As wedding planners, we spend time at hundreds of venues in and around Minnesota. When it comes to Red Wing, Minnesota, we love being at The Skyroom. This venue has a beautiful valley backdrop surrounded by large oak trees. We love their Walsh House for getting ready, stunning outdoor ceremony space, and customizable reception room. To give you a better understanding of this Red Wing wedding venue, we interviewed their Venue and Sales Manager, Carlee Kurtti. Keep reading for photos of Skyroom weddings we have planned and Carlee’s insight.
How old is your building, what is its history and when did you start doing events?
The original building was built in 1915! Events and weddings were part of the old building as well. Construction on The Skyroom started in the spring of 2019, and our first wedding was held in September 2019!
What do you think the best feature of your venue is?
I personally think the best feature of our Red Wing wedding venue is the location. The beautiful rolling hills make a breathtaking backdrop for your outdoor ceremony and pictures, which are treasures that will last you a lifetime. Our couples truly fall in love with the scenery during their tours and say they feel like they aren’t in Minnesota anymore, as a lot travel from the cities! A close runner-up would have to be the contrast of the building. The grey and white walls, the black beams, and the brown floors make for a very beautiful space on its own, where you can be very minimal with your décor if you wish! Timeless and elegant!
What do you think is the biggest challenge of working in your space, and what are some best practices for it?
The biggest challenge of working in our space I would think is that we do not have a separate indoor ceremony space, so for inclement weather, or pre-planned indoor weddings – we have to room flip. This is never an issue with my AMAZING team, but it would be a lot easier and less stressful if we did not have to room flip. It can be difficult to try and keep guests a safe distance from us while we are moving things around, but we always manage. Each staff member has a role, and we execute it in a very timely manner! The best practice for it is to go into the flip with a plan, everyone knows their role!
What do you think is the perfect number of guests for your venue, assuming everyone will be sitting at a table at one time? What is the benefit of having this number of guests?
Our venue’s max capacity is 300. Can we accommodate weddings this size? Absolutely. But, I do not think this is where we do our best work. From my perspective, for the best comfort of the guests and for the best work of my serving staff, I think we do our best work at 220 or less! When we are pushing 300 guests, we have to fill our tables at the max they can hold as well, and that may not be as comfortable. The more guests, the more tables – the tighter the space feels. Fewer guests, less crowded. But again, we can hold 300 and all will be well, too!
What is the most interesting thing someone has done at a wedding at your venue?
There was a Star Wars-themed wedding here once! The bride walked down to the theme song, people were dressed in costumes, there was a lightsaber fight, Baby Yoda stuffed animals…the list goes on! I decided to get into it and created a signature drink for them and called it “The Baby Yoda”, it was Malibu, Blue Curacao, and pineapple juice, so it was green, and put two limes on the rim for ears. Looked like a little Yoda! It was a hit! It was definitely the most interesting thing I have seen happen here, especially because a month before their wedding we have a “final detail meeting” to go over all the fun and final details of their big day, and not once was it mentioned that their wedding was Star Wars themed! A memory I will have forever!
Do you require a professional planner or day of coordinator at your venue? Why or why not? If you don’t have one, or have one that doesn’t do a good job, how does it affect you as a venue and the wedding as a whole?
At this time, we do not. We highly recommend it and give them our list of recommendations during our tours and when they sign their contracts [oh hey, KUE is on there ;)]. We know our couples come with different budgets and understand that a planner or day of coordinator may not be in their budget, and don’t want that to be the reason they don’t book with us. We are also not worried because we have a team of amazing venue coordinators! At each wedding, there is at least one venue coordinator, if not the venue manager who will be there to assist with anything and everything. If the couple does not have a day of, that’s when the venue coordinator really steps in to help. So, even if they have a day of and they aren’t doing a great job, nothing to fear, because The Skyroom coordinator will be able to handle it!
We want to thank Carlee for taking the time to do this interview and providing her expertise on their Red Wing wedding venue! Getting married at Skyroom and still need a planner? We would love to work with you! Check out our services or send us a message!
If you want to see more details about a Skyroom wedding we’ve planned, check out Danielle and Zach’s wedding day blog.
