The Essence Event Center

I love working with this venue! Everything about this place is top-notch, from its exceptional staff to its stunning building.

The venue is fantastic. The modern and elegant interior provides the perfect backdrop for any occasion. The event spaces are spacious and versatile, allowing customization to suit any event style or size. Additionally, the venue is well-maintained and spotlessly clean, which I truly appreciate as it reflects their commitment to excellence.

Overall, I cannot recommend this venue enough. Working with their team has been an absolute pleasure; their professionalism, attention to detail, and dedication to providing an extraordinary experience have consistently impressed me.

We had our wedding here in October 2023 and it was a dream. The experience was wonderful from start to finish. We had Grace as our venue DOC who is the sweetest! The staff go above and beyond, everyone we crossed paths with was so nice. Any questions or concerns we had were always answered. The venue is gorgeous and to die for. We especially loved that there was a bridal AND grooms suite. The entire venue is spacious and incredibly clean. The Essence did not disappoint and I’m so happy we chose them. Highly, highly recommend!

We initially had some miscommunication on the front end while we were looking to book the Essence for our wedding. Due to this, the Director of the Essence, Catherine, ended up working directly with us. Catherine was the bomb and made our planning a breeze. Constantly thinking about how to better the venue throughout the process, Catherine did not leave a single detail behind. She made our wine tastings fun and our day run incredibly smoothly. The Essence, although a new venue, is a well-oiled machine. They have everything well thought out from the sound system, the smooth rooms flips, the TV’s surrounding the space to either project photos, logos, or to have a live stream of the dancing. The Essence provided all of the tables, linens, and chairs we could have needed. The suites are to die for and there were many perks, like the shared kitchenette upstairs, open-catering (you can pick whatever vender you desire), large parking lot, included security, and more. The Essence is gorgeous and an absolute dream of a venue.

We had our 2023 wedding here and it was PERFECT. I'm not sure many brides can say that but it was absolutely perfect, we did not have one negative. The venue itself is so beautiful and is the perfect layout for any event, plus a great location between Saint Paul & Minneapolis, with ample parking. But the staff made the event so amazing. There were plenty of staff there that day, and all the months leading up to our wedding Nicole was really great to work with. We truly had the best time and couldn't be more thankful for Essence.

We had our wedding there (about 120 people) in June 2022. LOVED everything about it. They really thought about all the needs when having your wedding. The getting ready spaces are huge, and there are so many perfect photo spots to choose from. We had our ceremony outside on the patio, it was beautiful. We had a band and the stage was perfect for them! It was the best day ever!! Also the staff is so kind and helpful! Catherine was so easy to connect with throughout the whole process, and we appreciated having her as our point of contact. She is so friendly and easy to get along with. The bar staff was top notch!!! So friendly. Everyone raved about the venue and we could not be happier about our choice to have our wedding there!!

So close to so many hotels (mpls or St. Paul!) and so nice that it has ample parking and you can leave your car over night.

Highly recommend!!

Having our wedding at the essence was an amazing experience. The staff are so great to work with and the space is incredibly beautiful.

We loved being able to rent the whole day and use the women's and men's suites to get ready.

Nicole was primarily the person we worked with and was always able to answer questions and help us out as we needed. If you're able to request who you work with, work with her!!

We planned our wedding in one week. Catherine and her staff at Essence Event Center could not have done a better job. They exceeded our expectations!! Everything went off with out any issues and the entire staff was friendly, polite and professional.

The Essence is an absolutely stunning venue and had everything we needed for our wedding. The staff (especially Grace) did a FANTASTIC job of walking us through the process and working with us to make things perfect and seamless. They truly work with you as a unique couple to make sure your wedding is what you want it to be. The groom and bridal suites are spacious and beautiful. The flow for the ceremony into the cocktail hour and reception is flawless. They coordinated with our catering and day of coordinator the day-of to make sure everything was perfect. They also have a super fun and integrated sound and light system which made our dance floor the best ever! HIGHLY recommend The Essence to anyone looking for a timeless venue - and again shout out to their amazing staff for making our wedding the best day ever!

As another wedding industry vendor, the Essence Event Center has one of the best bridal and groom suites I’ve ever been to! I had the honor to collaborate on a styled shoot here and Catherine is such a gem to work with. She, along with venue owners, are all opened to vendor ideas and suggestions when it comes to elevating a space that makes floral and decor functional and on trend. I highly recommend engaged couples to choose the Essence Event Center for their wedding.

First thing I noticed.. Big place. Great for events and seminars. I was here for a wedding and it was a great experience to have it here. While guests wait for the reception they mingle and socialize outside of the reception room which is the grand dance floor located just when you come in to the building. It has built-in QSC speakers with subs and curved speakers overhanging from the top. Music is played from a central location (or via DJ) and can be heard from the dance floor as well as in the reception room. The volume in the reception room is lower than in the dance floor so that you can blast the volume during dancing and won't bother the people talking in the reception room. The upstairs area have dressing rooms, a small kitchen/pantry area, and some other rooms used as guests waiting rooms. In the lower level where the dance floor is you can convert that into a presentation room with the projector and screen provided, including the microphone and speakers already in place. Just plug and play. There are plenty of spaces in this event center to keep your guests occupied. Come check this place out on your next event. Highly recommended.

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at The Essence Event Center. Nicole B. was our venue coordinator and she was incredible and helped us with our endless questions! I would honestly trust her with my life. The rest of the staff that we interacted more with during the day of were just as helpful and kind. The venue itself was stunning and had rooms for everyone to get ready comfortably. We had a few new moms in our wedding and they were able to sneak away and take care of their babies whenever - which was not something I had even thought to plan for.

We had our wedding at The Essence in August 2023, and they were a dream to work with. We had toured a few venues but knew immediately after our initial meeting that The Essence was the right choice. In our first meeting, they were clear and transparent about all fees, details, planning timeline, etc. There were no surprises (for example, we toured in 2022 and they told us that they were in the middle of updating their 2023 bar menu prices, so we knew there would be changes). Throughout the planning process, staff were very responsive when we had questions and always on time when it came to scheduling follow-up calls and meetings. We never had to nudge them on anything.

On the day of the wedding. We had access to the entire building for the whole day, which made it so easy for the bridal party and family to get ready without the stress of transportation between multiple venues or getting ready spaces. The getting ready rooms were absolutely gorgeous, spacious and very functional (steamers in each room were a great bonus). We had plenty of entertainment and space for everyone to get ready, including a kitchen space for everyone to eat lunch together. Bathrooms were roomy and clean, and every room was well-equipped. It's clear that the every aspect of the venue has been put together with thoughtfulness and intention.

Staff were so kind and helpful. My husband and I barely interacted with afternoon/evening staff, which I think is a testament to how smoothly run the operations are. Nothing came up throughout our wedding day - they worked seamlessly with every single vendor.

The venue itself is beautiful. The building itself meant that we could save money on rentals/decor, because it was already such a visually appealing space. You can spend as much as you want on decor here, but we leaned towards the low end and everything still looked amazing. They have a very well hooked up sound and A/V system - that was designed and set up by DJ - so our DJ didn't have to bring a ton of equipment. The Essence also had a A/V staff member that walked our DJ through using the sound system the morning of, so we didn't have to worry about troubleshooting.

A few additional perks:
- Plentiful free parking
- Separate reception and ceremony space (with the ceremony space flipping to a dance floor later) so that guests who wanted to chat and visit with one another didn't have to yell over music.
- Creative and wide open bar menu - so many signature drinks to choose from.
- Great temperature control (it was a hot and humid day but the venue stayed the perfect temperature).
- Full kitchen for caterers, which allowed us to cater with Peking Garden to serve a traditional 10-course meal to our Vietnamese family.

The last thing we'll add is that we hosted a multicultural wedding with a lot of Vietnamese friends and family present, and from the get go, The Essence got it. They knew what to expect, were very culturally competent and eager to make all of our guests feel welcome and honor our practices and traditions. It was so easy working with them from start to finish, and they helped make our wedding day perfect. Would highly recommend this venue to any couple!

An amazing venue - simply put! Working alongside them has been a breeze and coordinating events is seamless. Their quick response time (Grace), hassle-free load-in, and ample space at the venue make them easy to work with. Thank you - looking forward to the next rental at your venue!

Hi, I was a Wedding coordinator for Abby and Peter’s wedding on August 23, 2023 at the Essence center in Saint Paul. It was a beautiful evening wedding and I have to comment that the staff at the Essence was incredible. They were helpful, courteous, kind, efficient and ready to help in anyway they could. It made my job a lot easier with the help that they provided me in setting up and taking down. If you are looking for a beautiful space with lots of windows and brick, and a wonderful staff for a special event I would highly, highly, highly recommend the Essence center in Saint Paul and bandanna Square

We recently had our wedding at The Essence Event Center and have nothing but great things to say about this venue! Nicole was truly fantastic to work with every step of the way! Her communication was fabulous and she always went above and beyond to make our big day as special as it was. Our vendors and weddings guests loved the venue as much as we did. Highly recommend this venue and working with Nicole she’s just the best!

My husband and I recently got married at the Essence Event Center. I am so ecstatic that this was our venue. We looked at several places and Essence really spoke to us. We worked with Grace. We planned our wedding in six months and everything was incredibly easy. Essence includes so much like the bar service, hexagon arch, and INCREDIBLE getting ready spaces. They also have amazing preferred vendors. All of the staff we interacted with on the day of were so kind. We love that our wedding venue was such a unique and historical space. It was extra convenient being able to do everything for the entire day all at one location. We would choose Essence again in a heartbeat.

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at the Essence Event Center and absolutely loved it! We received so many compliments from our guests that it was such a cool venue, the space is absolutely gorgeous! It was a rainy all day so all of our photos were inside, there were so many different cool backdrops and areas to take them I loved it! The get ready rooms were so spacious, I loved our morning in there! The staff is amazing. They've really thought of everything and really want to make your day special and let you just enjoy it! If I could do it again, I would 100% have our wedding here again!

We just finished with our wedding here and it was excellent! All our guests had nothing but good things to say. The staff were very respectful and did everything that we'd asked of them (and then some)! Everything was seamless and communication between the event coordinator and us made wedding planning a lot less stressful. We highly recommend this place to anyone!

I’m a wedding photographer who did a wedding yesterday 10/20/2023.
This venue is so beautiful and clean but even better the staff was professional, SO accommodating and helpful beyond what I could imagine and the venue overall had so many different spots for photos!
They really thought through every little detail and it shows. I will be recommending this venue from now on. I really enjoyed the atmosphere.

We chose The Essence for our wedding venue site based on the following factors: professionalism of staff, friendliness, clear expectations, organized communication, and adaptability to dreams. They followed-through beautifully in each area! This space for our guest number of 200 was perfect. The architecture was stunning for our winter wedding and the staff accommodated our desires up until the day-of. Truly, a pleasant experience and would recommend to any couple desiring to have a beautiful venue with highly professional and friendly staff!! Their staff is personable and ready to celebrate your big day.