Do you want a wedding venue that will make you feel like royalty? The Van Dusen Mansion may be the perfect fit! Whether you are inside or out in the courtyard, the space is purely elegant. We had the pleasure of chatting with Monica Sanger, Van Dusen’s Venue Director, to give you all the details about the mansion!
How old is your building, what is its history and when did you start doing events?
The Van Dusen Mansion was originally constructed in 1891 by George Washington Van Dusen, a grain industry entrepreneur. After the family’s occupancy ended in the 1940s, the mansion housed many schools over the following decades (College of Commerce, College of Medical Technology, Horst Institute, Hamline Law School). After falling into disarray, it was scheduled for demolition in 1994, only to be rescued 2 weeks before it was to meet its end. A significant combined private and public effort restored it to its original state. After restoration, it was reopened as an event center and bed & breakfast. It operated as such with a few different owners before being brought under current ownership exclusively as an event space in 2016.
What do you think is the biggest challenge of working in your space, and what are some best practices for it?
We’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles that come with being in a historic space that wasn’t constructed with its current use in mind. In the end, I think many of those things initially labeled as “challenges” have come to be some of our couples’ favorite features. For example, due to having lots of smaller spaces, and fewer great big open spaces, we almost exclusively host “progressive style” events, where guests are transitioning to a new space for each different part of the event (ceremony –> cocktail hour –> dinner –> dance). Guests are always so excited to explore every corner of the property, and it’s fun to see their reactions as they arrive to each new space over the course of the event.
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?
130-150 guests feels really good in our space. It feels high energy without feeling like we’re bursting at the seams.
What is the most interesting thing someone has done at a wedding at your venue?
We had a LARP (Live Action Role Play) Wedding earlier this year, in which costumed guests were all part of a storyline that began at the ceremony, and continued throughout the day.
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?
We do require a day of coordinator, but we also provide this with the venue rental! Sometimes, couples who have a lot of fun extras to coordinate on wedding day will bring in additional professional help (day-of coordinator or full-scale event planner). We love having these individuals there on wedding day! Our included venue coordinators have 2 main priorities on wedding days: 1.) venue operations (lighting, signage, cleanliness, building functions, etc.) and 2.) client specifics (decor additions, day-of timeline, rehearsal logistics, vendor coordination, etc.). When we have couples who have a bit more planned for their day, it is super helpful to have that additional professional help to take responsibility for those client specifics and allow our venue coordinator to focus a bit more on those venue-specific logistics.
Thank you to Monica for taking the time to share these details with us! We hope this interview has been helpful in your venue search. If you are getting married at Van Dusen and still need a Planner or Coordinator, we’d love to chat!
