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Pier Wisconsin or other lakeview venue

katerdpher51katerdpher51
First Comment
in Wisconsin
Hi everyone!
First-time poster here...I'm looking for more information/ideas for costs associated with Pier Wisconsin or other lakefront/lakeview venues.

My fiancee and I are both from the Lake Country area, and my dream venue would be the Art Museum downtown!  (A little out of our budget, so searching for an alternative!).  We love the lakes, but don't want to have our reception "right in our backyard".  2nd choice - Pier Wisconsin.

I don't yet know how much this costs.  Please respond back with how much you have heard/will be paying (if you are planning your wedding/reception there).

Also open to hearing more alternatives.  Hoping for downtown Milwaukee waterfront.

Thanks!
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Re: Pier Wisconsin or other lakeview venue

  • ravj2001ravj2001
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My wedding and reception will be at Pier Wisconsin...I know for a fact Sat mininum is 25k, and sunday is 6500.00 (i think) the room rental assuming you're going with the Piot House is 1500.00 rental..then the plates vary
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  • jackie5387jackie5387 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I also looked at Pier Wisconsin. I no longer have the information but if you fill out the rental information on the website they will send you the information quickly. I also looked a Coast, the War Memorial, and the Miller Room. All rooms are on the lakefront and have a rental fee (a want to say anywhere from $1500-$5000 on a sat) and I believe they also have a food and beverage min. If that is out of your price range and you want to have it at one of these locations,I would consider doing the wedding on a Fri or Sun. The rental fees and/or food and bevarge min will be less. You can also save money on DJs and Photography. I really wanted it have my wedding downtown and just could not afford everything I wanted on a Sat. So I am having my wedding on a Friday afternoon at the Hyatt. I decided to do it at a Hotel because most only have a food and beverage min and you dont' have to pay a rental fee. I also looked at the Hilton but they didn't return my phone calls and I didn't receive good service. I know I don't have the lakefront but I am having both the rehearsal dinner and cocktail hour in Polaris (for no charge!) and the hotel just finished a $18 million renovation at the end of 2009. For me, that view from Polaris makes up for not having the lakefront. Also, Misty is a coordinator at the Hyatt and she is AMAZING! Another thing to think about, if you are planning to do anything outside, you may have to rent a tent.
           
    Hope that helps and good luck with your search!
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  • katerdpher51katerdpher51
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow, $25,000?!?  I can't believe that if it's accurate!  You'd have to have 500 guests for that to add up.  I just checked out photos of the War Memorial and it's beautiful, but it seems that it's completely booked for nearly every (wedding month) Saturday in 2011!  Yikes!

    I don't know if we could do a Friday or Sunday wedding, as we have a lot of out-of-town guests, and really don't want to inconvenience them further if they are going out of their way to travel to be with us.
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  • ravj2001ravj2001
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Saturday is 25k..I know that for a fact...My Aunt is a coordinator at the Pier, and she's doing my wedding on a Sunday..for a WAAAAAYYYY better price..It was the Sunday mininum I wasn't so sure of...But yep...pretty much all the places downtown have an outrageous rental fee...
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  • morticia7867morticia7867
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married this October at the Milwaukee War Memorial on a Saturday. We booked last July. the total for rental is 1700. That includes 2 hours on Fitch Plaza and the rest of the time inside. We have 10 caterers to choose from. I would have loved to have our wedding at the Art Museum but that also is 25K like the Pier! Yikes! Hope this helps!
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  • ChrissyDipiChrissyDipi
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married this July and have booked the Miller Brewery Company Pavillion located inside the Betty Brinn Childrens Museum. It was just remodelled and was only $1500 for the room. It is owned by the Parks for Milwaukee County. You get an outdoor balcony for your guests and the view is practically identical to the Art Museum for a fraction of the cost. The only catch is that you have to use Coast as the caterer, which is who I wanted to use anyway.

    The other building across the street which is also owned by the county and rents for the same price is the Harbor Lights Room. Bigger venue holds up to 350 (the Miller Room holds 200)

    Both have great views with a great price. Check out the Milwaukee County Parks Rental website for more information.

    Hope this helps.

    Christine
    BabyFruit Ticker http://tinyurl.com/3edv74m
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  • luckyinlove2006luckyinlove2006
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I got married at the Villa Terrace.  Had the reception downtown Mke. VT some where between 150 and 200 guests.
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  • mpruessingmpruessing
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm getting married at PW in May... When I booked (a year ago) the pricing changed on 6/1 to "peak season" pricing which was significantly more than October-May.

    Funny - I'd always thought of the Art Museum as our dream venue as well, but I love that I can see it from PW - almost the best of both worlds.

    Another tip: Joann was great to work wtih and was able to give us Sunday pricing even the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, which is what we ended up going with. You get the better pricing but you don't inconvenience guests.

    (And yes, we agonized about the general comment of "don't do holiday weekends" but decided to do it anyway... We subsequently had many many vendors tell us that holiday weekends (Mem Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) are their busiest weekends of the season, so clearly LOTS of people do it.)

    PW has 2 options for rentals - the Pilot House (the big round room at the top) and then the "Boardwalk" long hallway that is on the mainlevel. The boardwalk is a big savings and you still have the pretty view of the lake.

    Good luck!
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  • MLC84MLC84
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married July 3rd 2011 at Pier Wiscosnin in the Pilot House.  They gave us a discounted room rate for Sunday of 3k.  Normally the room is more expensive because of the big bang fireworks.  And because it is considered a special event, even though it's a Sunday, they gave us a Friday food and beverage minimum which was about $14,000. I loved this space and I knew that if I wanted our wedding here we couldn't get married on a Saturday.  And with Sunday July 3rd we get a fireworks display!
    BabyFetus Ticker
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  • varsity714varsity714 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ok - Pier Wisconsin has many different areas, at all different costs. A Saturday wedding in the Pilot house which seats 250 has a rental charge of about 7,500, and a catering minimum of around 15,000. Tent outside is about the same, and seats a lot more, but there are other areas. The one I like seats around 300, and is 3000 rental on Sat, with a 6,500 catering minimum. The event staff is super friendly, and if you just ask for information, they will provide you with pricing.
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  • jenylin1010jenylin1010
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We checked out Pier Wisconsin, and it was out of our price range.  We also wanted a venue on a lake, with lots of windows.  We just booked the Golden Mast on Okauche lake.  Not downtown, but beautiful and within our budget, and the food is outstanding.  You have a private area outside and inside, and a semi-covered area as well.  It is definitely worth a look!
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  • browneyedbride7browneyedbride7
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Didn't even think about looking at Pier Wisconsin because I think it is catered by Bartolotta and that is too costly for our budget.  We did look at War Memorial and were not impressed.  The ballroom carpets were dirty and it just did not appeal to us the way we thought it would.  We viewed Coast, The Miller Room and The Harbour Lights Rooms.  Coast was by far the coolest venue we looked at but too small for our guest count.  There were a lot of negatives to Coast/Miller Room/Harbour Lights ----- There could be up to 3-4 weddings going on at ONE time, they don't do room flips if you wanted to have your ceremony indoors and then reception after, should you get married at the ODonnell Parks venues, they REQUIRE you to rent a tent in case of inclement weather and they REFUSE to move your wedding indoors, even if it's a monsoon outside.  And if you happen to not need the tent you rented, you still have to pay $200 towards returning the tent.  I thought that was pretty absurd!  Zilli is the caterer for these 3 venues - and all 3 rooms have food/bev minimums.  Just did a tasting recently at Coast for Zilli catering.  I was underwhelmed.  The cost of their food is too much for the taste of it.  I was expecting more from the food due to their reputation but have learned from that experience to not go in to a caterer with expectations based on reputation.  Hope that info helps...

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
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  • LISASUMLISASUM
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Oh my gosh!!! $25,000 to spend at Pier Wisconsin! You can find other places cheaper and still get a wonderful view of the lake. Since you don't want the reception right in the backyard, why don't you check out the buildings across the street. They are owned by the county - Miller Room in the Betty Brinn building and the Harbor Lights Room across the street. It has a beautiful view and a garden where you can have a wedding ceremony and have cocktail outside. There's also this restaurant called Coast that rents out their place for private parties.
    I visited the place and it's on top of our list, plus I don't believe you have to spend $25,000.

    Hope this helps!!
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