New Venue: Pinewood Weddings + Events in Cambridge

Tony and Kate Becker’s modern, Northwoods venue, will host its first wedding this month.

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There are lots of warm and fuzzy romance stories out there. You know, the type where the artsy, young couple with a dog builds three homes, starts a photobooth camper operation, and then builds the wedding venue of their dreams together. Sounds too good to be true, right? Pinewood owner, Tony Becker, disagrees. “When somebody says that something is impossible, we think that’s an opinion, not a fact.” He might be right.

As the green, custom tile wall goes up at Pinewood Weddings + Events, owners Tony and Kate Becker are one carefully considered detail closer to opening the doors of their 12,000-square-foot wedding venue.

The couple married five years ago at Kate’s grandparents’ barn, which they revamped over the course of their engagement. Although there had been a spark of desire to open a wedding venue, their own wedding planning experience fanned the flames. “It’s something you build from nothing and then you see people’s faces light up,” says Tony. “Without you creating that experience, they wouldn’t have had that moment.”

Their photography business, with Kate as the head honcho and Tony often running the second camera, has been capturing love birds for nine years. In 2015, they hit the pause button on venue plans to build their third house together (an alternative hobby to binging Stranger Things every night).

Then, in 2017, the Beckers started a north woods twist on a photo booth, Northerly Photo Camper, in 2017. Can you get more Minnesotan than this genius idea? And what took us so long to think of a photo camper?! Their photography experience gave the Beckers ample knowledge of the industry, venues, and couples’ needs.

Finally, in 2017 they found The One.

It was an undeveloped lot with pine trees reaching for the clouds, just close enough to the cities to be convenient for couples and vendors, but just far enough to escape the chaos–and sticker shock–of downtown.

Hello, Cambridge. Truly small-town Minnesota, with a family-owned bar situated on a quaint main street that twinkles with Hallmark-esque holiday lights in winter. And just a hop, skip, jump from the world’s largest Dala horse (Mora, Minn.), a pre-wedding detour for grandpa Sven and grandma Ole.

For Tony and Kate, the 11-acre lot was love at first sight. The lanky pines reminded them of the beloved drive to Duluth’s North Shore. The bonus of being just 60 minutes up Highway 65 is convenience without cost. “You get all the high-end finishes…and you also get out of the city,” he says. “You get a really cool nature setting that is really unique.”

Pinewood has ample indoor space, an indoor/outdoor bar, fireplace, patio area, and outdoor ceremony space. The interior’s neutral tile, wood floors, white walls, and expansive windows lend elegant, Northwoods vibes. The outdoor ceremony space features benches for seating, a minimalist backdrop that mimics the peak of the building, and towering pines.

When I asked what made Pinewood different than other venues, the list was long. The answer? Everything.

Bigger bathrooms for the guests allow less time in the loo line and more time on the dance floor. Seamless transitions and a clutter-free main entrance is thanks to a separate entrance for vendor and venue staff. The kitchen is designed specifically for caterers. The parking lot is paved so your fancy kicks stay fancy.

The Groom’s Suite is equally as classy as the Bridal Suite, a rarity in current venues. “Sometimes the grooms get short end of the stick when it comes to suites,” says Tony, having been a groom himself. But at Pinewood, “it’s spacious. They can hang out in there all morning and not feel like they’re contained.” Each suite has a kitchenette and private bathrooms.

Looking at the vast stretches of windows at Pinewood, you may think natural light floods the rooms from every angle. Think again. Backlighting is a huge problem at many venues, Tony says. The couple ensured that the design left window-less walls behind the key locations (the indoor ceremony backdrop and head table wall) and made up for that with side lighting from giant windows spanning the non-backdrop walls.

The artificial lighting? Custom too. While the flicker of neon lights seems to set the mood for most country songs, the imperceptible flicker of regular LEDs is problematic for wedding photographers. Instead, Tony and Kate installed non-flickering LED lights specifically designed for the building.

“The day goes so fast, and while you always tell your bride and groom to slow down and enjoy the experience, at the end of the day, all you have is those memories–the photos and the videos–to look back on,” Tony says.

Weather is the biggest factor in most Minnesota weddings. It’s the biggest clothing and activity determinant and dominates conversation of daily life in our great state, and on your big day, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your meteorologist is accurate. The Beckers created an indoor ceremony space that they prepare in tandem with the outdoor space. The dual ceremony set-ups allow couples to make the indoor-outdoor decision 30 to 45 minutes before the ceremony without having to move chairs or turn a room for the reception. (Most venues require three to four hours, at least.)

Why build, I wondered. Suitable buildings and pine trees dot the landscape of the greater metro area. While Tony is good with a hammer (he helped frame Pinewood structure and supervises construction on the venue), they didn’t want to go Chip and Joanna-style on an existing structure. “The number one thing that we wanted to do was build it from the ground up,” he says, because “you can create whatever you want and design a lot of those stressors out of the day.”

After nine years of photography, building three houses and creating three wedding-related businesses (oh, and don’t forget constructing a venue!), I thought Tony and Kate Becker would be exhausted. I envisioned them hunched over computers, six cups of coffee in, furrowed brows wondering when they might get a day off. Instead, the Maple Grove-based couple turns off their phones for weekly date night. On the business end, they are joyful, striving to make the lives of each couple easier.

Pinewood’s website lists prices by day and season and there is no time deadline for booking after a tour. “It’s a really big decision, and we want people to be confident,” Tony says. “We don’t want to pressure people into it.” They will even refer couples to another venue if Pinewood does not fit their needs, Tony says. “We want to solve problems of our potential client, or even if they’re not going to be our client, we want to point them in the right direction.”

Pinewood lists preferred caterers and other vendors that the Beckers have enjoyed working with, but in keeping with their couple-focused motto, they do not require that couples use their preferred caterers or recommended vendors. The bartending service, Liquidmotion, is the only required vendor. Tony said throughout the first few years at Pinewood, the list of recommended vendors will only get longer.

The brand spankin’ new venue accommodates 285 people and will host its first wedding at the end of this month. Tony says peak 2020 weekends (May through October) are rapidly filling.

Kate and Tony Becker are in the wedding industry for the love of it. “Building a venue is a huge undertaking,” Tony says. “Honestly, without each other there’s no way this thing would have happened.”

Pinewood Weddings + Events will host its first wedding on August 31, with the grand opening celebration in September. 33262 NW Palm St., Cambridge, pinewoodweddingsandevents.com