Swank Check
Hip, classic, elegant - Minnesota Bride examines venues with swanky style.
By Dara Moskowi
What is swank? It's the power to turn every head in the room with style and charisma. It's the ability to sear your presence into the memories of others forever. Some have got swank, and some have not. Zelda Fitzgerald had swank. So did Ava Gardner. Very simply, each took her irresistible sense of style and ran with it. But venues-as well as people-can exude a swanky je ne sais quois,whether boasting Art Deco furnishings, Swingers-type ambiance or opulent antiques from an earlier century.
You could argue that there are more swanky spots today then ever before-there are certainly all types. Take the newly remodeled Van Dusen Centre. A red stone castle just south of downtown Minneapolis, the mansion was recently painstakingly restored to its1892 standard by Robert E. Poehling, who recounts hours of stripping paint from the gleaming wood-paneled walls, polishing the carved mahogany fireplaces until they shone like caramel, and installing his vast collection of antiques. But perhaps your dreams of swank don't turn on castles and carpets.
Perhaps swank for you is the Art Deco bloom of Moderne notables like Jean Harlow and Zelda Fitzgerald. In that case, your options are equally deluxe. First on any list, at least for smaller weddings, is Goodfellow's in downtown Minneapolis. Housed in the glimmering fantasy of what was once the old Forum Cafeteria, being in Goodfellow's is like looking up from the bottom of a cut crystal champagne flute. Decorated in shades of sage, jet, silver, and maple, Goodfellow's fairly drips with trim and fixtures that evoke the hopeful, streamlined shapes of what was once known as "Zig Zag Moderne."
For Deco dreams hinging on a larger guest list, the Commodore might be just what the flapper ordered. Even today you can almost hear the echoes of the musicians, artists, and social climbers that made the Commodore fashionable over a half century ago. While much of the (very large) wedding space is simply antique-furnished, the Art Deco bar is downright breathtaking.
For much more on reception sites, see the Spring/Summer 1999 newsstand issue of Minnesota Bride.
