Milwaukee’s Top 3 Alternative Wedding Venues

Milwaukee has a number of fantastic wedding venues. However, many Milwaukee couples are looking for a venue that is as unique and non-traditional as they are. We’ve pulled together three amazing spaces for your consideration and even did a photo shoot at each venue!

In true Married In Milwaukee form, we have some tips for you when planning your wedding at an alternative venue, so be sure to read on. Your venue can define your wedding, but having your wedding in a non-traditional venue has additional logistics to consider.

1. Anodyne Coffee – Walker’s Point

Andodyne (224 W Bruce St) serves some great coffee, and their new coffee house is just as amazing. Located in one of Milwaukee’s hottest neighborhoods, Walker’s Point, it is a warm, open space beautifully renovated from its past life as a factory.

It is perfect for a weddings with a guest list of 150 – 175 depending on whether it’s a stand up or sit down wedding.

Benefits of an Anodyne Wedding

1. Anodyne Roasts Coffee – Anodyne’s coffee has been nationally recognized as some of America’s best. Why not incorporate this into your wedding? Consider hiring one of their baristas to brew up specialty coffee drinks for you and your wedding guests.

2. Live Music Stage – Anodyne has a small stage set up perfectly to accommodate a live band or wedding DJ. The photo opportunities are endless in this space too, as you can see in the photo below.

3. Built In Bar – Anodyne has a gorgeous bar within their space that serves beer, wine and coffee. If you are looking for drinks beyond beer and wine, you will need to work with Anodyne on the options available.

Anodyne Space Limitations

Because coffee is Anodyne’s business, there are some limitations with having an event in their space. Venue rentals start after 5pm and the space needs to return to its original state by 7am the following morning. Keep in mind you may need to bring in additional rentals, catering and beverage vendors.

Anodyne Details

Anodyne is a classic Milwaukee brand. We love the thought of incorporating it into a wedding in their space, just like this awesome Anodyne cake from The Cake Lady.

Anodyne has some amazing photo opportunities within the space as well. The photos below were taken in their storage room, which holds countless treasures from the building’s past life.

2. The Box Milwaukee

UPDATE: In April 2015, The Box moved to an awesome new location at 311 E. Wisconsin Ave. See what The Box looks like now.

The Box MKE (628 N Broadway) is new to the Milwaukee scene and hosts many types of events in their space. From yoga classes, to non profit mixers, weddings are a logical step for this unique, classic Milwaukee venue.

Located in the heart of downtown, it is perfect for a weddings with a guest list of 125 – 150 depending on whether it’s a stand up or sit down wedding.

Benefits of a Box Milwaukee Wedding

1. Classic Milwaukee – The Box MKE is a space full of history, like much of downtown Milwaukee. Converted from a bank building in its prior life, many historical aspects remain, including the cream city brick that looks amazing in photos.

2. Downtown Location – The Box MKE is located in downtown Milwaukee within walking distance from two of Milwaukee’s newest hotels – The Marriot and the Hilton Garden Inn, as well as one of Milwaukee’s top historic hotels, The Pfister.

This makes it extremely convenient for guests traveling from out of town or those who want a place to stay after celebrating with you at your amazing wedding reception. If your guests decide to party after, many bars are within walking distance or a cheap cab, Uber or Lyft ride.

3. Flexibility – The Box Milwaukee is open to many types of events. They are very flexible with timing, budget and other requirements including catering options and rentals. They also have various cute accents, including a custom movable bar available for use at your event.

UPDATE: In April 2015, The Box moved to an awesome new location at 311 E. Wisconsin Ave. See what The Box looks like now.

3. RedLine Milwaukee

RedLine Milwaukee (1422 North 4th Street) is an art gallery located a few blocks north of downtown Milwaukee. Their mission provides artists a space to perfect their craft with the ultimate goal of making a living from their art.

Their gallery makes an extremely beautiful and unique space for a wedding. It is perfect for a weddings with a guest list of 125 – 150 depending on whether it’s a stand up or sit down wedding.

Benefits of a RedLine Milwaukee Wedding

1. Support RedLine’s Mission – RedLine Milwaukee is a nonprofit and has an amazing mission. Centered on providing artists with studio space and mentoring, their goal is for the artists to make a living through their art. When having your wedding in their space, your rental fee goes to further their mission.

2. Uniqueness of the Space – There are many great photo opportunities within the RedLine Milwaukee gallery space. No two events will look the same either as the display walls are movable within the space and exhibitions change frequently.

3. Location and Flexiblity – RedLine is located just north of downtown and is a quick trip from anywhere in the area. They are also flexible with your event’s setup and allow any licensed caterer.

RedLine Space Limitations

Because RedLine is an art gallery, the exhibitions in their space change frequently and will be different on your wedding day. Keep in mind also you will need to bring in additional rentals and catering vendors.

Tips for Weddings in Non-Traditional Venues

Weddings at non-traditional venues like these are exciting, unique and different. Having your wedding in a non-traditional venue can create some amazing memories, but it is important to be aware of the challenges too.

1. Not a Wedding Venue – When having your wedding in a non-traditional venue like a coffee house, art gallery, etc., it is important to remember that weddings are not their central business focus. From the time leading up to your event, to the day of, these alternative venues are mainly focused on their day to day business, not necessarily your wedding.

2. No Onsite Wedding Coordinator – Don’t expect alternative venues to have an onsite wedding coordinator available to answer questions that arise with your wedding. You may want to consider hiring a Milwaukee wedding planner to help remember all the little details that go into planning a wedding. Case in point – a Milwaukee couple had their wedding reception at a local coffee shop and were caught in a bind when there was no wine corkscrew onsite for them to use. It’s details like this that are easy to forget.

3. Rentals Required – Most non-traditional venues require outside rentals. Things like tables, chairs, linens, lighting, sound equipment, bars, plates and even glasses may need to be rented from an outside company. There are many great Milwaukee wedding rental companies in town, but be sure to do your research.

4. Smaller Capacity – Many times alternative wedding venues will be smaller than traditional venues. If you’re planning on a guest list of over 200, you’ll probably need to explore other wedding venues.

A BIG Thanks to These Vendors

A lot of work went into this article and we have several Milwaukee wedding vendors to thank for it. We conceptualized this idea over drinks with the fabulous Jenn from JBe Photography. To get these beautiful photos, we brought in these vendors who did an awesome job, so please, show them some #MKELove!

• Photography – JBe Photography
• Wedding Dresses and Accessories – Miss Ruby Boutique
• Men’s Apparel – Harleys For Men and Milwaukeehome
• Flowers – Jane Kelly Floral
• Hair and Makeup – Capricio Salon
• Cake – The Cake Lady
• Venues – Anodyne, The Box MKE, The RedLine Milwaukee
• Models – Anodyne: Heather Stern / Reagan Collett | The Box MKE: Erin Leigh Pribyl / Carlos Garcia | RedLine MKE: Mrs Foxy / Joey D

View Full Image Galleries

Through our photo shoot we captured many more images than we could use in this article. You can view our full galleries here, or click one of the venues below to view their full gallery.

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Related:

• Walker’s Point Wedding Venues
• Milwaukee’s Top Unique Wedding Venues
• 22 Historic Wedding Venues in Milwaukee
• Milwaukee Wedding Venues
• Downtown Milwaukee Hotel Weddings