Wedding barn restrictions take effect in 2026, but some lawmakers want to ease new permit law
By A.J. Bayatpour
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MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — For farm owners who rent out their barns for special events, including weddings, 2026 is ringing in a new state law that is forcing them to make a difficult choice.
Back in 2023, legislative leaders did some last-minute maneuvering to tuck new language into a broader bill that updates Wisconsin’s alcohol laws. That measure primarily allowed breweries to start making canned cocktails and seltzers while also allowing wineries to extend their hours.
Late in the process, leaders added language that regulated the wedding barn industry. Those restrictions, which took effect at the start of this year, require barn operators to either get a liquor license or a special non-sale event permit.
The new permits require barns to have a licensed bartender serving alcohol on the property, and the venues can only host a maximum of six events per year. Renters are only allowed to serve beer and wine.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is circulating a bill that would loosen those restrictions.
“What the previous legislation is really trying to do is to force more venues to operate as bars that don’t want to,” State Sen. Andre Jacque (R-New Franken) said in an interview Friday, Jan. 2. “And this really isn’t making any sort of changes in terms of liability. This is simply preserving that consumer choice.”
The new proposal would allow wedding barns without a liquor license to host as many as 36 events in a year.
Renters would still be required to have a licensed bartender serving drinks, but they’d also be allowed to have liquor at their events.
“You ought to be able to serve a Wisconsin Old Fashioned at your wedding,” State Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) said. “And right now, even with those six events, you can’t do that.”
Afton Krysiak, co-owner of The Gathering Barn in Fort Atkinson, said she’s in the process of getting a liquor license for her venue. Hosting events throughout wedding season was part of the plan when they bought the land, so she said there was no real alternative.
“We, financially, would not be able to survive, seeing that we just bought the venue in 2022,” Krysiak said. “We wouldn’t have been able to survive on six [events] alone.”
Krysiak said the process of meeting liquor license requirements has proven costly. She said it cost about $30,000 to install necessary refrigeration equipment.
She added getting all of her questions answered about the licensing process has also been maddening.
“We’re still a little lost on what it is that we have to have,” Krysiak said. “Talking to the Department of Health, and the Department of Health says it’s the [Wisconsin] Department of Revenue, so we’ve gone back and forth a lot.”
For Jean Bahn, who owns the Farmview Event Barn near Oshkosh, getting a liquor license was never really an option.
“At my age, I do not want to start another business,” Bahn told CBS 58 Friday. “I have no experience whatsoever running a retail operation of any kind, especially alcohol.”
Bahn argued it was unfair to apply liquor licensing standards to farm owners who are only renting out their barns to private parties.
“We simply rent space,” she said. “This is no different than a group going to a city park and renting the pavilion and bringing in their food and drink.”
Others, including the Tavern League of Wisconsin, see it differently. Supporters of the law have argued it’s unfair for barns to rent out space for events where alcohol is served while avoiding the regulations other venues face.
Spreitzer said he believes the bill he and Jacque are now circulating represents a good compromise. He hoped to move forward with the bill before the current two-year legislative session wraps up in March, when lawmakers shift into campaign mode.
Since legislative leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, approved adding the wedding barn language to the 2023 bill, it’s highly unlikely this bill would get a vote in the Senate.
Spreitzer said the bill’s supporters might try to get their bill in through the backdoor, adding their own language to a different bill as an amendment.
“For a lot of these venues, their wedding season starts in May,” Spreitzer said. “We still have time to fix this, but we don’t have a lot of time.”
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