Wedding ceremony in the woods.

Hi Elissa! Welcome to WeddingWire! If I were in your shoes, which I'm not, I would look into local or state forests or parks. Some of the parks near where I live have pavilions you can rent through the parks and recreation department for pretty affordable prices. Depending on how foresty you want your wedding, you and your guests could take a small walk/hike into the woods, have the ceremony, and then come back out for the reception.

You can also check out the park and outdoor venues in the WeddingWire vendor directory. Just from first glance, it looks like there are some summer camps and outdoor venues near the woods that might work for your vision. Plus, all of the venues have reviews from newlyweds who used them. Might be worth a look, so I'll link it below.

Minneapolis area park and outdoor venues

You could also look at Pinterest for inspiration or a local Facebook wedding group to see if anyone in your area has pulled off what you're looking to accomplish. Why the woods?

How “woodsy” are you looking for, and are you anywhere near Chanhassen? We considered the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Bluff Creek Golf course option ... or maybe French Regional Park in Plymouth?

If you are having a smaller wedding, Stouts Lodge (in Wisconsin) does weddings.

I used to work for the state park system nd we would often have weddings in the park. Renting out a group camp is the a great way to go then you have you the woods plus the group camps usually have facilities. Id highly reccomend Itasca State Park or Lake Carlos State Park just off the top of my head but thats where I would start. Itasca also had a restaurnt that will cater! Food truck are always a good option in the woods too.