When the Museum first opened its doors in 2007, Dr. Faithe never expected it to be a popular place for weddings and events in the Sioux Falls area. However, with the original hardwood floors, exposed wood beams, and stone walls, couples constantly reached out to us, wanting to hold their special day here in our beautiful facility.
As we are not your average wedding venue, here are a few things that you may want to know about having a wedding at the Museum of Visual Materials.
1. Choose your Own Caterer
One things many couples love about our facility is our open catering policy. Bringing in your own caterer allows you to control your budget and select a service that fits the style of your wedding. From plated meals to a buffet line and from hors devours to a five-course meal, you can create the wedding of your dreams with our flexibility.
2. Have both your Ceremony and Reception in One Place
If you are looking for a one-stop venue, we are it! The large windows on our west wall provide a romantic backdrop for your ceremony. Depending on your wedding size, we can set up chairs in rows for a typical ceremony layout. If you are having a large event, we recommend having guests simply sit at their table. This also reduces the need of downtime to move chairs for the reception. Looking for something a bit less traditional? Have a short ceremony with your guests standing, surrounding you with their love. A wide circle provides everyone with a close view of the first kiss.
3. Beer and Wine Only
Our facility is equipped and licensed to only serve beer and wine, no hard liquor or mixed drinks. Although this may be a deal breaker for some, we find that most people are able to find a drink they like on our menu – which includes a wide variety of wines, beer, malt beverages, soda, and juice. You are able to host drinks as well, which includes buying a keg, boxes of wine, or simply providing drink tickets. Best of all, we have no bar minimum, and the only fees you’ll have outside of drink purchases are a $100 bar license fee and a $125 bartender fee (for one bartender).
4. GREEN building
For two years, our founder along with area experts, renovated our historic building to become the state’s first LEED Platinum Certified building. [link to our green building page] We are proud to be a green facility, and as such, we must maintain certain standards to continue to protect the environment and reduce our footprint. One of the major rules include our policy on dishware and napkins. For sit-down meals, we require real dishware and linen napkins to be used. These can be rented through your caterer or through a rental service in town, such as Ideal Wedding Rentals or ABC Rentals. For more information on our rules and restrictions, please see our contract and FAQ pages.
5. Art Gallery
In addition being a museum, we are also an art gallery. Local artists rent out the wall space in the Main Hall and Faithe Gallery for a two month period. As the artists are responsible for hanging their pieces, we do not remove the artwork from the walls for any reason. If you prefer to have a neutral background, you are able to rent a white backdrop that can go behind the head table. Another unique idea is to create poles with fabric strips to place over the pieces you want to be covered.
We are always delighted to work with couples and their parents on helping create their dream wedding. Be sure to take a look at our Wedding Photo Gallery and our wedding album on our Facebook page to see some of the beautiful weddings held here. We know that there are many questions around hosting a wedding, and to help your planning process, we’ve created a list of Frequently Asked Questions for you.
If you are interested in learning more about having your event at the Museum, contact us!