This couple had two requirements for their venue: to be unique and fun. They got both of these and more by booking the Canal Street Yacht Club for their wedding reception.
For just over $31,000 they had an amazing tented wedding right on the Menomonee River. In addition, they brought in some amazing vendors to make the whole day come together perfectly.
MIM Family Used
As always, we were excited to hear they used several Married In Milwaukee Family Members, including:
- Photos: Reminisce Studio by Miranda & Adam
- Floral: Belle Fiori
- Invites and Stationery : Coqui Paperie & Gifts
- Hotel: Hilton Milwaukee City Center
Quick Facts – Canal Street Yacht Club Wedding:
- Number of Guests: 160
- Ceremony: Brew City Church
- Reception: Canal Street Yacht Club
- Total Costs: $31,272
Wedding Essentials ($8,583):
- Invitations/Stationery: $1,227 (includes: invitations and reply cards, programs, place cards, hotel room door hangers for guests, large sign for guestbook, table numbers and personalized table napkins)
- Cake/Cupcakes: $524
- Photographer: $3,986
- Flowers: $2,846 (includes: 1 bridal bouquet, 5 bridesmaids bouquets, 18 boutonnieres, 4 corsages, aisle and alter flowers, 18 reception centerpieces)
Reception and Ceremony Costs ($10,536):
- Ceremony $800
- Reception: $7,786 (includes: rental, food and drinks)
- DJ: $1,100
- Officiant: $250
- Photo Booth: $600
Attire, Jewelry and Beauty ($7,559):
- Dress: $2,851 (includes dress and veil)
- Bride’s Shoes: $158
- Groom’s Attire: $0 (free with groomsmen rentals)
- Rings: $4,410
- Hair and Make-up: $140 (includes: hair, makeup and nails)
Other Costs ($4,594):
- Transportation: $1,280 (party bus for bridal party)
- Rehearsal Dinner: $1,500
- Wedding Party Gifts: $600
- Parents’ Gifts: $400
- Favors: $162
- Hotel Suite $305
- Other: $347 (decor, guest book, welcome bags)
Honeymoon ($0 – Wedding Gift)
- Honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii: $0 (paid for via wedding gifts)
A Note from the Bride and Groom
We asked the bride and groom to tell us about their planning and budgeting process, and this is what they had to say:
The Venue:
We wanted a venue that was fun and unique. Canal Street Yacht Club (at the Twisted Fisherman restaurant) offered both of those. The tent is beautiful and right on the river.Many places we looked at downtown had very high minimums you had to meet for the event and we did not want the venue to become excessive where we needed to cut back in many other areas. The minimum at Canal Street Yacht Club was very reasonable and we had numerous package options to choose from where food and beverages were included.
Alexia and her team were extremely accommodating to us and even let us in the day before to hang decorations. We also lucked out with the most amazing sunset over the river the night of our wedding.
The Photography:
Having beautiful photos taken was one of the most important aspects of the wedding day for the bride. We have many friends who have gotten married before us and were not as happy with their photos as they thought they would be and wished they had spent a little more on a photographer.We wanted to have photos we could have framed and displayed in our home for years to come so it was one thing we were not going to cut corners on. Reminisce Studio blew us away with the photos from our wedding day. We have had so many people comment that our photos are some of the best wedding photos they’ve seen and we couldn’t be happier with the amazing job Miranda and Adam did.
The DJ:
Picking a DJ was probably one of the harder services to select in the wedding process. It’s hard to tell if someone is a good DJ just by talking to them at a wedding show or in a meeting. From past weddings we’ve been to, we wanted to go with someone we knew did a fantastic job. A friend of the bride who had gotten married in the Green Bay area the year before had a great DJ that really kept the entire night running smoothly.We reached out to Shaun at The New Dance Machine to see if he would travel to Milwaukee for our wedding. He agreed and did a phenomenal job from the planning leading up to the wedding day, through the end of the evening. He came up with suggestions, like the shoe game, to get the crowd paying attention to gathering everyone for a group photo on the dance floor as a way to get everyone out there to start the dancing portion.
So many of our guests tell us to this day how much fun they had at our reception and we owe a lot of that to Shaun for the great job he did the entire night.
Invites, Programs and Beyond:
As an avid Pinterest junkie, the bride was overwhelmed with all of the amazing ideas out there in terms of invitations, programs, signs and more. Coqui Design was amazing to work with to customize everything we wanted from the look of the invitations, to creating hanging “Do Not Disturb” door signs for our hotel guests, to a large sign for our guestbook which was to have everyone sign Christmas ornaments (we got engaged on Christmas) and even personalized napkins to go with the theme of our big day.Elizabeth and Denise are absolutely amazing to work with. They took down all our crazy ideas and developed a few options and worked with us until we had exactly what we wanted. They are extremely responsive, even if they aren’t in the office, just for peace of mind that they received your email. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with for all of our printing needs.
We could go on and on about all the amazing people who made our day perfect. We couldn’t imagine a better day and are so grateful for the love an support of our friends and family.
– The Bride and Groom
A BIG thanks to the bride and groom for sharing their awesome Canal Street Yacht Club wedding and to Reminisce Studio for the photos!
If you’re currently working on your wedding budget, make sure to read through our previous articles featuring real Milwaukee wedding cost breakdowns.
