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Three Rivers Park District Reviews

Three Rivers Park District

Three Rivers Park District

Minneapolis, MN
4.6 out of 5 rating, 57 reviews
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  • Laura
    Laura Sent on 09/07/2022
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    Easy and helpful

    The space here is beautiful at silverwood park. Prefect for an outdoor or indoor ceremony. Mary Stennes is great at keeping you informed and communicating with you throughout. Be aware that they do have specific vendors that can be used at their location, you will be given a huge list of who can be used at their space. Is a lovely place for your next event.
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    Emily Sent on 02/05/2020
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    Loved this beautifully natural venue for our fall wedding!

    We had an amazing wedding at Silverwood Park in September 2018. The space was large enough for our 180 guests to move freely between the patio and the indoor venue. On the patio, there was a large fireplace burning all night, and there is a lake within view of the patio, and many mature trees - the majority of which are Oaks. The indoor space is mostly wood, with tons of windows, a large projector, and beautiful lighting - so pretty that you hardly need decorations. There are so many great places for photos all over the park - too many to choose from - and the event staff, especially Mary - the coordinator- were all so great. We highly recommend Silverwood Park for your event venue! ~Emily & Quinn
    *Photos by Graham Gardner Photography https://www.instagram.com/grahamgardner_/
    *Not sure why our review is listed as having a January wedding date but I wasn't able to modify this
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    Amy Sent on 11/06/2019
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    Beautiful Gale Woods Farm

    My husband and I got married at Gale Woods Farm on October 25th, 2019. From the very start of our tour (on a day that was negative 15 degrees), we fell absolutely in love with everything that Gale Woods had to offer. From the ceremony site overlooking the lake to the reception space big enough to fit all of our friends and family. Not only did we fall in love with the space but we fell in love with Kathryn! She was fantastic throughout the whole experience, from booking our date to answering every question I had (which was a lot!). We could not have picked a better place to have had our marriage begin then Gale Woods Farms. If you are looking for a beautiful and cost-effective venue, I would highly, highly suggest you take a look at Gale Woods Farms!
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    Are you interested?

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    Emily Sent on 07/12/2019
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    Best Wedding Venue EVER!

    We could not have had a more perfect wedding, and Gale Woods Farm was such a central element to not only the day but the planning experience. Kathryn was so incredibly easy to work with on the pre-wedding side of things, and she helped us realize our vision with a very organized and well communicated plan (with a backup plan!) She thought of all the details that we would need to hammer out and helped keep us on schedule as we made decisions about each vendor and decorating detail.

    The facility is incredibly beautiful and clean. One guest told us "the setting was idyllic," while another said "I thought this was just a farm I had no idea it was going to be a roving picturesque landscape." We were told by many that it was the best wedding venue they had ever seen. We agree!

    We kept ourselves on a tight budget and Gale Woods was a no-brainer for a venue in which that would be possible. There are no hidden costs and no unreasonable fees. It was literally thousands of dollars less than other venues we looked at. While money was not the only factor in our decision, it took a lot of stress off planning to know that we could pay the bill pretty easily.

    Also, it was very important to us to have a wedding that honored our environmental philosophy. The fact that Gale Woods not only honors but REQUIRES this was a major draw, and they did not disappoint. For any couples who are trying to stay as green as possible, this is your place.

    We would choose Gale Woods again without blinking an eye and were sad to drive away from the big red barn when the night was over!

    Emily & Matt
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    Krista Sent on 06/29/2019
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    Magical June Wedding at Gale Woods Farm

    Our wedding was just as we had hoped, thanks to Gale Woods Farm. It was a beautiful location at an affordable price. Our contact was responsive and helpful at all hours of the day and we felt totally at ease using this venue. It was perfect for our summer wedding. We would highly recommend Gale Woods Farm!
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    Jessica Sent on 07/16/2017
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    We had our ceremony and reception here and it was beautiful in June. The preferred vendors that work with Silverwood are also great!
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    Anna Sent on 03/06/2015
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    Highly recommended! We worked with Alyssa at Silverwood and have nothing but good things to say. She was very responsive to our (many) questions, by phone and by email, and was willing to work with all our ideas. The venue itself was lovely at the end of October! Most of the park's trees are oaks, so they turned a lovely orange (a little later than many trees turn in the fall - we got lucky!). We actually had our ceremony outdoors - and LOTS of compliments on the beautiful view!

    The Great Hall is a lovely, clean, spacious and versatile room. We went with a vintage travel theme and it worked great with the space. I imagine it would work beautifully with a rustic theme too! It's also surprisingly affordable compared to other similar venues we visited, and at the time we booked (Sept 2013), there was no variable pricing for weekdays/weekends - all days rent for the same rate. :) We appreciated having the ability to pick whichever day we wanted, regardless of price!

    This location is a park, which means there are people who are not part of your wedding also present, but the staff sets out very clear signs and the space that you reserve is exclusively yours for the day (as are the spaces you choose to take pictures). We had a kind of odd situation with another wedding party walking through and taking pictures during setup, but it was quickly and professionally taken care of by our host.

    If there was a downside to this location, it's that the bridal dressing room isn't very large - it's more like a small office. I actually asked to get ready in a different room off of the reception room. It was set up as kind of a kids' classroom, but our photographer managed to leave the primary colors and train-track carpet out of our pictures, no problem! And Silverwood was very gracious in granting my request. :)

    I would very highly recommend Silverwood!! We had a fantastic experience and months later, we are still getting compliments about the beautiful location! :)
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    Lindsey Sent on 08/24/2014
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    We had a terrific time hosting both of ceremony and reception at Silverwood Park. The park is absolutely beautiful for taking photos and it is nice for guests to be able to spend time both outside and inside if it is a nice day. The staff were very helpful and everything went off without a hitch.
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    Emily Sent on 06/25/2014
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    We used the Noerenberg Gardens as our ceremony site. It is located about 20 minutes west of Minneapolis in an area that is just full of lakes and bays and beautiful homes and gardens. I fell in love with the Noerenberg Gardens when I saw the Gazebo which was right on the water. The views are fantastic and for a small wedding, it is just the right size. They have several options throughout the gardens for weddings of varying sizes, and all of the areas provide unique and interesting pictures. I found the price to be reasonable as far as venues go, although chairs were extra, at $2 a pop. You have to set up the chairs, but they will take them down, which gave us one less thing to worry about the day of. They also have a strict no food/drink/pet policy that was laid out by the Noerenbergs, who donated the land for public use. There is no wiggle room on that, but you can drink in the parking lot if you are parched. There is also no formal bathroom, but a handicap-sized port-a-potty. In the fall of 2014, they will be building a permanent bathroom, so that won't be an issue in the near future. Overall, this was a lovely location for the ceremony and pictures. Guests kept remarking at how beautiful it was. I would definitely recommend checking out the gardens to see if any of the sites within would suit your ceremony.
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    Tim Sent on 06/24/2014
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    We had our wedding reception at silverwood park. It is a wonderful setting with a highly qualified and professional staff.
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    Anne Sent on 07/10/2013
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    All that needs to be said is that I could not have chosen a more beautiful place to get married, so pleasant right on Lake Minnetonka and all the flowers in that huge Garden was just breath taking. Thank you for Noerenberg Gardens for making and keeping up such an amazing garden to get married in! June 21st 2013 wedding ~ Anne & Jason
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    Sarah Sent on 10/04/2012
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    First, the site is absolutely beautiful. The barn is perfect for receptions (clean, spacious, plenty of counter space, bathrooms, coat hangers, etc.), and the ceremony site is gorgeous. We even had sheep in the paddock at the front of our ceremony! As far as rules go, they may seem intimidating at first, but there are plenty of people to help understand them/make sure they are followed, and a lot of them are common sense for maintenance of the site. Rebecca and Tim were always available throughout the planning process, offering updates and advice when necessary. All the barn assistants during the event were ready to help with setup, cleanup, and questions.
  • Lindsay
    Lindsay Sent on 07/08/2012
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    Silverwood Park is a magical place to get married. You are surrounded by old growth oaks and nature in every direction you look. The building is modern and has all the amenities you need. It is a great place to hold a small intimate wedding or a big fancy wedding because you can rent the great hall, the island, and/or the amphitheater!
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    Jenna Sent on 06/07/2011
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    Hyland Chalet in Bloomington, MN, is perfect for a casual wedding! Everyone (from the coordinator, to the wait staff, to the chef, to the clean-up crew) was very helpful, friendly, and respectful toward a bride's requests... so be sure to treat them with the same kindness and respect.

    Since the weather was perfect, many of the guests utilized the driving range for some post-dinner entertainment.

    The food was great too! They didn't normally serve fajitas, but were able to come up with some pretty amazing fajitas that everyone raved about after dinner!
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    Nyree Sent on 01/15/2011
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    After months of research of all the different venues through out the entire Twin Cities area, we settled on Elm Creek Chalet. We have done events with the Three Rivers Park District before, and they had always been so nice -and the price was good & the size of the venue was perfect for what we needed. We didn't mind that we had to stick to the preferred caterers list - we picked Famous Dave's -we love that place! We booked 2 years in advance, but because of that a couple issues popped up in that time. A Disk Golf was put in and we were told we might have to share our patio space with random people walking through (that didn't thrill me thinking about people trying to sneak into my wedding uninvited --thankfully we had friends act loosely as bouncers just in case any unwanted people showed up). Also, when we went to set up our rehearsal time for the day before, I was informed that they only did wedding rehearsals like Mon-Thurs! Some of my people were still working and/or out of state on Thurs! I was able to talk to someone and we got it worked out for having our rehearsal on Friday! They even let us stay a few minutes late so we could work on 1 more quickie run-thru! We did have to have our own set-up/take-down crews on our wedding day, but our friends were great and pitched in to help us. Everyone was great to work with and pretty prompt on returning our emails about any questions I had. We would recommend this very pretty venue to anyone!
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    Aisha Sent on 10/20/2010
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    Simply put, this is a dream location to be married! It has been open for about a year. Our guests raved about it. It was the first place we visited, and no other place compared. We were married outside on a patio overlooking trees and a lake. It was a breathtaking location. Our reception was in the new reception hall just inside from our ceremony. It is a "green building" with high ceilings and large windows. It has a decidedly "Minnesotan feel." We rented the main reception hall and the classroom, which we recommend. We put our bar in the classroom. Silverwood has a list of many approved caterers. We wished we could have picked any caterer, but it was nice that Silverwood at least had a variety of choices. Also, Silverwood lets you bring in your own alcohol, which is a huge cost savings (we did this while using Bayview catering as our bartenders). Silverwood was helpful throughout the planning process: their staff is very nice. We had our dream wedding, and Silverwood had a huge part in making that possible!
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    Colleen Sent on 06/18/2010
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    We were one of the first weddings at the new Silverwood Park. Going with Silverwood was the best wedding decision we made! The staff were responsive, helpful, creative, and flexible during the entire process. They were so willing to help us fulfill both our vision and our budget. On the day of we had a hall host who really knew what she was doing and worked hard to make everything go smoothly. Everyone commented on how beautiful the setting was, and the building was immaculate. The rental fee included tables, chairs, AV, projector and screen, staffing, set up and tear down, and little touches like a tended fireplace and exclusive use of the patio. All of that made it a great bargain, plus a setting that beautiful doesn't need much extra decoration. Silverwood Park exceeded our expectations in every way!
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    User957641 Sent on 10/03/2012
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    Wonderful venue. Both the indoor and outdoor parts of the park are beautiful. We had our ceremony outside in the amphitheater and the reception in the large event space in the building.
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    Andrea Sent on 09/27/2009
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    Loved the location! It has many beautiful area's for great photo's.
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    Ann Sent on 09/01/2008
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    We got married at the Bryant Lake Regional Park, in the park pavilion. The people at the park district were great, and it was an excellent venue. There are only two negatives: (1) you have to use the tables in the pavilion, which are round picnic tables that are hard to move & don't work well for every guest, and (2) the people in the park weren't aware that the refrigerator/freezer unit was broken, and we only learned it during the day. Our ice cream melted, etc. There are definitely ways you can check the fridge/freezer ahead of time, and with more extensive planning we might have been able to rent replacement tables & chairs that would have been more elegant. But it worked well for our informal daytime wedding. Otherwise the venue was simply perfect. Our guests really enjoyed changing into casual clothes and going swimming and paddle boating.
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    Bettina Sent on 04/28/2008
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    The only bad thing was that a police came and patroled the parking lot, and one of our guests had expired tabs. They impounded his car and he had to stay at our home for sunday (impound lot closed) until he could get his car back and drive back to Alabama.Not really the place's fault.
  • Caitlin
    Caitlin Sent on 07/23/2019
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    Beautiful venue at a good price!

    I searched and searched for a reasonably priced venue in the twin cities that had an outdoor ceremony option and indoor reception hall on site. So many venues have one expensive caterer, or don't provide any chairs/tables, crazy minimums, too small or look like a golf banquet hall (not my look). Silverwood was perfect and fit our budget! The only negative with that is that a lot of other people have realized that and dates fill quickly. We wanted a May or June wedding but settled for a July wedding to be at Silverwood. Luckily it wasn't too hot and it was cloudy and we had our perfect ceremony outside on the patio. The reception hall is beautiful with big windows. We also rented the classroom for our bar. We had 118 guests and there would have been plenty room for another 100. One negative inside; the orange wood does not look good in photos. If it was rainy outside I don't think you could get many nice pictures. Overall a great venue that was easy to plan with!
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    Marisa Sent on 11/07/2018
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    Beautiful Wedding at Gale Woods Farm

    Things worked out great and the day couldn't have been more joyous! We really appreciate everything the Three Rivers staff did to make our day special from the constant communication to the great space!
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    Alexandra Sent on 09/20/2015
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    We got married at Gale Woods Farm, and it was beautiful!
    The ceremony was outside with the reception inside. They had just put down new pavers leading from the barn to the ceremony site which was a nice addition and looked great.
    There is no AC in the barn, so hot/humid summer days may be an issue for summer. We were married at the end of August, and the weather was perfect. They do have large industrial fans, so that was nice to have as an option.
    The only major downfall, is the set up time can not be before 10am.
    We had an amazing day and am so glad we chose Gale Woods!
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    User1897978 Sent on 10/31/2014
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    Our wedding was at Silverwood Park in May 2014. It is such a beautiful venue and guests loved being able to go outside and walk the trails/spend time by the lake if they wanted to. The staff was friendly and helpful. My only complaint was that the great hall was extremely hot the night of our wedding and they had no way of controlling the temp of the A/C. Overall thank you for the great experience!
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    User1813472 Sent on 09/14/2014
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    Gale Woods was a beautiful and perfect venue for an outdoor wedding! The proximity of the ceremony and reception site was very convenient and made for a wonderful set up. In addition, all the staff were very helpful in answering any questions or giving recommendation of what worked best for decorating and layout. The only hard part was the list of approved vendors and drinks, but we were able to find a great vendor on the list. Furthermore, not being able to set up earlier the day of the wedding was a slight challenge but doable.
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    Erin Sent on 07/24/2014
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    Elm Creek Chalet
    We had both our ceremony and reception at the chalet. It is a beautiful place at a wonderful value. What I loved best was that we had the chalet all day, from 10am to Midnight. This gave plenty of time to set up and get ready, my bridesmaids and I were even able to get our hair done in their backroom. The staff there is amazing. Julie was very good about helping us decide layout and how things should go. The chalet is so beautiful very few decorations were needed.
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    User1198020 Sent on 06/12/2013
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    Site: Silverwood Park is a BEAUTIFUL venue. However, it is a park open to the public, so you can expect a mix of canoers/runners/bikers/fishers/coffee sippers.

    Value: I’m guessing the Great Hall rental fee is pretty average for an established reception space at a park. The rental included a lot of equipment, though If you’re having an outdoor ceremony, you’ll likely have to rent chairs, which can get expensive. The dressing room was a little small but enough for what we ended up using it for.

    Service: I thought the catering policies and guidelines for the “green gatherings facility” were a little strict at first, but after we decided on a caterer from their approved catering list, following the guidelines was pretty simple. Overall, the TRPD staff was very responsive, helpful, and accommodating. I sometimes didn’t know who to contact since I had worked with 4-5 people throughout the process, but everyone I contacted was very helpful. I really appreciated the flexibility that came with Silverwood’s amenities and rental period.
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    Jennifer Sent on 04/03/2009
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    Gale Woods staff was very willing to work with us and answer any question we had. Their staff was on-hand the day of the event. We chose this site because of the gorgeous ceremony overlook and the fact that the entire event could be held at one site (we had a lot of out-of-town guests and we didn't want to have them get lost between ceremony and reception!). It was hard to beat the cost, especially once we compared it to other locations. I gave four stars for flexibility simply because right around the time of booking Three Rivers Park District selected their list of caterers. We got in just before the deadline and got to choose our own caterer, but after looking over the lists, prices, and menus of the chosen caterers I was disappointed. We have had previous negative experiences with some of those caterers and none would use the food actually grown at Gale Woods. I love the site, but if I was to do it over again and was restricted to those caterers, I might look at other options!
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    Tanya Sent on 02/04/2009
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    We loved Gale Woods Farm. We had a pig roast, lawn games and s'mores. We had SO many comments (especially from my husbands friends) that this was the most fun reception that they had ever been to. A lot of our friends were very happy that it was such a kid friendly venue as well. The people at Three Rivers Park District were very knowledgeable and helpful. The only thing that I would ping them on is that our wedding was 5 months ago and we still haven't gotten our refundable deposit back yet.
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    Weddingwire Sent on 05/31/2015
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    Elm Creek Park Chalet, part of the Three River's Park District was such a beautiful and nice place to have our wedding ceremony and reception. We got lucky and had a beautiful day to have the ceremony outside on the patio. I would recommend having a bit of a smaller wedding here. It can fit up to about 200, but our just over 100 guests was a perfect amount! We loved how you could play a picture slide show and the dance floor was part of the cost. No hidden fees, except that keep in mind this place is Green so all reusable and compostable products. You may have to purchase some extra things, although your caterer usually provides most of them. The Chalet has such natural beauty already, we didn't feel we needed to add much decor. One thing I did not care for was having people help set up chairs for the ceremony. The venue took them down, which was nice, but it was a hassel trying to take photos and have people set up chairs, who weren't sure how to set them. Also Julie M. was great to work with. She was very organized and fast to respond to our millions of questions.
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    User4832059 Sent on 10/25/2013
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    A very beautiful and unique location that everyone enjoyed so much! Our contact at Gale Woods was very friendly, helpful and upbeat. It was easy working with her! The only downside were all the rules and restrictions they have, which IS understandable since it is part of the park district. Make sure you read through all the rules/restrictions and make sure they don't conflict with anything you want to do before committing so you don't end up frustrated. The rules weren't that bad for me since I knew ahead of time.
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    Pam Sent on 10/20/2013
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    This was the perfect place for us! I wanted a barn wedding and this was perfect. Beautiful outdoor ceremony spot and pavilion was perfect set up. Had so many guest comment on what a great place for a wedding. Yes, you do have to choose from their list of approved caterers but this was not an issue because the caterer I would have picked was on their list (Divine Swine). Would have liked to have been able to provide own beverages but their options for vendors made it so much more hassle-free. The hosts were all very friendly and helpful and we had a very low key group so we could have done without the security guard in addition to a host on duty but I suppose we made up for the nights he actually has to work hard for his money :). Biggest downfalls of this venue are not being able to get access to the pavilion until 10am the day of your event, makes for a scramble to pull it all together for a mid-afternoon ceremony and the lack of nearby accommodations (minimum 20 minute drive to nearest hotel) . Book early if you want a Saturday wedding!
  • Allison
    Allison Sent on 05/22/2012
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    Elm Creek is a beautiful site for a wedding. It was perfect for us becuase if it was sunny we had the beautiful patio to be married on and if it was cold or raining we had an amazing stone fireplace as our back drop. We were lucky to have good weather and were married outside. All evening long I heard many wonderful compliments on the venue. The staff was very freindly and easy to work with.

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    Brenda Sent on 10/16/2008
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    I had my ceremony at a Three Rivers Park- the Noerenberg Gardens. The had arranged to have people out at the garden before the ceremony sweeping off all the paths and pluckng random weeds to make the entire area look better. Reservations were very easy to make. Everything about having the ceremony there was beautiful!
  • Julia
    Julia Sent on 06/23/2019
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    Gale Woods Farm Wedding Ceremony & Reception

    Choosing Gale Woods Farm for our wedding ceremony and reception was one of the better decisions we have made. The ease of working with the staff there and the value the venue offered was unbeatable.
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    Suzanne Sent on 07/08/2015
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    We rented the pavilion and Water's Edge Reservation area for our ceremony and reception. We were blessed with a beautiful day and the pavilion had enough room for our 100 guests, food, drinks and tables for our MC and gifts. The park is very beautiful and has lots of places to take pictures. It's also incredibly affordable compared to a lot of other wedding venues. However, they are just a park that doesn't focus on weddings, so we ran into a couple of weird problems a few weeks before the wedding. They don't allow any decorations to be "affixed" to anything in the park, so all decorations have to be freestanding, which made it very difficult to find decorations they would allow. They only allow wine and beer, which was fine by us.
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    User1899355 Sent on 11/01/2014
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    Elm Creek Chalet was a great choice for our ceremony/venue. Is was secluded in a wonderful park reserve in Maple Grove. There were plenty of beautiful spots to take pictures and wonder about. Inside the chalet was beautiful bring fireplace to the ceiling there set the theme of our wedding (rustic, antique, woodsy). I would recommend this beautiful place to anyone. Definitely a great value!
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    User5871107 Sent on 01/21/2014
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    Very limited on what we could or couldn't do in regards to food, decorations, etc. did make it a little more challenging: however they were great to work with. Biggest complaint is they need to offer electric options at the ceremony site. I would even had paid! We had a big event maybe 250 so we really needed the speakers at the ceremony site and we had to coordinate with a rental company that ended up being awful to work with and setting up it all was such a pain. Gale woods did not recommend the rental company that was something I had found. Otherwise beautiful location!
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    User1299315 Sent on 08/23/2013
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    The Chalet is beautiful! I love how the site is a green gathering site as well! Everything here was wonderful!
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    Lisa Sent on 07/06/2010
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    The Elm Creek Park Chalet was a beautiful setting. It has a lodge like feeling to the inside and is set in a park setting with trees and trails all around the area. The price was resonable for such a nice venue. The downside was we had to do our own setup and takedown/cleanup. It would have been nice if we could have gotten in there the night before without getting charged extra to setup since we had a Friday wedding. Luckily we had it planned out and lots of great help so the setup and takedown went very smoothly. The other downside is you have to choose from a list of catering that they have, we were lucky enough to find a great catering buisness (Lookout Bar & Grill). The plus side is if you want to do your own food you can bring in your own food and serve it. We didn't have alcohol and we did our own drinks/pop/water/and punch which help save a lot of $$. They have a fridge that stores over 700 cans of pop/water bottles.
  • Miss Apricot
    Janna Sent on 07/06/2009
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    We had our May 30, 2009 wedding reception at The Chalet at Elm Creek. It was beautiful, and the staff was very friendly each time we visited or called before our big day. We were also assigned a representative to be there the day of to help with any questions/concerns we may have had.

    Just a beautiful place, made even more beautiful with a little decorating. I also loved that they had a projection screen to use for our photo montage. All we had to do was flip a switch to lower it, then flip it back to raise it afterwards.
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    User1389247 Sent on 10/20/2013
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    My husband and I were recently married in June and we had our reception in the great hall at Silverwood. We loved the venue and the rustic beauty that it showcased on our wedding day. It is a wonderful place for outdoor photos as well. The staff was terrific to work with and they had narrowed down the vendors for us to choose from. The Wedding Fair was also helpful in planning for our big day (and they featured several great deals). Be sure to plan in advance as this is a popular wedding site! We have visited the park since then and now we can reminisce about the our special day as we walk the beautiful grounds. Thanks!
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    User2615717 Sent on 05/20/2016
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    Very organiized, accomadating and professional!
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    Tiffany Sent on 06/29/2015
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    The Landing in Shakopee MN was a Beautiful place to celebrate our wedding reception!
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    Trica Sent on 10/19/2011
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    This was a gorgeous place fora wedding. The staff was helpful.
    A bit on the pricey side, but worth it in the end- the views are breath taking and how many people can say a herd of sheep were part of their ceremony?!
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    Aubrey Sent on 10/08/2008
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    Beautiful setting! Overlooking WhaleTail lake, you feel as though you are out in the middle of nowhere, but in reality is only 20-30 minutes west of the cities. Three Rivers employee's definitely knew their information, and answered all my questions when I called.
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    Kalli Sent on 11/15/2007
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    My husband and I were interested in a laid-pack, fun and relaxing venue for our wedding reception. We decided to go with a park and found Three Rivers Park District, and from there found the perfect location of Gale Woods Historic Farms. The picnic pavilion is a newly renovated barn overlooking a beautiful lake with acres of land to give it a very old-time farm-y look! Gale Woods offers a complete package of picnic pavilion rental, game rental (such as horseshoes and volleyball), table and linen rental, and hours of outdoor exploring! Many of our guests commented on the beauty of the land, especially with the sun setting over the lake and barn. Gale Woods Historic Farm is the place for a couple looking for a fun and interactive environment!
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    Courtney Sent on 12/09/2016
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    Silverwood Park is a beautiful venue. The Great Hall is gorgeous and requires little to no additional decor. The stone fire place just off the Great Hall provides excellent ambiance. We also rented the amphitheater for our ceremony, which was lovely. For the most part, the staff at the venue was responsive and helpful. There was a change in staffing from the time we signed our contract to our wedding date that caused a few hiccups along the way, but nothing that wasn't resolved or adversely affected our day. If you need a venue for 200+, don't miss Silverwood!
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    Melissa Sent on 06/16/2011
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    Going green is great, except for when a venue tells you 5 months before the wedding that you have to use compostables, not disposables after you've bought them! The facility itself was absolutely perfect and everything I wanted. The one thing that bugged me was that the pavilion is not open during your rehearsal time, which was a problem since it was supposed to rain for our wedding.
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    User1541033 Sent on 02/21/2014
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    Beautiful venue loved that we are facing whale tail lake and the red barn. I didn't like all the restrictions but we made it work. They were accommodating in some areas.
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    Shana Sent on 12/14/2015
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    Our wedding was at Silverwood Park in the great hall. We hosted both our ceremony and reception in the great hall. We had 125 guests and it was a perfect size. We had many complements about the venue. The great hall is a beautiful room and looks great with very minimal decorations. We loved that Silverwood is a zero waste facility. It was fun to have a fire going during the event, and our guests enjoyed being able to make s’mores.

    We were assigned event host for the day of the wedding. They were fabulous. They were warm and helpful as we set up and welcoming to our guests.

    The challenge with this venue is all of the rules we felt like we heard a lot of, no to this, and no to that. I understand the need for the strict rules, as they keep the facility pristine. We followed all of the rules and had a beautiful wedding. What was difficult for me to stomach was the way things were presented. I would have appreciated communication that was centered on positive options and possibilities. There were times throughout the planning process where the staff gave us the impression that we were a burden, and that left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths.

    All and all, if we had it to do over again, we would still choose Silverwood. It was beautiful and it represented us well. It is urban nature at its best.
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    Leslie Sent on 07/06/2014
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    We held our wedding at this venue last October. It was a gorgeous setting and provided a lovely backdrop for our photos. The kids at the event liked the fireplace and s'mores making, and having a place to run around and blow off steam. After looking at many "typical" wedding venues, we decided this made the most sense for the type of people we are (outdoorsy, cyclists). We liked that events are "green" here and that our fees went towards supporting the parks. They have a decent audio set up, a good variety of "approved caterers" and support staff on the day of the event. My main criticism is around their staff that works with the weddings and all the rules. At present, they are functioning as a park that happens to do weddings on the side, but as this type of venue grows in popularity, I think they should hire additional staff. Emails were slow to be answered, and finding a date/time to meet with the coordinator to go over the final contract was next to impossible given that person's part time hours and lack of evening/weekend availability. Also, you are not allowed access to the venue until 10 am on the day of your event. This doesn't work so well when you're having a Sunday brunch wedding at 11:30. My family members had to scramble a bit to get everything set up. I also wish they would purchase chairs that could be used outside. I would have gladly paid extra to have them conveniently available from the venue, instead of having to coordinate yet another vendor. Other Three Rivers Parks locations have this option, but Silverwood does not. All around, a beautiful setting, just logistical snags.
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    User1149649 Sent on 05/01/2013
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    Silverwood Park is a beautiful venue for your wedding day festivities. They have beautiful outdoor areas as well as a great main hall for your reception. They have a neat patio with a fireplace and are very helpful when it comes to taking care of things on your event day. It does take some effort to coordinate vendors due to Silverwood only supplying the space, but it also gives you the ability to choose who you want for food, cake, etc.
  • brittany
    Brittany Sent on 10/20/2011
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    The only issues I had with having my wedding at Gale Woods was all of the restrictions and rules they had. It is rather extensive... You can only have beer and wine. Now you must have the beverages catered. They have an "approved" catering list. You cannot bring in rented chairs for the outdoor ceremony site. You must rent theirs. You cannot have anything but recyclable and compostable paper goods. That means you cant bring in your own glasses..you must buy compostable ones from them. They also have several decorating restrinctions. You must shut the wedding down at 11pm. Plus MANY more restrictions.... It was a beautiful place to have my wedding, but I would have probably choosen another venue if i hadnt been so far into the planning. There are not many hotels around Gale woods also... kinda of a pain to coordinate where to get ready before the wedding as well. Just things to keep in mind when looking at this place. Hopefully this is helpful.
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    Carin Sent on 12/11/2015
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    BEAUTIFUL venue, but a lot of restrictions that made it a little more expensive and difficult to do exactly what we wanted. Staff were very helpful to answer question and on-site staff were mostly polite and professional. The ceremony on the patio was exactly what we wanted and it was SO beautiful - perfect weather and we got many compliments on how lovely everything was.
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    Mai Sent on 04/11/2017
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    This place needs to be better at helping out their clients rather than ignoring their calls and emails. If Jenn is the only person who can help out and answer questions, then why isn't she available at all???!!! I know and understand that she is busy managing new renovations to the place, but HEY reality check here! If you can't manage both, then ask for help and allow other people to help you out too Jenn. You wouldn't want to be ignored if it was your wedding and you had questions that only take 30 seconds to answer. If you want a place that is helpful and always there to answer any questions, then this is NOT the place to choose.
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