James J Hill Library

We were married at the James J. Hill Reference Library on 3.31.12. The venue was absolutely beautiful and perfectly arranged and set-up. We received many many compliments about our wedding. We were thrilled with how it all went and definitely made the right choice. Beth, James J Hill Event Planner, was wonderfully easy and professional to work with. She offered many creative ideas and recommendations and was very timely in her responses and communications. She also knows everyone in the Twin Cities wedding scene and had many helpful contacts and references. We can't recommend Beth and the James J. Hill Reference Library enough. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly at charles.stannard@gmail.com. Thanks.

We had our ceremony and wedding at the James J Hill Reference library this past October. Everything about the event was perfect!! Beth, the event coordinator was amazing to work with throughout the entire process and Jacky did a phenomenal job the day of. This was one of the amazing reasons we choose the venue. Upon seeing how truly stunning the library was, we knew immediately that we had nothing to worry about. Our wedding was truly my dream wedding and it was just perfect. So many of our guests said it was the best wedding ever! That is mainly due to the amazing event staff that made it happen. I am so fortunate to have worked with such great people that took into consideration everything I dreamed about. The location was perfect as well. Having the ceremony there and reception made a seamless transition with the cocktail hour outside and then coming back inside for the festivities to start. I would recommend the library to anyone in a heartbeat! Everything about the venue was breathtaking and the event staff are amazing!! Thank you!!

Fabulous! Beth is amazing and helpful, guests raved about the building and how beautiful it was. If I had to do it all over, I would choose the library again any day.

Working with Beth O'Connor was truly a pleasure! Her guidance made us fully aware of all that we needed to be doing on our end and made the wedding reception for our daughter and her husband all that we had hoped it would be.

We had both our ceremony and reception at the JJ Hill library in July, 2011. I cannot stress enough how great Beth was to work with - she was receptive to all of our ideas, and helpful in every aspect. From changing dates to increasing capacity, any requests we had were accomodated. The open catering policy is great. Everyone loved the space, and loved attending a wedding in a unique venue. Wouldn't change a thing!

I recently got married and had my ceremony and reception at the James J. Hill Library. To put it simply, I could not have chosen a more perfect place to get married. Everyone commented on how beautiful the space was-no need to decorate! Beth was fabulous and made sure that everything went smoothly. I also live out of state and all of my "I can't be in Minnesota to plan my own wedding" fears were put completely at ease with Beth. It is worth every penny and you will not be disappointed with how your evening turns out-everything from location, communication, recommendations, security is perfect!

We held our reception at the Library and I could not have been more pleased with the outcome. From the ease of up-front planning, to the responsiveness (and creativity!) of Beth O'Conor, to the great on-site staff the night of our reception-- everything and everyone we dealt with was fabulous to work with. Our guests made repeated comments that night and afterwards about the beauty of the library. (We used very minimal decorations to compliment the grandeour of the room- it speaks for itself.) We had appetizer stations for our guests, a live 10-piece band, a photo booth and dessert bar. Beth was fantastic in getting it all to fit with the perfect layout for tables to seat 180 in addtion to the above items. We were also plesantly surprised with the staff's willingness to set out our decorations, and the ease of dropping them all off the day before. I can't say enough about Beth and her staff- very friendly, easy to work with, responsive and overall very calm about everything we asked for. They were great to work with I wish I could do it all again!

This is an absolutely beautiful venue for a wedding. We could not have been more pleased with my daughter's special day and we continue to receive compliments from our guests regarding the library setting. Beth is easy to work with and we appreciate her guidance as event coordinator.

We absolutely loved the James J Hill Reference Library! We originally had a different venue, but due to flooding we had to find a venue last minute. The Library had an opening and within weeks we had everything planned and ready to go. Beth helped in so many ways! She was flexible and helped me finalize things fast. Besides being absolutely breathtaking, the venue added a lot of class and comfort to our wedding. The chairs and tables are all there for you to use and not too much is needed on your end to decorate (which is cheap and easier on you the day of!). The photos are beautiful and people kept saying how beautiful the venue was! I recommend this venue because of Beth (how easy and accommodating she is) and the beauty of the place. It's right in St Paul so hotels are easy to figure out as well. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

James J. Hill is the perfect reception venue. I had my reception in December, so Rice Park was decorated for Christmas. There was snow on the ground, and provided the perfect Winter Wonderland Wedding. The staff and service at the Library exceeded my expectations. They were so easy to work with, and welcomed all of my out of the box ideas. I couldn't have asked for a better experience over all.

Our wedding reception at the James J. Hill Library was everything I could imagine and more. One of my favorite moments of my entire wedding was walking into the library and seeing everything set up and my guests there. I was literally blown away. I was speechless for about a minute. The library is such a beautiful historic place. My husband knew the minute we waslked in that it was the place we would have our reception. I was hesitent because of the high cost, but I am so glad we we went with the James J Hill Library. Although the cost is higher than some locations, it was well worth it, you don't have to spend as much in decor or even food (since you choose your caterer), or chair cover because they have nice white ones and beautiful wooden orante ones. Our reception was absolutley stunning and I believe it was a wedding people will not forget. Also, Beth was incredibly helpful. She responded to calls and emails immediately and answered all my questions. I wasn't able to be a part of the set up at the library, which I am assuming most brides aren't, but Beth and her staff took care of everything. My mind was as ease and I knew things would be done right. I would reccomend this venue to anyone!

It's an absolutely gorgeous venue - the historic building, rice park, open-floors of books, pillars, etc. We got a lot of compliments on how beautiful and fun the venue was. Beth and the staff made it incredibly easy to plan and have a smooth experience. Beth answers emails promptly, the staff set out all of our favors, place cards, table decorations ahead of time so we didn't have to coerce a family member into doing that. This was the easiest decision we made!!

We were very happy with the reception at the James J Hill library. I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful the library looked when I walked in. We knew it would be lovely but we didn't realize how good the acoustics would be and how intimate a large room could feel. Our guests loved the venue. The entire event was perfect to us. Beth and the staff at the library were so accommodating and helpful in creating the reception we wanted. We really could not be happier. Beth recommended our caterer, Deco Catering, and they were wonderful as well. The food was fabulous and the service was extraordinary. The entire event was absolutely perfect!

The library is a wonderful location for a wedding! Our guests could not get over how beautiful the venue was, it is the classiest location in the twin cities. It is a bit expensive, but Beth does a great job of doing much of the coordinating which makes the wedding planning an ease. The location is also great - guests can just walk from the St. Paul Hotel and easily get to and from the airport. I highly recommend the library!

The JJ Hill Library was an amazing place to have my reception. The 3 story high ceilings were great and the architecture provided such an amazing back drop for all of my photos. Beth was great to work with and answered all my questions in a timely fashion. All my guests were amazed at the location and being so close to Rice Park was great for pictures as well.

Cannot say enough great things about the Hill Library and their staff. The reading room was just the perfect place for a librarian to get married and Beth, the coordinator, was amazing to work with. She responded quickly to questions I had, offered tons of suggestions and even did a little leg work for us--above and beyond. Our wedding was a month ago and I'm still hearing how much our guests loved being in the reading room. I wasn't sure how we would be able to pull off the ceremony and reception in one spot, but I'm glad to report it looked fab and the Hill staff took care of everything.

The space was beautiful. Beth was very helpful and work with us on our many special requests.

My wedding reception at the James J. Hill library was a wonderful experience. I would highly recommend the site to other brides for their ceremony and/or reception. It is a very unique yet highly elegant location. The tall columns of Tennessee pink marble are just beautiful. I would highly recommend hiring an uplighting service for an extra dramatic effect. My guests were blown away by the surroundings of the library and many commented that it was the most beautiful wedding reception they had ever attended. Also, the event coordinator Beth O'Connor, was excellent to work with. I am the ULTIMATE micro-managing control freak, but when I met with Beth over several occasions, I knew I could place my trust in her. You can tell that she cares about making sure your wedding looks beautiful- she gives honest and practical insight from the many weddings she has overseen at the library. In addition, she coordinated with my catering company to ensure every pre-planned detail I gave her regarding the wedding decor was executed perfectly. I could not be more pleased. One piece of advice I would give brides holding their ceremony and/or reception at the library: splurge on your photography. The dramatic look of the venue allows for such fantastic photo opportunities- you want to make sure you have a photographer who is creative and can quickly and efficiently get as many shots as possible. Also during the fall season, the trees and bushes in the rear of the building (facing Kellogg Blvd) turn to wonderful shades of red and yellow. They look absolutely beautiful in pictures. Again though- make sure you get a photographer with an artistic eye who knows how to capture the moment!

Our daughter , Jacqueline, saw the JJ HILL LIBRARY on line and wanted to go check it out for her reception. We walked in and she knew she had to have this venue. At the time we went over the vision ( luckily we have very similar taste), because, well, it is a reading room so we had to picture it set up as a wedding reception. Jackie saw the floor to ceiling books as the color and character, she saw the food ( gorgeous Italian Buffet by DECO) and flowers( sunflowers&hydrangeas) as color and then everything else would be a nice clean white. How often does something you plan in your mind translate to real life and come out EXACTLY as you visulaized? It happened to us. I walked in before the bridal party got there and I felt like crying because I knew how happy Jackie would be. As one of my friends said " this place is magical". So many guests asked how we found this gem of a place. The lighting, the twinkling candles, the white table cloths and how everything was set up from food to cake to tables. There was so much character in that reception room. The gift room is gorgeous as well. My biggest concern as mom of the bride was not being able to be at 2 places at once. How could I be at the Church all day and have any control of what is happening at the reception site? I should NOT have worried. What a waste of time that was. Beth O'Connor,( co-ordinator) did precisely what we asked and she made Jackie and Brandon's day so special. She was very professional, always answered our e-mails ( and we had plenty), and is extremely organized. In addition, there were two men there, JJ Hill employess, who were always available to help with anything!!! If I could give more than 5 for each category, I would. Now I cannot wait for the pics to come back from the photographer!!!!!!! Thank you Beth and JJ Hill Library. Thank you so much.

Absolutely beautiful setting! The staff was wonderful throughout the process and really helped with all of the small details. I would recommend this venue to anyone.