help! Out of towner planning for Madison!

helley2b

My fiance and I just got engaged! We live in Atlanta and we are planning our wedding in Madison since he has more family there. I've been to Madison once... so I definitely need some help! Our idea is June 2012, ourdoors or a non-religious venue, and an intimate reception. Ideas for venue? So far, I have Olbrich Gardens and Quiveys Grove... any other ideas?

Wiscisbliss

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_wisconsin_out-of-towner-planning-madison?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:118Discussion:3c56a29c-ca03-4d0f-9b08-d3159a96a4eaPost:a74b6bda-bff5-4137-81db-12ddb5b22c40">help! Out of towner planning for Madison!</a>:
[QUOTE]My fiance and I just got engaged! We live in Atlanta and we are planning our wedding in Madison since he has more family there. I've been to Madison once... so I definitely need some help! Our idea is June 2012, ourdoors or a non-religious venue, and an intimate reception. Ideas for venue? So far, I have Olbrich Gardens and Quiveys Grove... any other ideas?
Posted by helley2b[/QUOTE]

Quiveys and Olbrich are great choices!  Quiveys was a place we considered.  The food is great and the location is charming. 

We got married at the Monona Terrace.  It is on the lake.  You can get married on the roof and there are some ballrooms that are smaller (we did the community terrace room, was a good fit for 150 people). 

Other places to look at are the East Side Club, Sweet Sophie's, and Tyrol Basin.

I liked my DJ and would recommend him to anyone- <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mikemillerdj.com/">http://www.mikemillerdj.com/</a>
We were also very pleased with Carl's Cakes. 

EDIT - I also recommend my photographer.  Very reasonably priced and he did a great job (you get a CD of the images too!)  <a href="http://www.adamtphotography.com/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.adamtphotography.com/</a>

sjw10

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_wisconsin_out-of-towner-planning-madison?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:118Discussion:3c56a29c-ca03-4d0f-9b08-d3159a96a4eaPost:a74b6bda-bff5-4137-81db-12ddb5b22c40">help! Out of towner planning for Madison!</a>:
[QUOTE]My fiance and I just got engaged! We live in Atlanta and we are planning our wedding in Madison since he has more family there. I've been to Madison once... so I definitely need some help! Our idea is June 2012, ourdoors or a non-religious venue, and an intimate reception. Ideas for venue? So far, I have Olbrich Gardens and Quiveys Grove... any other ideas?
Posted by helley2b[/QUOTE]

<div>Congrats! We are also getting married in June 2012 in Madison. We were looking for a similar venue and decided on the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. We also looked at Monona Terrace and the Overture Center (not outdoors, but very pretty and can do both ceremony and reception).</div>

bwisco123

A great place right outside of madison is Lake WIndsor Golf Club.  Fab.u.lous.  Good luck!

jjel

Olbrich is lovely, with multiple garden sites to choose from depending on the size of your wedding, and a rain site + room to get ready indoors. I would recommend that you start calling quickly, however, as Madison in June is a popular place + a popular month, and venues book up quickly.

helley2b

Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions. I am definitely on the hunt for the perfect place and vendors. We have decided on the date of June 6, 2012, a Wednesday... but the date have significance to us.

KRHagen

Ha! I just dropped by the board for a visit because I am terribly bored but I live in Atlanta and got married in Madison!

saranandy

My fiance and I are having our wedding and reception at Warner Park Community Recreation Center. The site is beautiful-you can have the ceremony outdoors by the duck pond, or indoors, which is beautiful glass walls on two sides of the room. I think we are paying $450 to have the space 8am-5pm on a Saturday. Granted you still have to figure on caterers etc., but the space is naturally lovely, very open and airy with white paper lanterns, so we are going to have pretty minimal decorations. Also, and this was a big plus for us, because we have so many OOT guests--there is plenty of parking, which is something that Olbrich and many other sites cannot offer. Although you may have an easier time with parking issues if the wedding is happening on a Wednesday. The only drawback about the space is that the list of approved caterers is a bit limited-I think it's something like 6 or 8 options. But the options are for the most part good ones with solid reputations. And there are two roads which lead to the Community Center, one of which is chronically potholed. We're just going to be very clear in the directions about how to approach the site.

mollykatherine

I am not sure if you need to be in Madison, but if you can expand we are having the wedding and the reception at a historical home in Mineral Point, WI about an hour southwest.  The land is perfectly taken care of and the bathrooms are great. ( High on my list) Also the lady who runs this is amazing! She gave me a list of vendors who have postive reviews from past weddings. 

http://www.mineralpointhistory.org/

Best of luck with whatever you pick