the music.
A lot of people underestimate just how busy these services are. However, in order to put this into perspective, you just need to keep in mind that there were about 29,507 weddings in Minnesota in 2023. A pretty high number puts this place somewhere in the middle when (26 out of 50 states) it comes to the number of weddings.
Sure, the marriage rate in Minnesota may be a bit lower than in other states (5.1 per 1,000 compared to 6.5 per 1,000, which is the national average), but the venues and services are still pretty busy.
Wrap up
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you decide to get married; you still won’t be able to skip any of the above-listed steps. You have to be very careful when planning a budget and making a wedding list.
Just keep in mind that when you start doing your research, you narrow it down to local venues and services. Otherwise, any information you get might not amount to much.
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