Helping generations gather for “any special occasion”

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

July 6, 2026

NEILLSVILLE – Family Ties Event Barn – the realization of Melanie Krause’s vision, brought to life alongside her husband and co-owner, Neil – is now open in Central Wisconsin and accepting bookings. 

“I have a degree in sales and marketing, so I knew I would be able to market it, and my husband and I are very handy, so we don’t have to hire out for work – we can do it ourselves,” she said. “The dream just came true.”

Celebrating their ribbon cutting three days before its inaugural event May 30, Melanie Krause said it wasn’t until Family Ties’ grand opening June 14 that the Neillsville community at large and potential vendors were welcome to experience the fully renovated, fifth-generation barn, located at N1980 Owen Ave.

“We had a lot of the community… come and view the venue, the grounds and get some information,” she said. “We [also] had [local] vendors – [like] Sarah Nash Photography and RJ Smiling Soul Photography – [who] popped in. We had Hair by Brit [pop in, too], and she’s actually [our] next wedding in August.”

Krause said the idea began roughly a year and a half ago, when Neil suggested she open an event venue on his family’s historic farm.

“He said, ‘Show me a business plan,’ and I gave him a business plan sooner than he thought,” she said. “Our first wedding [clients], [who] were our neighbors, asked if they could get married in the barn, so everything got pushed up a lot sooner than planned, and that’s how Family Ties came to be.”

After laying all-new flooring, installing a built-in bar and redoing the deck, Krause said the barn was ready to not only host weddings, but per familytieseventbarn.com, “any special occasion.”

“[Our business is] not strictly wedding-based,” she said. “We can [host] any special event.”

‘A little wrench’

Krause said the venue sits on about three acres of the family’s 210-acre working farm, which includes 40 acres of woods and 170 acres of tillable land used for cash crops.

“We actually have two ceremonial sites people can [choose from to] get married at,” she said.

Krause said the farm was handed down to Neil and his brother, Alan – with the siblings and their families now maintaining the property entirely by themselves.

“I take care of the house and the grounds, and they take care of the fields,” she said. “I take care of business stuff at nighttime after my daytime job. It [makes things] busier, but that’s okay – that’s what I’m looking for.”

Following recent amendments to event venue alcoholic beverage servicing permitting, Krause said taking on Family Ties full-time is a bit more challenging.

Per the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue (revenue.wi.gov), which took effect Jan. 1, 2026, requires event venues available for public rental to obtain the appropriate alcohol beverage license or permit to allow alcohol consumption on the premises. 

“There are two ways you can go about [it],” Krause said. “You can either have your liquor license or you can get a no-sale permit, and we decided to go with the no-sale permit.”

A no-sale permit, Krause said, means Family Ties Event Barn is restricted to six days a year in which the venue can serve a limited selection of alcoholic beverages.

“Six days a year, we can have alcohol on premises, and it’s [further restricted to] only one [day] per month,” she said. “There can be no spirits – just beer, wine and malt beverages.”

For example, Krause said at Family Ties, clients are given full-weekend access, but in compliance with Act 73, they are only able to serve alcoholic beverages on one night.

“So, let’s just say they have their rehearsal dinner there and the wedding, they can only choose one of the days to have their alcohol,” she said. “If there’s any event with 20 people or more, I have to have a licensed bartender. They can bring [someone] in, I can do it or I have another bartender underneath me who would do that as well.”

Regardless of the increased complexity, Krause said – so far – clients have been understanding of the new regulations.

“Everybody has questions about it, because it’s so new – not everybody knows about [how] this whole permitting is involved,” she said. “I just explain it to all of my people who come in for a tour, and they completely understand.”

However, despite clients’ tolerance, Krause said she and “a lot of other venue owners aren’t happy about it.”

“Why would they limit us to six?” she said. “Why can’t they let us have six events instead of six days? Most venues rent it out for the whole weekend. In all, we are a shell – we are just giving them a place to [hold their event].”

Though Act 73 threw “a little wrench” in her dream of owning an event venue, Krause said overall, business has been good with weekends already booking through 2027.

“I’m very thankful for all the people who have come for a tour and who are booking,” she said. “They do understand.”

Krause said she also hopes people will consider Family Ties for events beyond weddings and other celebrations that often involve alcohol.

“There are some weddings we do have that are non-alcoholic, so that is most definitely something we are [open] to,” she said. “There are birthday parties, larger corporate events, reunions, graduations, celebrations for life… We can have as many non-alcoholic events as anybody wants to have.”

Tying generations together

Krause said the name, Family Ties, calls to the business’s mission as well as her family’s own tendency to gather on the farm – allowing them an opportunity to reconnect and enjoy each other’s company.

“Seeing that we’re fifth generation, it just all ties in, because every generation has done something to preserve the farm,” she said. “Every generation is tied together one way or another.”

For more information on Family Ties Event Barn, visit its aforementioned website or Facebook page.