Aria

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at Aria. The venue was the main talk of our guests and definitely a major part of what made our celebration so fun and unique. It’s a great space for the full day — from getting ready in the large, beautiful dressing rooms and fun quirky bathrooms, to a seemingly infinite number of unique photo ops, to an open, beautiful ceremony space, to a chandelier-​covered lobby for cocktail hour, and finally a spacious area for dinner and dancing — this is a wonderful venue if you’re looking for something that’s not run-​of-​the-​mill. The coordinators will work with you to create your vision — from simple to elaborate. Our guests had an awesome time taking photos on the couches upstairs in the VIP area. Having our wedding in this space was one of the best wedding planning decisions we made!

My husband and I recently held our wedding at Aria, and words cannot express how wonderful of an experience with had with the Aria staff and space. Kastina, our Aria manager we had the pleasure of working with, is magic. She bent over backwards to make sure we had everything we needed at all times, and was just a gem to work with– so attentive to detail, so welcoming to our guests, even met folks on the way out that night with an umbrella to guard guests from the rain, and was so cool and calm throughout the entire process. Thanks for making our wedding truly a night we’ll never forget. So much love, Tessa + Bruce

This review is about Aria as a concert venue. Remember how terrible Mill City Nights was when it first opened? Specifically, do you remember the fact that you couldn’t see the performers because the stage was too low? Aria has this exact same problem.
From anywhere not right up front, you couldn’t see anything on the stage. My short friend, who could see literally nothing on the stage, asked me, in heels that put me near 6′ tall, how many people were on the stage at one point. I couldn’t tell her because I couldn’t see most of the stage.
That’s unacceptable.
Otherwise, the vibe is good, there was good service, and it’s a great space. It just needs to get a real stage if it’s going to host more concerts.

We looked at Aria as a potential wedding venue. We ultimately decided to go destination but Aria was a final location when we thought we were going to marry in Minneapolis. From the beginning, we had wonderful reception from Stephanie. I’m sure she and the staff meet with tons of people but she treated us with respect and as if she were showing the place for the first time. I say this because we went and saw tons of locations where clearly they didn’t really care because they were going to rent the space no matter what. Stephanie was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us a ton of information, as well as financially broke down everything for us without just emailing a PDF of pricing. That really helped us paint a picture in our heads and we really loved that extra step.
Aria is a beautiful space and there are so many options to customize and make the event yours. There are a lot of options for vendor selection and I just had the feeling that the on-​site coordination would have been amazing. I hope to one day host a party there, whether it is an anniversary party or something!

Seriously, just the best. I have been to many MANY events at Aria, the staff is top notch, the space is GORGEOUS and very versatile. From fashion shows to weddings to shooting commercials to art installations to non profit fund raisers, this space works for everything. Super convenient downtown location and really great caterers on their vendor lists. The staff really cares about the experience their clients have at the venue, and I’ve always been impressed.

Beautiful venue! I was here for a wedding, we had a wonderful time but the food was really just terrible. It was cold (was supposed to be hot) not thoroughly cooked (raw) and just not good. I probably wouldn’t have commented except I found out how much money they paid to serve a sad sad sad buffet. Frankly Aria should ashamed.

Had 2 straight events at Aria on a Friday for Babies & Bad asses fund-​raiser for Child Immortality and a wedding the next day Saturday. Great place and had fun at both well attended events. Drinks were well poured and staff were courteous (some more than others). The wedding was a great all inclusive option for the bride and groom and it was one of the best weddings i’ve been too. Valet was convenient and location is too! Tangiers is just around the corner! Great venue period! Cheers!

Aria is an amazing venue!
Gorgeous, first of all! We got married here this past August. All of our guests commented on the space and still do! After we booked they added more and more chandeliers, which became the centerpiece for our wedding ceremony! The people at Aria were all about trying new things and creating interesting spaces. I never met any opposition to my ideas. Just support! We ended up doing our ceremony in the round in the lobby under the gorgeous chandeliers and it was perfect!
Jessica was our primary contact throughout and we loved working with her! She was very accommodating, relaxed and friendly. We live out of state and she even stayed late to let us show our family the venue during the holiday season. In fact, she was always open to let us come by and look around when we were in town. She was very flexible and helpful in making our vision happen. Plus she genuinely was excited about our ideas! I loved her laidback attitude. Even though she must be incredibly busy, she came across as relaxed which let us know she had everything under control! It was incredibly easy to talk to her!
The other staff we met were fantastic too! Michelle, who we booked with was very nice, Eyob the facility manager who was so kind and friendly and Kelly, the bar manager, was very helpful meeting with us to figure out the drinks.
The day of the wedding was fantastic! We loved it. Our families loved it. And our guests loved it. We couldn’t have picked a better space for us! Thank you Aria, we are so happy to have our memories here! Great space, great people, great day!!!

Attended the New Years Eve event last night, Dec 31, 2013. I was hoping for a fun venue, good music and decent service-​it is New Years so trying to be realistic as it relates to service. I did buy VIP upgrade to hopefully increase likelihood of service.
So it is a fun venue with a cool kind of warehouse vibe. The music was fine. Service awful. One bar for regular zone and one for VIP means 40 minutes plus to stand in line if you’d like a drink. And that line will seem reasonable compared to the one for the restroom. I strongly do not recommend this venue until they correct these issues.
A smaller wedding or company function might be awesome here. Pass if any kind of crowd is expected.

I was at the Aria for a party while in town for a conference. The space is in an industrial area and is very unassuming from the outside. Inside you are greeted with a huge space that has large chandeliers, whimsical artwork and interesting furniture. Even with the decorations you sort of feel like you are at a secret party in an abandoned building with the partially demoed walls and rough brick. It is a very unique and interesting space and I enjoyed the time I spent there. If I lived in the area I would certainly consider this location for an event.

I was part of hired entertainment for a Halloween benefit. I –cannot– say enough wonderful things about the staff. They were all so nice and so helpful. They had a security guy around and I never felt like I had to worry about my belongings. The «green rooms» are spectacular. Clean and well lit with tons of space. The bathrooms… awesome. The building is beautiful. I hope I get the chance to be here again!

This location is pretty awesome inside. Industrial but aged, laid back and quite stunning. Huge ceilings, great atmosphere.
This event was chosen for the annual JNUC party. If you don’t know what that is google it. Basically it’s a bunch of Apple IT community members getting together and enjoying some drinks while they nerd it up to 11. I’m not knocking them after all I am one of them.
It was pretty amusing watching some members of this community be in such a social environment. You could really tell who was a windows admin or a true Mac admin :)
That bring said the staff was great. The music was decent for the most part and the food was varied and very good. I would come back for an event here again without thinking about it. Paid parking out front made it easy to get to and from just get to your event early to get a spot. One of the most interesting places I had been in a while. I would say one of the only down sides to it was the bathrooms are quite small and can become pretty nasty depending on the crowd that is currently there.

This place is sweet! Went here for the first time for a friends wedding reception, and had no idea this place existed. Very cool place for an event. I am suprised there are never any concerts? Really nice staff too. Only dinging one star for the weird setup they had for drinks pre-​event.

We came here for a wedding reception for our friend. What an amazing space. We all fit comfortably in for the front area where we were greeted with cocktails. After enjoying some pre dinner drinks they opened the main space to us. It was incredible. Spacious, elegantly decorated, and organized well so that it was easy to navigate. There was a great dance area, upper wings to go and relax on, and plenty of room to move around.
A very modern and clean feeling that really elevated the reception without making it feel overdone.

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at Aria and worked with Jessica and Kastina. Everything was wonderful!!! The space itself is so amazing but the staff was exceptional. They were very cool, calm and collected the day of our wedding, ready to take on whatever needed to get done. They went above and beyond the whole day and night! Our guests raved for days about the venue.

Gorgeous event space! It’s open, airy, modern, great VIP area with comfy couches overlooking the space. There are beautiful chandeliers and art on the walls. Aria has so much character and can set the stage for a fun event. The concrete can be a tad hard to stand on for a long time but it’s no biggie. The restrooms are clean and plentiful. The only reason to knock it down a star is that parking is a headache for large events.

My view of this place may be a little biased because the only experience I had with Aria was the «Play the Building» interactive art display by David Byrne which is fantastic and if you haven’t checked it out you should! Aria is a little bitter-​sweet for me because I «hearted» the Theatre de la Jeune Lune and thought it was a magnificent treasure in this city and hated to see it go. That being said, what stayed was the fabulous space that could lend itself to a myriad of uses (including a dynamic art installation such as «Play the Building»). I am excited to see this place in a few months when I attend a good friend’s wedding reception. It is such a perfect space.

I first found out about The Aria while I was flipping through the MN Bride magazine. What got my attention was a snapshot of the glamorous and rustic reception room. The room was filled with elegant lights, beautiful decors, and the space itself looked spectacular. Of course, like any girl would, I erased all of those decors and implemented my own imagination to the space. The Aria used to be a theater that had shutdown and reopened for events. I was curious to find out more about it, but never thought that one day I would actually get to work at the venue.
A few weeks later, my brother told me that we would get to work at The Aria for a client’s wedding. I was thrilled and thought it was a miracle!
My expectations had not been let down. As a matter of fact, I was more impressed with the venue after leaving that night. The staff at The Aria were so nice to work with. They were all so helpful and kind. We could have been thrown in the shuffle among other vendors, but I truly felt like they treated us like a team.
The space was just as I expected; huge space, tall ceilings, rustic walls, fun and elegant lights, and the best of them all… the stage. The stage provided the unique characteristic of the venue. The ceremony was held there which I thought was really neat and fun. As a DJ vendor, we stress the ability of going in and out quickly and safely with our equipment. My brother and I were very surprised and impressed how easy it was to bring our equipment in. Out of all the venues that I have attended, The Aria made it to the top of the list.

Attended a wedding here last night, and was very impressed with the overall ‘vibe’ of the venue space itself. It was a very cool warehouse-​meets-​modern feel. Exposed walls with cracks/​holes in the concrete, but chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There was a nice, long narrow cocktail-​hour kind of entryway. The actual meals/​dance took place in a huge open room, with massive stage.
I don’t know how much of this was other services, so I’m hesitant to comment too much on the food (delicious), lighting/​staging (breathtaking) and music (good.)
Re: parking– there is a large parking lot across from the venue that was free (at least for this event. Maybe comped by the couple?) There were also meters surrounding the venue. Even at 4 – 5 on a Saturday night, they were all empty.
I have only one complaint– the ceremony ended around 3:30, and the reception was scheduled to start at 5. There were a few guests (30 – 40?) who arrived around 4:30 to Aria, hoping to hang out there. No one was expecting food or drinks yet, but the manager, very curtly, informed us that they would not allow anyone inside prior to 5. Fine. Except it was 90* outside and there were a few people with little kids, etc. So we all stood around on the sidewalk until they let us inside.

This is a rental venue, so like the previous reviewer, my experience may be skewed by the success of the event (the renter brings the staff/​catering/​hosts). Trying to overlook that, however, and without knowing the rental costs, I found this to be a very nice place and can imagine it would be a great place for a wedding reception, or large party.
The location is on the edge of downtown, where there is still cheap meters (that end early), and it’s not too far to walk to the lite rail.
The 1^st street door opens into a long, wide hall with a dozen beautiful chandeliers and an artistic «Let’s get lost» neon on one wall.
They had a few pieces of elegant furniture around.
The ball room was very large and has a decorated balconyoverlooking it.
There’s a large low stage with «The whole World is yours» (nice Scarface quote) above it, which I also liked.
In all, it’s just a really cool, very LARGE, rental space. Worth a look, if you have a big event you want to host in a central location.