The Carlson Towers Rotunda & Amphitheatre

The Rotunda in Minnetonka was beautiful. The event coordinators, Dawn and Carol, are completely on top of their game and easy to work with. They're super organized and have everything down to a science there. The food tasted great and I loved working with Bev the night of the wedding. She made sure things went off without a hitch and that everything was just the way we wanted. The biggest downfall about Rotunda is the price. It is more expensive than other places, but it helps to have your wedding on a Sunday or Friday to save some money.

As a bride who is also a member of the Twin Cities wedding industry, my biggest concern in planning my own wedding was finding a place that would live up to both my and my guest's expectations as well as allow me the creativity and flexibility need to customize the event.Throughout the entire planning process, the whole team at Carlson (Dawn, Carol & John) were absolutely incredible! From offerings ideas and advice on what works best in their space to making themselves available within moments of an email/call, their services were imperative in bringing our big day together.My biggest fear for the wedding day was that my vision wouldn't be exactly as I had pictured it in my head. Walking into the Rotunda that day, I realized that my biggest fear had come true--in the best way possible. The Rotunda was not what I had pictured but BETTER than anything I could have imagined. The work that the Carlson staff had put into the day was so apparent and I still hear on a regular basis how stunning the space was.Beyond a lovely setting, the food and service by Bon Appetit were perfection. Dozens of comments were received the evening of that guests had NEVER had such fantastic food, not only in an event setting but in general. These great dishes were served by a professional staff that anticipated each of our guests needs and went above and beyond to ensure that each person was having a relaxing, enjoyable meal. The team at Carlson gave us a perfect and relaxed planning process followed by a wedding that exceeded both my personal & professional expectations--there is no doubt in my mind that they will do the exact same for you. :)

The Rotunda and the Amphitheater made for an amazing place to have our wedding at. The staff was wonderful to work with and made sure that our day was a VERY special day!! We had to move our reception to an offsite location due to weekend restrictions but other than that..simply amazing!!

The food was amazing!!!!! Very professional staff and couldn't have been happier with the service:)

I would say work with Carol over Dawn!

Great place for a wedding and reception. Took great pride into making my wedding perfect. Family loved the classic look and comfortable feel. I liked that it was high class but yet affordable.

I think that Dawn and her team are very professional and knowledgeable about how to run weddings at the Carlson Rotunda. They are very responsive and always had an answer to my questions.That being said, this is NOT the venue for you if you're looking for anything outside of the norm. They're pretty "set in their ways" and don't have a lot of flexibility.Also, I don't really think you're getting a value for the money. The setting is beautiful, of course, but they definitely don't go above and beyond and don't offer anything that other venues don't.

We held our reception at The Conservatory at Carlson Center. From the start, Dawn and her team were very easy to work with and incredibly professional throughout the planning process. We thought the venue was a great size for our 100-person event and matched well with the tone of our spring soiree. They were also willing to work our special ideas into the day. We were a little disappointed that the food prices went up before our wedding, as we thought we'd locked into certain prices by booking in advance. Also, they have a pretty strict timeline they follow the day-of, but it did help the day to flow smoothly with little interruptions. Overall, we were pleased that we selected this venue and received many compliments on how beautiful everything looked. Thanks, Carlson!

Absolutely GORGEOUS venue for a wedding reception ... has to be one of the best in all the Twin Cities. I had one guest tell me that it was the most romantic wedding they had ever attended. The event coordinators are extremely well organized and take a lot of pride in their venue! I did not have an outdoor ceremony, but the amphitheater would be amazing if blessed with a beautiful, sunny day! It is worth serious consideration!

I loved this vendor. The staff was great. The coordinators were very helpful leading up to the event and the catering staff the day of were great. I had lots of compliments from my guests on the beautiful site and the great the food. The site was perfect for outdoor photographs as well. I wouldn't have changed a thing. There are guidlines and they are all listed out in the brochure. I didn't encounter and last minute surprises or hidden cost.

My husband and I were not looking for a spun sugar and cotton candy adventure. As professionals with more to do than plan a wedding, we wanted someone who could work quickly and efficiently with us. We initially chose Bon Appetit and the Conversatory because of their proximity to our home and the Country Inn Suites. We could not have made a better decision.It look 3 short meetings with Dawn and Bon Appetit to plan a lovely event. Our food was exceptional, the service was topflight without being overbearing or intrusive and our hostess for the evening, Bev, did an amazing job. She was light, easy going, completely on top of everything and helped make our evening a blast!Initially I was concerned that the Conservatory would look like a cafeteria regardless of decoration. I had nothing to fear. We did not spend the extra $900 to have the ceiling draped and the room looked lovely. It was a gorgeous day and the room was bright and airy. It was not the least bit hollow sounding or cold. We had flowers on the tables but no other decorations in the dining roomWe also felt Bon Appetit was a great value. The prices for food and liquor were VERY reasonable and the quality was like that of a very good restaurant. We chose an open bar plus poured wine all evening and when we compared the price of our event to other locations, it was a very simple decison.Lastly,the location is really great. It's away from the expense of downtown but not so far away that out of town guests can get lost. The Conservatory is sufficiently sophisticated without being stuffy and overbearing. I can't recommend it highly enough...

The wedding planners were helpful in planning things, and seemed very nice. It was sometimes frustrating to work with them because they have done it so many times that they think they have all the great ideas, but was not a major issue. The actual night of the reception their servers seemed to come around too often. And they cleared the tables too early so they looked barren by the end of the night. I still don't know where my silver cake server is, though they claimed they put it by my stuff. I have mixed feelings about this place, but it was a nice night overall. (They did allow me to change my date without cost.)

We held both our ceremony and reception at the Rotunda at the Carlson Towers in Minnetonka. It was an absolutely storybook beautiful venue and Dawn and the staff of Bon Appetit Event Catering & Management were great to work with! My husband and I would highly recommend them!

Excellent staff! Beautiful location!!!

The Conservatory at Carlson catering staff (Bon Appetit) provided great food for our wedding! We were able to try two dishes of our choice at a tasting session and discuss various options for dinner. The food was delicious and the staff was amazing at making sure the dinner service was organized and professional. They did a great job of coordinating everything and helping us along in the process.The only downside I found with the venue was the flexibility. We live in Nebraska but had our wedding in MN where we're originally from. They insisted on meeting with us for the tasting sessions, etc and we finally had to say "No! We're too far away!". We did make it for the tasting but not the final meeting (I sent my parents in my place for that one). I thought they should have been a little more flexible with us considering we lived several states away. Also be aware that the venue has "certain ways" of doing things. For example we didn't really want to have a cocktail hour for our reception but we ended up having one because they basically refused to let us go strait to dinner!! The cocktail hour turned out to be a lot of fun even though we originally didn't want to have one.. the guests had appetizers and drinks while we got to have a few more private pictures around the conservatory grounds. When we did arrive at the cocktail hour it was a nice time to mingle a little before dinner. Overall the reception and food was delicious but just keep in mind that most of these venues have "their way" of going about these sort of events. It doesn't give you a lot of flexibility, however in many ways I think that they have to keep it simple to be organized.

We used Bon Appetit at Macalester College for our catering. They were very flexible in letting use design our meal and pricing us based on what we wanted. We didn't just have to go with one of their pre planned meals. We went with parmesan chicken with vegetables and ceaser salad. It was awesome at the taste testing. One the wedding day the check ended up being grilled without breading which was totally different than what we had tried. It also wasn't as good. They ended up refunding us $1 per plate to make up for it.

The staff at the Conservatory was amazing from beginning to end. They were very professional when booking the site and previewing it. The tasting was handled well with plenty of food for several people to taste. In addition to being very professional, they were exceptional at handling a difficult outside vendor and making everything work despite this other vendor's issue. The pre-reception room was beautiful, as was the reception area. The outdoor area made for a wonderful change of pace during the reception. There was plenty of room for everyone and after the room was set up, the fact that it was a cafeteria was not noticeable at all.