1903 Weddings at Harley-Davidson Museum

dding day. However, when we were about six months out, we received an email from a new sales manager who was incredibly responsive to every minute detail and question that came to our mind. During our tasting she asked questions we had not thought of. A month out from our event, our sales manager introduced us to our coordinators for the rehearsal and wedding day, both of whom were incredibly responsive and easy to work with! There was a hiccup at our rehearsal - meals for individuals with dietary restrictions/allergies were overlooked and the chef had to be called back to make these plates. Our coordinator reassured us that this would not happen at our reception, and we were reassured when we saw that those with dietary restrictions were being served first. Harley’s team made sure that the rehearsal went smoothly and that the ceremony, room flip, and reception ran like a well oiled machine. Considering we were in The Garage, which was a new event space, they had worked out all the kinks and details well before our wedding date. We did end up hiring our own coordinator to help with decor-related tasks since Harley won’t place centerpieces for florals. With the size of our guest list (over 200, resulting in almost 25 tables), we definitely understand Harley focusing on setting up tables, chairs, and place settings and instead having someone else tackle the centerpieces. The sales team and coordinators currently working at Harley were absolutely incredible and if we could do it all again, we would not have changed a thing! If you’re looking for an industrial/moody/romantic venue, we highly recommend checking out Harley!

n visit and choose for date night. We’ve spent many a Thursday there for bike night, HD anniversary kickoffs, and Flat Out Friday races. We were excited to say the least. Imagine our frustration when it came to actually planning the wedding. It started off sooo good. Then turned to projectile rectal extrusions. Come on Harley you’re better than this. I am hesitant to write a review after the venue and catering company did try to make-good on our negative experience, but after almost 6 months I’m still frustrated with how the day went and feel a need to share this feedback. Especially since I still cannot even talk about the day without getting physically upset and mentally exhausted. Nauseated even. Like the other reviews in 2022, my husband and I also experienced a lack of professionalism and care for our wedding. To say complete disregard is an understatement. We had ~7 different reps in 4 months, no event support (ie seating charts and floor plan assistance; ended up creating my own the week of the wedding), inconsistent communication, zero attention to detail, 6 to 8 contract revisions for incorrect event details and incorrect pricing (first contract included food we never tasted at the highest value, double counted the guests, inflated costs that couldn’t be explained…to the point my husband put a quote together in excel and sent it to them to correct), a totally different NEW person we never spoke to or introduced himself to us the night of the wedding, and other negative experiences. Too many to list. The worst was getting served terrible appetizers (the one app I got the chance to eat was a chicken skewer that literally fell apart like kitty litter in your mouth…absolutely disgusting) and 2 of 3 plated dinners were completely wrong. Imagine my frustration. As the bride you are served an unseasoned pork chop with cream sauce and unseasoned, steamed sides when you are expecting a cinnamon and coffee crusted pork tenderloin with bourbon demi-glaze and grilled brussel sprouts with carrots and bacon. Imagine the frustration. Then find out immediately that night, and over the following week, that guests were served “inconsistent” chicken. To your grandfather, brother, and a couple pregnant women. Only 3 guests that we know of left early for rectal evacuations. What a way to end the night. Definitely will not forget. Horrible experience, do not recommend.

s they can't/won't meet. Numerous people have quit in the process of the wedding planning and everybody tells you a different story. It has been a complete nightmare getting the wedding planned and would have went anywhere else of they didn't already accept our money. $400 for a folding table to put candy that we must provide, $400 to sit in a room for an hour during cocktail hour are just a few of the issues. Waiting for people to get in contact with you over something simple, no phone call backs, always getting a run around......on our special day this has became a complete nightmare dealing with these people. They have no problem taking your money but seem to have a big problem with anything else. Amazing venue and surroundings but definitely not worth it save yourself the time and book somewhere else that will appreciate you.

y said it would be finished in April (our wedding was in July). They failed to even mention our venue wasn’t ready until LESS THAN THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING. Because it wasn’t ready, they had to move us to a different room that we did not originally book and they still tried to charge us for everything + more. After (awful) communication with multiple representatives we finally were able to get some sort of discount on the room that we didn't even choose but had to use. Don’t even get me started on communication with this company. I think three of our “day of coordinators” quit/left the company within one month. The amount of different people I talked to in regards to our wedding was insane. Emails took days, sometimes weeks to return and phone calls were never answered. The week of the wedding I couldn’t get ahold of anyone to just ask if the seating chart that they told me they would make was finished yet. They didn’t give us the final BEO until ONE DAY before the wedding, AND it wasn’t even the correct amount! Yikes!! These are just the biggest problems we experienced, not even all of them. There were many other problems when working with 1903 at the Harley. Save yourself the hassle and do not book here. The day of the wedding was great, the Harley venue is beautiful, and the wait staff was nice…but the planning process/lack of communication from the team is 100% not worth how pretty the venue is.

setting as well as the beautiful riverfront views! We did most of our planning from out of state and working with Alex and Jennifer made it so easy! They were incredibly easy to reach and communicate with and helped us every step of the way. Harley makes it easy by providing a great food and drink package, all the chairs/tables/linens needed and great staff rather than needing to through multiple vendors. And the food was absolutely amazing! We also loved having Jennifer with us on the day of the wedding to help make sure everything went smoothly. We absolutely loved our experience with Harley and had a perfect wedding day!

planning leading up to our big day, as well as the evening itself, so stress-free. There was absolutely no pressure to make decisions and everything was explained so we knew exactly how to move forward. When I saw the completed room set up for the first time, it was absolutely perfect! Our coordinator really listened to how we wanted everything and executed it PERFECTLY! Our point person for the night made sure we had everything we needed food and drink wise, and the banquet staff was so polite responsive to our needs and the needs of our guests. If we had to do it all over again, we would choose Harley-Davidson in a heartbeat!

g everything in house was a total stress saver... not having to go to outside vendors for food, linens, chairs, or a day of coordinator was amazing! Our day was smooth and seamless... all thanks to our venue!!!

tablecloths and chairs make it picture perfect! The location on the river is wonderful for photos. The food is very good. Alex Derenne is outstanding to work with! Alex made this second time bride feel as special as a young princess bride!

beat the view of the city of Milwaukee. They offer free parking for guests and a ticket to visit the museum. Working with Alex and Elena made the planning really easy and everything fell into place perfectly for our event. The space is so spacious where you can fit a lot of people and not have to worry about being too crowded. The food was also great and we received many compliments on it! We would definitely recommend this venue!

to make it your own, very cost efficient too! Highly recommend!

member of the team was exceptional with accommodating us and my party. Highly recommended if your looking for memorable, stress free evening.

tmosphere, and that there was plenty of indoor and outdoor space to accommodate our guests. Also, on-site free parking was a big win! After meeting with Alex, and seeing all that Harley-Davidson had to offer, we made our decision to book Rumble for the big day. Alex and Jen assisted us in planning all the menu details and rearranging the floor plan multiple times. Everything went smoothly the day of, and we are so grateful to have had a great team behind us. We do wish that the venue had been able to offer a more flexible bar menu, and hope that a POS system is on the horizon for future brides.

ely represents Milwaukee. My initial thought was to have the mounted motorcycles removed, that would have been a mistake. They became a must do photo op. The location on the river is stunning, the admission to the museum for the guests or the patio at Motor was perfect. Great spot and all the employees supporting the event were amazing.

wonderful. Alex, Elena and the entire staff did a fantastic job to ensure the big day ran flawlessly. The venue itself is beautiful! Rumble has an incredible view with floor to ceiling windows on one end. The museum and entire grounds offer great opportunities for pictures and fun. One of the main reasons we chose the Harley Museum was the food. It did not disappoint. The dinner was delicious. We even had a late-night mac-n-cheese bar that was a huge hit! All of our guests mentioned how great the venue was, and what an amazing choice we had made. I can’t express how happy we are with that choice. Thank you so much to Alex, Elena and the entire Harley Davidson Museum staff for making our special day perfect!

ncouraged us to ask any questions that we had, replied to our questions promptly, and was readily available via both email or phone. We had several guests with dietary restrictions and she made sure to work with the chefs to ensure that everyone was able to eat their meal. At the tasting, the food was delicious...and at the actual wedding it was just as good if not even better! We were amazed that they were able to get everyone their meal fresh and hot...many guests came up to us after raving about the food! Our day-of coordinator was Theresa, and we loved her too! She helped us set up the menu cards, centerpieces, etc. and she was on top of anything that needed attention the night of the reception. She even helped us pack everything up at the end of the night! My husband and I absolutely loved working with Alex, Theresa, and the rest of the Harley staff. We definitely recommend choosing them as your wedding venue! Thank you again Alex and Theresa...you both are amazing!

ess from booking to the execution day-of was seamless by the H-D Museum team, especially Alex & Elena. It was a huge help and relief to be able to drop decorations off and trust Museum staff & our vendors to set everything up so we had nothing to worry about for our recepetion on our wedding day. Additionally, all the help we received at the end of the night from everyone to tear down was more than appreciated. We couldn't have picked a better spot to celebrate our wedding!

p. We had so many compliments on the venue. We worked with Alex and Elena who are fantastic! Very helpful, attentive and responsive.

were exceptional to work with. We got married over Memorial Day Weekend and celebrated with our wedding guests at The Garage. It was even more perfect than we had imagined. We cannot say enough good things about our experience with the Harley Davidson Museum.

ble. The food was great...we went for burgers and brat, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes etc. Very Wisconsin simple hearty food. The guests loved it and the view of the river and statue outside was spectacular. Highly recommend this venue.

uld have gone better. We had the most magical wedding day and thanks to these two- it was so easy! Thank you again Harley!

first said "I love you" at Bike Night, and he proposed in December on the museum grounds. It just made sense to pick this as our venue. I'll start with the positive so this review isn't just a bunch of complaining. Our day of coordinator, Tanya, was great. We dropped everything off the night before with her, and she did a perfect job setting up the decorations and making sure everything was gorgeous. Ok.. now on to the issues we had. One of my bridesmaids steak was cooked super rare while everyone else's was medium or more done, so she just wanted it microwaved or something. I'd normally just tell her to suck it up, but there were extra steaks available from guests that didn't show up. I asked the server if she could have a different steak since my husband's was more done so the extras might be cooked more, too. The server said no. They wouldn't give her a different steak and instead had her eat a kid's meal. After guests were leaving our best man said a guest told him that he saw employees eating steak and salmon in a breakroom when those paid meals could have been passed around or given to guests like my bridesmaid. We had at least 6 guest not come, and at $55/plate they could have been served. Servers would move on to other tables before finishing serving the other table, so I saw guests literally asking for their meal because they were skipped. One HUGE problem was that my cake wasn't cut. I was wondering why everyone's pieces were so small until we were packing up and the entire tiered cake minus the slice from the cake cutting ceremony was in the box. I bought that cake to be eaten by guests not to sit in my house just to get tossed out after we can't finish it. The sheet cake was only bought because the main cake served about 50 without the top and the sheet was for about 70 servings. We had 90 guests. I brought this up to the sales manager, Alex, and she said the pieces were standard and that the chef cut the sheet cake first instead of my tiered cake. Pieces were not standard size. My mother said she heard guests saying "they must have run out of cake". Afterwards, I found out some guests didn't even get cake. We had an error on our invoice for the bar being open for 4.5 hours instead of 5, but my husband caught that a week before the wedding. Alex said she fixed that, but bar didn't know that the bar was open until 9:30 instead of 9, so they started to charge our guests. My guests were looking confused, so I had to go to the bar and walk through the schedule with a man with a clipboard explaining why it was supposed to be free to guests. He said the bar never received the updated schedule. We e-mailed back and forth with the sales manager about the problems we had, and all we got were excuses, a sorry, and a "Thank you again for bringing all of these errors to our attention. The only way we can improve is by learning what we did wrong." And excuses were made for the employees that were seen eating the food and the extra meals not being passed out as not a service. um no. We've been to many weddings including country club weddings where they asked if the extra meals wanted to be used. We paid a 22% service fee and many other fees for garbage service. All that was offered after I asked for a refund on those meals was $55 for my bridesmaids steak.

e food is tasty, and the staff were awesome. The crew at the Harley-Davidson Museum were extremely nice and helpful. You are paired with a "day-of" coordinator who helps get everything scheduled with your vendors or family delivering items within the 24 hours before and makes sure things go smoothly. Kristin was so nice and on the ball while still being easy-going and understanding with me as I was working on multiple things per usual wedding endeavors. We were in Rumble, the room above their restaurant. The view was great, the room was clean and set-up the way wanted, basically perfect. The floor-mounted motorcycles were a hit for photo-ops with the guests also.

Milwaukee. We met with Veronica who immediately gave us a positive vibe; she was no pressure, friendly, and willing to work with us to stretch our budget as far as possible. The food was phenomenal- unique & delicious! Our guests have raved non-stop about the beauty of the reception, the friendliness of the staff, and the delicious food. Every single employee we interacted with, both on the day of our wedding and the additional times we went to visit the museum, was incredibly friendly & welcoming. Tanya, our event coordinator, was the best! Meeting with her and Veronica the month prior was such a relief as they were able to answer every single question and give us helpful advice on things we weren't sure about. The venue itself was our dream and combined with Tanya & Veronica makes it a venue we recommend 100%!

! So much was included, cake cutting, coffee service, dance floor, tickets for every guest for the museum, and we even had a day of coordinator from Harley, Tanya, she was so helpful and kept everything flowing throughout the entire night! Even if you are not a rider you will love the Harley Davidson Museum!

his wasn't the case with many other venues we considered which made this venue stand out. The coordinators were organized and we met regularly to sort out all of the details ahead of time so when the day arrived, it ran very smoothly without ANY problems. Because it is still a newer Milwaukee venue for weddings, many of my guest hadn't been there before and commented on how beautiful and unique a space it was. Every member of the staff who worked the day of the wedding was professional and hard working. Food-was delicious with nice portion sizes. Spacious- no feeling cramped like some weddings I've been to. The picture I had in my head was perfectly carried out. I really cannot say one bad thing about my experience with the Harley Museum. It was a truly beautiful day.

n less than 7 months and Anne and Jill were absolutely incredible. I sent them many emails over the course of the months asking questions and making requests - always to receive a prompt, happy and helpful response. These ladies put so much care and detail into our wedding, that I literally had no stress throughout the planning. Anne was super helpful arranging the menu and drinks to fit what we were looking for, for our guests, and Jill was brilliant at seeing my vision and helped to execute it perfectly. The actual wedding day (ceremony and then flipping the room into a reception hall in under 2 hours) went without a hitch. Our guests were SO SO happy. They loved touring the museum in-between, and they thought the bridge was a fun place to talk with friends and family while waiting. The grounds were also super fun to take pictures with the photographer - and the space inside photographed perfectly as well. Jill and Anne made sure to contact all of my vendors an arrange drop-off times so that I wouldn't have to worry about that throughout the day. I knew going into the wedding, that our guests would love it, but I never knew that such a large percentage of them would rave about the whole event, saying it was the BEST wedding they'd ever been to. The lighting was beautiful, the food was hot and delicious, the service was timely and friendly, the atmosphere was romantic, yet exciting and Jill was all over the place, helping her staff, answering questions, problem solving where needed and even participating at moments to make my husband and I feel special. I can not rave enough about Anne, Jill and Harley...we will never forget this day and we will definitely recommend the venue to as many people as possible!

ot lots of rave reviews from guests) and everyone loved taking pictures on the Harleys in the room. The only negative was the "day of coordinator" I worked with, but Anne with Levy Catering was amazing to work with for all the details and planning.

t it was right on. The problems started when my wedding party first got to the hall. We were sopossed to have a muesum ticket at every table, and we did except for well the head table, this is only a big deal because the were our wedding favors. They are now mailing me the tickets afterwards with there apoligies. From here things get worse... so at about 9:15 I see one of my guests paying for a soda, i got very confused because soda and water were sopossed to be hosted, and the bill paid by myself based on consumption, thats what my estimate stated. So now i spend roughly 45 minutes of my wedding reception trying to figure this out. They claim its not in my signed contract, which i asked why not, i never asked for it to be changedfrom the estimate. Further more on Sept. 21st the day before my weddding my wife asked the woman we were dealing with how we would know we arent being double charged for the soda used in mix drinks because those were not hosted. We recieved an email response stating that she talked to her boss and the bartenders would tally them up. So why if they didnt know would the give me a specific answer to a specific question like that? That would have been the time to say wait, we missed that. Now I am stuck looking terrible like i couldnt buy my guest soda or water. I had 200 people at my wedding young kids included who have absoluetly nothing to drink because there is no tap water, only bottled, and soda that they had to pay for. So the I talked to the manager of operations who told me this would be made right on Monday. So Monday comes and i call him up, im am told to speak with the ladie who handled my booking, so I do. She apoligises for the misunderstanding and asks what i want out of this. I said what do you have to offer, there response was $158 because thats what your guests spent on soda and water. I do not think that is nearly enough. So i requested 130 letters to put in my thankyou notes on their letter head accepting the blame for this happening. They did that. At this piont i asked to speak to the maneger or operations again. not till Thursday does he call me back after numerous calls and messages.Now i asked them where my compensation is, there response $158. Now for spending 45 min. missing my own wedding reception trying to figure this out due to there mistake is worth a heck of a lot more than that. There response is that the said they were sorry numerous times. So to sum it up the will admit their mistake, which reflects poorly upon me, but will not do anything to compensate for it.

o work with. She called the week before to make sure I didn't need anything as a vendor and find out when I wanted to arrive. All day long things were organized, on schedule and professionally executed. They even flipped the room between the ceremony and reception 30 minutes ahead of schedule and it was beautiful. Every time I had a question Shaely, or her staff, were there with the answer. Dealing with event coordinators almost weekly I see the good ones and the bad ones. Shaely and the staff at the HD museum were some of the best we have worked with over the last few years. If you are looking for a venue that is different from the standard hotel reception that everyone has check out the Harley Museum. It's a great place....and you will be surrounded by beautiful motorcycles as a bonus. Another bonus is free parking for your guests. Try to get that at the Pfister or Hilton downtown. If I could work at the HD museum every weekend my job would be much less stressful as a vendor professional. A great location and a great staff.

fresh. The back wall is windows - floor to ceiling - overlooking the river! You can't beat the venue! The food at our tasting was amazing - however we did buffet style & the food wasn't the hottest & we did run out of several items near the end & the last 2 tables had to wait for vegetables & potatoes; which was really disappointing considering the price per person. That's the reason why I can't give them 5 stars. The event staff were great, professional, and courteous, and the whole time we were planning & getting things ready, our coordinator (Annie) was awesome: very helpful from start to finish. I'd recommend this place for sure!

e really appreciate how awesome all the staff was to work with and how helpful everyone was. We never had to ask for anything twice, which made things go so smoothly. I think everyone went above and beyond what was expected of them. All of our guests keep raving about the food, the service & the venue over all. Everyone we talked to about the food said it was the best wedding food they've ever had. . We couldn't be happier with the way everything turned out. We will definitely refer anyone and everyone to the Harley-Davidson Museum for their functions.

cool, unique to Milwaukee, and unforgettable. We were right. From the start, the staff were very responsive in my continual emails and questions. They helped me through the process and made sure to explain things. Every time I visited the venue, they were very attentive and professional, regardless as to with whom I was interacting. The days leading up to the wedding were also great. They were extremely available, offered suggestions, and were very helpful. Our guests raved about how friendly the staff were during the reception and how much fun they seemed to be having, despite working. They were truly having fun, which made for a nice environment. There were a few times when my husband and I looked at each other wondering whose side a person was on, only to find out they were a staff member; just having fun, smiling, and talking to people. I highly recommend the venue, as they offer great perks not seen with other venues downtown. The ceiling to floor windows made for a nice backdrop to the dance floor. The free on-site over night parking was also a bonus. The ability for our guests to come hang out at the Motor Restaurant and walk around the grounds was also of value. Complimentary museum admission for our guests was priceless, as so many of our guests used the tickets to do something unique to Milwaukee between the ceremony and reception. We had an absolute blast (under-statement) and our guests continue to rave about it being the best wedding and reception they've ever been to.