Bar Hopping in Wisconsin Before a Wedding Reception

Wisconsin has a drinking culture very different than the rest of the country. It leads the country in things like binge drinking, and many Wisconsinites are proud of this. Many traditions revolve around drinking, including bar hopping after a wedding ceremony. Another thing that is different in Wisconsin compared to other states is the fact that there’s a several hour gap between a wedding ceremony and the actual reception. Historically speaking, this gap was due to the large amount of dairy farms (I mean, it is America’s dairyland) and that chores and milking the cows needed to be done. Now, the bride and groom and wedding party were given an exception to the chores. So what does someone in Wisconsin do during the gap where everyone else was occupied doing chores? They go bar hopping of course! Even though most people no longer live on a dairy farm, the tradition of bar hopping lives on. At my buddy’s wedding, there was a bus hired for us to go bar hopping in.



That was a good thing because we all got pretty drunk while doing that. In the case of Victoria and my vow renewal and second wedding reception, we decided to do things a little differently. We planned on taking out my Cougar and inviting anyone who wanted to come along. We planned on going to two bars and then putting the cars away. We weren’t disappointed when our good family friend Eugene brought his Torino and my uncle brought his Challenger. We parked them outside the church.
























We did the vow renewal and then I peeled out of the church. Our first stop was Nutz Deep.









My buddy Mike joined us on his motorcycle.



Of course, I had to have a Hamm’s.






After our drink at Nutz Deep, we headed to Five-O-One.





















Outside was Mike chilling on his motorcycle.



Inside I decided to get some diesel. A Budweiser it is!



After our second drink, we got back into the Cougar and put it away. I was making a lot of noise and drawing a lot of attention, so that was probably a good thing that I put the car away. We made it back to the hotel and had our shuttle bus waiting.






It was cool partaking in this Wisconsin tradition. We modified it a bit by inviting everyone and not drinking heavily. In many ways, I tend to be a bit non-traditional even with traditions. This was a lot of fun and it was great having a shuttle hired so we could continue drinking and not have to worry about getting around.