Winery Wedding Venues in Wisconsin: 8 That Host Weddings

Wisconsin is not Napa, and that is part of why a winery wedding here works. The vineyards are small, the grapes are cold-hardy varieties bred for Midwest winters, and the wineries tend to be family-run places where the owner pours at the tasting bar. Winery wedding venues in Wisconsin feel like a farm wedding with better drinks.

We checked every winery in our listings for evidence that it actually hosts weddings, and eight did. Some hold just the ceremony in the vines; others run the whole day, from getting ready to last dance. Below are all eight, numbered, with published prices where the winery shares them and the straight-line distance from the nearest city.

Ceremony only, or the whole day?

This is the first question to ask any winery, because the answer changes everything else. A ceremony-only booking means you marry in the vines or on the patio, often while the tasting room stays open, and then move to a reception somewhere else. It is cheap and simple, and it suits a small wedding or a couple who already have a reception venue.

A whole-day booking means the winery closes to the public, or sets aside a private space, and hosts the ceremony, cocktails, dinner and dancing. That is a bigger commitment from both sides, with a tent or event hall, catering and a longer list of rules.

Most of the wineries below offer the whole day. SoLu is the only one that publishes both options with prices, which makes it the easiest place to start comparing.

1. SoLu Estate Winery & Meadery, Cascade

The details are what make SoLu stand out for a winery wedding. There is a bunkhouse and a mini cabin for getting ready, a tractor and wagon to carry guests out to the ceremony, and the day runs from 9am to 11pm. Dogs are welcome. You can bring your own caterer and other vendors, but not your own alcohol, which is standard at a winery.

SoLu also makes mead, which gives a toast a story most guests have not heard before. For everything else in that corner of the state, wedding prices around Sheboygan County run from SoLu's ceremony to full resort weekends in Kohler, about 20 miles east.

2. Aspen Sky Winery & Distillery, Slinger

For Milwaukee families, Aspen Sky and SoLu are the two closest winery weddings, about 24 miles apart. Aspen Sky is the newer, more polished building; SoLu has the vines, the tent and the published prices.

3. Villa Bellezza, Pepin

4. Danzinger Vineyards, Alma

5. Maiden Rock Winery & Cidery, Stockholm

With Villa Bellezza, Danzinger and Maiden Rock all within about 16 miles of each other on the Great River Road, this stretch of the Mississippi is the closest Wisconsin comes to a winery wedding region. It is about 58 miles from Minneapolis in a straight line, which makes it a natural choice for Twin Cities families.

6. Cambridge Winery, Cambridge

7. Drumlin Ridge Winery, Waunakee

With Cambridge to the east and Drumlin Ridge to the north, Madison couples have two winery options within 20 miles. The barns and downtown rooms of Madison are close by too, if you want the ceremony at a winery and the reception in town.

8. Parallel 44 Vineyard & Winery, near Sturgeon Bay

Estate wine or a wine list?

Not every Wisconsin winery grows everything it pours, and it is worth knowing what you are toasting with.

Some wineries make wine from their own or nearby vineyards. Drumlin Ridge uses grapes grown locally, Parallel 44 grows cold-climate varieties on its own vineyard near Sturgeon Bay, and SoLu has its own vines in the Kettle Moraine and makes mead as well. Others blend a Wisconsin line with wine made from grapes grown elsewhere: Cambridge Winery describes its range as coming from Wisconsin, California and New York.

Neither is better for a wedding. Estate wines give you a story for the toast; a broader list gives guests who do not like sweet or fruit wines something familiar. Ask for a tasting before you book, and ask which wines are made from the winery's own grapes.

Wineries at a glance

What to ask a winery

Wineries run on different rules from hotels and banquet halls, and the differences matter.

Alcohol first. Almost every winery requires you to buy wine from them and will not allow outside alcohol. Ask whether they can serve beer and spirits too, or only their own wine. Aspen Sky's distillery makes cocktails easy; elsewhere, ask.

Then food. Some wineries have a kitchen; others bring in caterers from an approved list, and a few, like SoLu, let you choose your own. Ask whether there is a fee for an outside caterer or cake.

Then the space. Ask whether the tasting room stays open to the public during your wedding, what happens if it rains, whether a tent is included or rented separately, and what time the music has to stop. And ask about the season: most winery weddings are outdoors, so the realistic window in Wisconsin is late May to early October.

When to marry at a Wisconsin winery

Wisconsin's grape harvest runs from late August into October, which is also the prettiest time in the vineyards: full vines, ripening fruit and cooler evenings. September is the month most couples ask for.

June and July bring green vines and long evenings but no grapes yet. Earlier than late May, the vines are bare and the ground can be soft, so plan for an indoor ceremony.

Smaller and simpler

If a ceremony in the vines is all you want, a winery is one of the cheapest good settings in the state. SoLu's $700 ceremony package is the clearest example, and it is one of several options among the small wedding venues across Wisconsin that sell a ceremony on its own.

And if you are still deciding between a winery and something else, Wisconsin weddings sort by region first: Lake Geneva, Milwaukee, Madison, Door County, the lakeshore and the Fox Valley.