$8,000 starting price
251-300 guest capacity
This venue can host up to 300 guests
About this vendor
Located in the heart of downtown Madison, the iconic Orpheum Theater has been a centerpiece of the community since 1927.
This historic landmark has its original features thoughtfully preserved — the French Renaissance-inspired interior showcases intricate, foliated moldings, brass sconces, and touches of gold-toned ornamentation throughout for an aesthetic like no other.
Celebrate with your name in lights on the venue’s original marquee, showcasing a brand-new replica of the historic theater’s original Orpheum blade sign. The Orpheum Theater provides an exceptional space that will leave your guests with the gift of an unforgettable experience.
Benefits include:
- Vibrant downtown location
- Options for both ceremony + reception
- Exclusive use of venue, green rooms, + Apollo Lounge
- Custom message on historic venue marquee
- Live music friendly: in-house lights and tech, with engineer
- Open catering list
- Custom bar offerings
- Minted.com stationery discount
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Guest Capacity
- Up to 300
Settings
- Ballroom
- Estate
- Historic Venue
- Industrial & Warehouse
- Library
- Museum
Venue Service Offerings
- Bar & Drinks
- Planning
- Wedding Design
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.7
out of 5.07 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 7
- Top reviews
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Highest rated
- Lowest rated
Sort by
We were incredibly happy with The Orpheum as our wedding venue! We had many friends and family from New York and it gave them the opportunity to stay downtown and walk to the venue (rather than renting a car) and also gave them an elegant and unique wedding experience. The balcony was the perfect place to have our ceremony, the lobby was a fantastic cocktail hour location, and the pit area was amazing to host our reception. Our guests couldn't stop talking about how cool it was that we got married in a historic theater for weeks after the wedding!
Being able to have the venue completely to ourselves was extremely helpful: it allowed us multiple areas to change beforehand, made it easier for our vendors to access, and made it feel extra special too. Having our name on the theater marquee was also such a cool touch.
Paige, our venue coordinator, was very helpful throughout the whole process. We had numerous zoom and in-person meetings to view the venue, discuss the day, make changes, and talk through situations. We had a lot of unique requests for the style of wedding that we wanted and were able to work through those to make it everything that we wanted!
The flexibility to bring in all of our own caterers and food is what solidified our decision to go with The Orpheum. This allowed us to really cater to our guests, budget, and way in which we ran the event. Separately, having AV, lighting, and a sound engineer come with the venue helped us limit some of the things we needed our DJ to do and things that we needed to get to make all the things happen the way that they were supposed.
Overall, we were tremendously happy with the venue, bar staff, and everyone else involved with our wedding. It was as perfect as we could have imagined. There isn't anything that can really match the uniqueness of the The Orpheum and we are so happy we decided to get married there. The pictures, videos, and memories will live with us forever.
My husband and I had our epic LOVEFEST at the Orpheum.. It was just an unbelievable party to celebrate our love, the love for our people, and Minh's cancer remission. The Orpheum was THE perfect spot. From beginning to end everything was seamless and you can tell everyone involved knew what they were doing. From the planning of the event, to the food/beverage service and music, we knew we were in good hands. We met virtually and in person leaving no stone unturned. I have been to the Orpheum a gazillion times but now when I return it is even that more special because we spent a day there we will never forget. If you are thinking at all of having your wedding here I know you will not be disappointed. It is a gorgeous venue unparalleled by others! It's three months later and my friends and family are STILL talking about the best wedding party they have EVER been to.
We worked with both Abby and Melissa when Abby went on maternity leave this summer, and both ladies were great to work with! We had a walk-through with Abby when we were still making our decision and then had our final planning meeting a month before our big day and worked on our wedding day with Melissa.
The space itself is unique and absolutely breathtaking. We chose to have our ceremony in the balcony, our cocktails/hors d'oeuvres in the foyer, and our reception in the main theater/orchestra pit. The ambiance in all spaces was so special and added such a cool and unique touch to our wedding. Everyone we talked to couldn't stop RAVING about it! Though a tad on the expensive side, we are so pleased with our decision to have our wedding here.
My husband and I were married at the Orpheum Theatre this past August and it was an absolute dream. I could not have asked for a more romantic, glamorous, unique, and fun venue that was all the more special because of the history that the theater has in Madison. We had our ceremony up on the mezzanine level of the theater, our reception on the main floor in front of the stage, and a cocktail hour held in the lobby. The Event Coordinator, Abby, was very accommodating with allowing my wedding coordinator and I to meet with a variety of vendors on multiple occasions. Additionally, she allowed us to have the decorations delivered the Thursday before the wedding (Saturday) so that we were all ready to go to start setting up on Friday morning. (This might not be the case if there are concerts at the Orpheum in the nights preceding weddings, but we were so grateful that it worked out for us.) There was plenty of space for guests to socialize at the bar, in the theater seating area and on the dance floor--it really felt like an amazing party! The DJ booth was one of the coolest things--our DJ was up there and everyone was chanting his name by the end of the night. Finally, I still can’t get over how incredible it was to see my husband’s and my name up on the marquee the day of our wedding. We were able to take pictures of it at night and they are so magical framed. I highly recommend having your wedding at the Orpheum--especially if you want a unique venue that has character, charm, and beauty.
The Orpheum Theatre is a great location for a wedding, it is a very romantic, intimate, beautiful and historic place to have a reception. We received so many compliments on the choice of venue at the reception, it was nice to hear aunts and uncles tell you how they were excited to see the theatre again and the last time they were there was in high school on a date to see a movie.
There was a lack of communication throughout the entire planning process with the Orpheum. We signed a contract in 2011 between that time and our wedding date there were policy changes and pricing changes, which we were not informed of until after our tasting and our first estimate was sent to us. Many prices went up, nothing that would break the bank but you are expecting certain prices, it can be very frustrating to not be informed of changes.
Overall the reception was beautiful but there was just a serious lack of communication.
We knew we wanted something a little more special than a hotel ballroom. When we stepped into the Orpheum with the possibility of booking our wedding there, we knew we were done searching. We were married on top of the balcony with guests oh the floor below. The old romance of this 1940s theater was just pheonmenal. Our dinner was held in the actual theater space, with the head table on stage and the rest of the guests on the floor area between audience seating and the stage. With a few candles, the room was, again, magical. Not only is the space beautiful, but the food is phenomenal! We received SO many compliments on how good the food was. They also have the ability to plug your iPod into their speaker system, which works perfectly for dinner music (and saves on DJ costs).
For the reception, we moved back into the lobby area (chairs from the ceremony cleared during dinner), with a dance floor between the bar and the outside doors. Perfect for crowd flow.
They have a fantastic event coordinator onsite, who is helpful in planning and also day-of logistics. Not only that, but their bar and wait staff are professional and experienced in serving weddings. We were able to leave our gifts and centerpiece items overnight. They reboxed all of our centerpiece items just as they had arrived. When we went back the next morning to pick everything up, the same bartender who had taken care of us all night was there and helped us secure a cart and unload out the back door.
I would not have changed a thing about the venue. It is absolutely breathtaking without sacrificing quality or service for guests.
It's a beautiful historic building which has been lovingly restored. It's a place we go with some regularity to watch movies or see a band so we know the building, our friends know the building, and we can go back there again. Also the Orpheum Restaurant food really is a treat. We were married a block away in our beautiful State Capital Building and our house is about 2 miles from there. It was important to us to keep it local.
Contact
216 State Street, Madison, WI
The Orpheum Theater
The Orpheum Theater's photos