The University of Wisconsin Memorial Union

We loved having our wedding at the Union!! The venue (Tripp Commons) was absolutely beautiful and needed little decor. The staff was amazing. Our coordinator, Chris, was so helpful leading up to the wedding and answered all of our questions. It's extremely affordable for a downtown Madison venue also. Everyone raved about the outdoor area and loved having Bucky at our wedding also! Would highly recommend to anyone.

Venue was super beautiful. Catering was great. An unfortunate speed bump was our wedding coordinator leaving the Union a week before our wedding. We had an interim coordinator in the meantime who helped the best she could, but she was not there on the day of the event so we didn't have a consistent contact for if things went wrong. We were also told to have the band buzz into the loading dock to have the building manager let them in to load their equipment, but no one answered after buzzing for 20 minutes. This added a lot of frustration and friction for the weekend.

We absolutely loved working with the Wisconsin Union. My husband and I are both alumni and the Memorial Union was the best wedding venue we could have asked for. Everything was set up the way we wanted, on-time, and well done. We did both our ceremony and reception in the same space and they switched the space over quickly and easily between the ceremony and reception. Hattie was wonderful to work with in the planning process and made things easy to understand. Couldn't recommend it enough!

We were absolutely blown away with this venue and the staff. Hattie was wonderful to work with. She was prompt getting back to us and answering all our questions - which we had a lot of- and was very responsive in everything we wanted. She was present the day of our wedding and helped everything move slowly. I can't even say enough positive things about this venue and the experience we had.

We had an incredible time getting married at the Union in May 2019. We reserved Tripp Commons and the Tripp Deck for the occasion, having our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour outside on the deck and our reception inside. In my opinion, it is one of the best wedding venues I've been to (I may be biased...). We loved having the ceremony on the deck- the weather held out, Lake Mendota was our backdrop, and as I walked around the corner, people on the Terrace cheered. It was such a sweet experience. The deck was flipped immediately after the ceremony and the chairs were put away efficiently for the cocktail hour. Tripp Commons was perfect for the ceremony. We had ~130 guests, so two tables needed to be removed right after dinner prior to the reception for the dance floor, which was completed swiftly and wasn't a problem. We worked with Hattie Paulin, who was incredible. She responded quickly, helped us with all of our requests, and gave excellent suggestions for things like food, timing, and use of space. We highly recommend getting married at the Union!

We got married in the Great Hall at the Memorial Union. Since we had to book so far in advance (in-person lottery 18 months prior to month of date), there was little communication at the beginning except when we went for our group tasting. But, as the wedding approached, the union and especially Hattie SHINED! I was blown away by their professionalism and work ethic. Everything went off without a hitch. Did they know our names? NOPE! But they do weddings all the time and they do them WELL. The catering was also amazing. My only small complaint was that I had to keep calling the finance office to give them my credit card number, even though they told me every single time that they would put it "on file."

My husband and I are both graduates of UW-Madison and could not have asked for a better place to celebrate our wedding day! We had our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour on Tripp Deck and our wedding reception inside in Tripp Commons. It was absolutely perfect and we loved being able to share a terrace sunset with our wedding guests. Hattie, our wedding coordinator, was very helpful with the entire wedding planning process. We highly recommend getting married at Memorial Union. It was absolutely perfect!

I had my wedding in the great hall of the Memorial Union and I couldn't have possibly found a better venue. Absolutely stunning room with incredible staff and such affordable pricing! Hattie was our wedding coordinator and she was absolutely incredible. I'm a pretty decisive person, but whenever I couldn't make a choice she was so helpful with suggestions and made sure I was always happy with what I'd picked. The food was absolutely incredible. I was so impressed with the quality of service and food on my day! Every single dish was amazing, and they were so accommodating when it came to my guests with severe allergies and special dietary needs. I don't know if I could have found a venue more willing to work with me and my guests so pleasantly! I am so pleased with the service I received from the Union. The catering staff certainly has their stuff together and pulls off large events flawlessly. My wedding day was absolutely perfect, and I owe a very large part of that to the amazing staff at the Memorial Union. Thank you!!

The Memorial Union was a dream reception venue! The ballroom has beautiful architecture & high ceilings, so the venue had so much character & beauty before decorating. Even though its on the 4th floor, it is fully wheelchair accessible, making it very easy for our guests. We were able to book the 6 newly renovated hotel rooms on the same floor for our parents & grandparents for the weekend, which was super convenient for getting ready & helping grandparents get to bed at the end of the night. Besides being on the terrace, there is also a beautiful large balcony in the Great Hall overlooking the Library Mall, which our guests loved! The Union catered food was amazing! Our guests only had good things to say about the evening and the food! The bridesmaids were able to get ready in a bridal room across from the Great Hall the morning of, which made it very easy to help get the room set up. The Union staff also served us breakfast and mimosas, which was a huge hit! Overall, the venue was beautiful and the Union Coordinator was so easy to plan our wedding with! We loved our wedding and would highly recommend booking at the Union.

Can't say enough about how great everything was on the day of the wedding and reception. The Main Lounge was a great space to throw a party. You get your own private balcony overlooking the terrace. Food was catered by the Union and everyone seemed very happy with our selections. The reason this isn't a five is because some of the communications leading up to the wedding and reception were frustrating. Wedding Coordinator sometimes went days without responding to emails. Also gave us the impression we could get any type of wine we wanted if we gave her the names of some. Then when made a list of names, we were offered a pretty standard wine list. All things considered, this is a small downgrade, but weddings are stressful. Don't tell me you can get the wine I want and then actually, not get it. Again: Beautiful venue. Great help on the day of. Not so great leading up to it.

My wife and I had our wedding reception in the Great Hall at Memorial Union in summer of 2015. Everything about the venue, staff, amenities were fantastic! We had around 160 people total in the Great Hall and there was plenty of space for a harvest style head table surrounded by tables of eight for our guests. The hall also comes with a side adjoining room at no cost where we set up a photo booth and cocktail tables for guests to enjoy in case they needed a break of dancing. The staff was fantastic and we heard numerous compliments from our guests on how polite and accommodating the waiters and servers were. The venue also includes a small service fee for getting the space ready and cleaning afterwards but there is no hidden cost for tables, chairs, linens, napkins, dishes/glasses... which was amazing! The venue also includes a contact person who helps you make all the tough choices on room setup, food/drink choices, appetizers, late-night snacks which helped to take a lot of the pressure and planning off of our plate. The venue holds a once a month food tasting that may be different each month so it is good to look ahead and plan which tasting you would like to try (one tasting per couple is free and included). For any current or future Badgers looking for a wedding venue right on campus, this is the place to be and would highly recommend the Great Hall!

We had our wedding reception at Varsity Hall in Union South. The service was beyond incredible! Many of our guests commented on how great the waitstaff was - they all loved the bartenders too! The food was also amazing. Our guests complimented the dinner and LOVED all of the appetizers. The space is big and beautiful! Plenty of room for people to move around and dance. The wedding coordinator, Hattie, was an absolute delight to work with! Very attentive and answered all our questions quickly. She made the planning process a breeze!

We cannot say enough about the wonderful staff at the Memorial Union. We chose the Union because of our ties to campus, open and affirming policies, and it's beautiful setting. As a queer interracial couple we wanted to feel at home, and the Union was great! The best aspect of our celebration (aside from our commitment) was the caring staff. Vanessa was an excellent planner with strong communication and attention to detail. The student staff were so kind with our family and contributed to a loving atmosphere. We recommend the Union to anyone looking for a celebration venue!

My husband and I wanted to have our reception at the Great Hall ever since we took dance lessons there when we were first dating. The room is beautiful and can easily hold 300+ people. Warning: If you want a Saturday wedding, especially in the summer, you have to book 18 months in advance (there is a lottery system.) I thought the room was a great value for the price, especially since you aren't stuck with any hidden costs - the tables, chairs, linens, napkins, dinnerware - everything was included with the price, and gratuities are not accepted. (There is a minimum food & drink tab, but everything can count towards that, including appetizers, kegs, late-night snacks, etc.) We chose to have a plated meal, and we have not had one complaint about the food - everyone raved about it! The catering coordinator and wedding intern with whom we worked were also wonderful. Their hours are somewhat limited, so sometimes it would take a few days to get a response via email or phone, but they were extremely informative and helpful, so there weren't too many issues to resolve in the first place. My advice would be to make sure you schedule a tasting early on, since they only offer one group tasting per month. Overall, I couldn't have been happier that we chose to have our reception here.

Couldn't have been better! The staff, the location, the food! AWESOME!

My husband and I are alumni of UW-Madison and when we were searching for our venue, we decided to try for the Memorial Union. The Great Hall can hold a few hundred, and we were looking for a room that would be large enough to hold our guest count plus allow for a permanent, LARGE dance floor in the center. The date we wanted was available so we booked it. The down payment for the venue all goes toward the food bill. They use their own catering service. We chose to offer 2 meal options: Union Bourbon Turkey and Pork Medallions with Apple Chutney. Both were fantastic the night of our wedding. The pork was slightly pink in the center. Everyone commented on how tasty and perfectly cooked our selections were. We had 165 guests and 10 at the head table (on the stage). We were able to have 12 tables on the left and right in order to leave room for a huge dance floor. We also had use of the 1924 reception room, which we used for cocktail hour (buffet style) and our candy table/coffee area later on in the evening.

We were stuck trying to find space for 200-300 people in Madison, WI this summer for our wedding, and wanted something a little more special than a large conference room in a hotel. The Memorial Union is usually booked out 18 months in advance for Saturdays, but we managed to reserve a Sunday, which brought costs down with most vendors (including the Union) and worked out perfectly (it was July 3rd - no work on Monday!). Working with the staff at MU was great - we always felt that we were informed about the important things (both during planning and on the day of the reception). In terms of arranging a food tasting, it is quite important to call the Central Reservations office early on in the process, since tastings are offered only at a few scattered times during the year (but they are included for bride + groom!). Finding a time to meet with Stephen Lucas, the catering director, was also a little challenging (he has a lot of events to coordinate all year at the two Union sites and at assorted other venues). However, once we had a meeting time, things went very smoothly. Stephen was so honest and up-front about everything - very appreciated. The *only* gripe I had was that everything (table numbers and cards, especially) was cleared from the center tables - to clear space for dancing - too fast for me to save my own card! The staff was a little too efficient, but I also did not have the foresight to set those things aside that I wanted to keep. Overall, our Union wedding was elegant (the space needs little/no decoration!), affordable (250 people served a delicious meal for ~$6000), and fun (we are from two Badger families, so it was almost a no-brainer). Would highly recommend this venue!

The Memorial Union is an historic Madison and campus landmark right on Lake Mendota. The Great Hall inside the Union has beautiful tall ceilings and architectural features that require little to no decorating. The outdoor terrace on the lake is a perfect place for guests to go before or after the reception to enjoy drinks music and people-watching!;Since the Great Hall is on the fourth floor it may be difficult to get everything in and out of the reception space.