Tomah Area Venues

StephJean83

Hello! My FH and I are getting married in Nov 2014, so I know I have time but after the holidays I want to start looking at venues and setting budgets and just start tentative guest lists(already reaching the 300+ range with his family/friends). I am having a hard time figuring out where to hold our wedding. We have two options and my FH isn't really helpful because he doesn't really care(I think if it was up to him, we would rent tents/chairs/tables and have the wedding in his grandpa's backyard and have over 1000 people there!) where it is held. We live in the Milwaukee metro and there are beautiful venues all over down here and we won't have to have hotel wedding(which I hate) but he is from the Tomah area and all they really have are a couple hotels and the American Legion/VFW. The American Legion/VFW are both rather small so we'd have to cut our guest list. My hometown is a combo of 2 which I have no ties to either place(one I lived in as a child and one when I was in middle/high school age) and my parents live in the south now. I wouldn't mind having the wedding in the Tomah area since my FH and I both have strong ties there, I just don't know of many venues outside of the few hotels and the American Legion/VFW. With that being said, I also don't know if either the Catholic church or the Lutheran church(s) in the area will allow us to "rent" the church and not use the clergy from there, as we will be bringing in our own officiant. I would like to find a place that has the capabilities to hold a ceremony, cocktail hour and reception without having the guests having to see the place turned from ceremony into reception if they have to be held in the same place(so a 2nd room for cocktail hour where the other room is locked while being changed). Any suggestions for places would be awesome.

My reasoning for disliking hotel weddings is that is hard to prevent unwanted guests(wedding crashers) or being disrupted by other events/people in the building. I have been to many weddings in hotels and there have been people who came in to get the free booze because another wedding in the other ballroom had cash bar vs open bar, the music from the other wedding was loud and disruptive during the dinner/speeches and hotel guests just walked in to one and started eating dinner with the guests(it was a buffet dinner). We will probably be inviting over 300 people and I really don't want to be feeding or serving drinks to another 50 random people who are attending a different wedding or are staying at the hotel that I'm holding the wedding at. I know that wedding crashers can happen anywhere but at places that are closed to the public during private events, I feel that they have less of a chance of happening.

KatieErin2007

Try looking closer to the La Crosse area, you will have more options.  For the Tomah family, it would only be about 45 minutes away. Check out The Waterfront, Cedar Creek, or the La Crosse Center. Although you're not a fan of "hotel" weddings, you could look at some of the hotels in La Crosse/Onalaska such as The Radisson or Stoney Creek - I don't think any of them are big enough to have more than one event going on, so that would help with the wedding crashers! Good luck!

StephJean83

Thank you. We are still a few years out til the wedding but I would love to start getting on figuring out the venue cause that will help alot with the budget. I know LaCrosse is close by and I was looking at venues there but all kept saying how beautiful they were for outdoor weddings/receptions/pictures with the lush flowers and greens and we are planning a November wedding.

Kendra&Jai

Try Yogi -- my friend Abby just got married there -- it's not too far from Tomah!

MarryMeredith

I am getting married in Tomah, WI in May 2013 for approx. 300 guests and I am having my reception at the Three Bears Lodge in Warrens. I realize you are not too crazy about a hotel wedding because of the possibility of wedding crashers, but the ballroom at Three Bears is on its own level, the likelihood of wedding crashers is small. Especially if you'll be having name cards right when you get in for each guest's assigned table. Plus November is their off-season, so wedding crashers are a small risk.

You may also want to look into the Sparta American Legion. It is not a typical American Legion. Since it is so close to Fort McCoy it is larger and can hold 400 or so guests.

Now for the churches, I think you may be able to use their facilities if you use a pastor or preist from their denomination. Otherwise, I know the Open Door Baptist Church in Warrens has let people rent their space out and use the pastor or their choice. It's a very nice facility, and I assure you it is large enough. I went to a wedding with 400 guests there.

Now for having a special room for cocktail hour, you might be able to work something out with Three Bears. I know they have a large entry area for the ballroom and they can have ceremonies there as well. But I think you would be better off having the ceremony at Open Door, especially since you can bring your own clergy in and it's also in Warrens so it's not terribly far away.