Surly Brewing Wedding Photographer
Industrial brewery venue — Beer Hall, Festival Field, fermentation tanks. From $2,700.
Quick Answer
Who is the best Surly Brewing wedding photographer?
Honey Deww Photography (Emma Ziegler) shoots regularly at Surly Brewing's Beer Hall and Festival Field in Prospect Park, Minneapolis. 200+ Twin Cities weddings since 2018. Collections from $2,700.
5.0 ★ on Google
45 reviews
Booking since 2021
200+ Twin Cities clients
Minneapolis-based
Travel up to 60 mi free
Replies in 24 hrs
Mon–Fri
Recent work
Surly Brewing Wedding & Portrait Photography
A look at recent weddings, engagements and portraits photographed around Surly Brewing and the wider Twin Cities.
Surly Brewing Co.: The Venue Itself
What the space is actually like — the details couples ask me about before they ask about photography.
- Address
- 520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
- Capacity
- Scheid Hall: 136 for a sit-down dinner, 175 for a standing reception (venue states a total capacity of 175 depending on function type). Loon Room: up to 60. Beer Garden Tent: 50-120.
- Ceremony & reception spaces
- Indoor: Scheid Hall, the dedicated event center on the building's second/upper level, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the working brewhouse and an adjoining prefunction area and bar that look out over the beer hall and brew house; the venue lists "windows for natural lighting" among its features. The Loon Room is a smaller indoor private space for up to 60 guests with five 75-inch screens. Outdoor: the Beer Garden Tent, available June 1 through September 30 for 50-120 guests, where a tent is provided for shelter from sun and rain and food comes from the Surly Food Truck; the wider site also includes a beer deck and gardens off the beer hall and a second-level exterior deck.
- Parking
- Complimentary parking is listed as an included Scheid Hall feature, and the brewery advertises "plenty of FREE parking, bike racks" on site. When an event date aligns with a Festival Field event, the venue's own policies state complimentary valet parking is provided to the host and all guests.
- Catering
- Catering is in-house and exclusive. All food is made in-house and must be consumed in-house, and no outside food or beverage is allowed except specialty cakes and desserts, which carry a per-person serving fee. Beverage service is exclusive as well: under the Minnesota State Tap Room law, Surly can serve only its own beer, alongside an assortment of soft drinks and complimentary water service. Guests may not bring wine, spirits, or any other kind of beverage into the building. Scheid Hall's menu includes breakfast, appetizer, and buffet options; the Loon Room uses the Beer Hall or Surly Pizza menus; the Beer Garden Tent is catered from the Surly Food Truck.
- The venue is located at 520 Malcolm Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414.
- Scheid Hall's stated capacity is 136 for a sit-down dinner and 175 for a standing reception.
- Scheid Hall is dedicated in memory of Linda Scheid, the legislator who championed the "Surly Bill," and is described by the brewery as a state-of-the-art meeting and event center with a total capacity of 175 guests depending on the type of function.
- Scheid Hall has floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the working brew house, and the venue lists "windows for natural lighting" as a feature of the space.
- Complimentary parking is listed as an included feature for Scheid Hall events.
- The brewery states it has "plenty of FREE parking, bike racks" on site, and is near the Prospect Park stop on the Green Line and the Dinkytown Greenway/University of Minnesota Transitway.
- If an event date aligns with a Festival Field event, Surly provides additional security at no cost and complimentary valet parking for the host and all guests.
- All food is made in-house and must be consumed in-house; apart from specialty cakes and desserts, no outside food or beverage is allowed. Outside desserts are subject to a per-person serving fee.
- Because of the Minnesota State Tap Room law, Surly can serve only its own beer; Scheid Hall has a private bar with a full tap lineup of Surly beers plus soft drinks and complimentary water. Guests may not bring wine, spirits, or any other kind of beverage into the building.
- The Beer Garden Tent hosts private events for 50-120 guests, is available June 1 through September 30, is catered by the Surly Food Truck, and a tent is provided in the space to shelter guests from sun and rain; events happen rain or shine.
How the Light Works Here
- The hall's floor-to-ceiling windows look directly onto the working brewhouse, so the stainless tanks are a fixed, permanent background in any frame shot toward that wall - worth planning first-dance and toast orientation around. This is stated by the venue itself, not inferred.
- The prefunction area and bar sit on the second level overlooking the beer hall and brew house below, giving an elevated vantage point for looking-down wide shots into a double-height space - a different angle than the hall itself offers.
- Scheid Hall is listed at roughly 2,400 sq ft with a 20-foot ceiling, so there is real headroom above a full room of guests: wide establishing frames fit, but the ceiling is too high and too far for bounced flash to do much work.
- In the beer hall (not the event hall), an operable glass wall that lifts and slides, about 10 feet high by 40 feet wide, turns an entire wall into an open threshold to the beer deck and gardens, producing a very broad soft edge-light source along that side when raised.
- Private beer garden events are held under a tent that the venue provides for shelter from sun and rain, so outdoor coverage there is shaded and diffused overhead rather than lit by open sky, and the canopy can introduce a color cast.
Best Photo Spots at Surly
- Fermentation tank room
- Beer Hall arched windows
- Festival Field stage
- Patio string-light canopy
- Brewery exterior brick
- Witch's Hat Tower (5 min)
- Edison-bulb reception
- Industrial portraits
Frequently Asked Questions
Have you photographed weddings at Surly Brewing?
Yes — Surly Festival Field and the Beer Hall are an iconic industrial-meets-craft venue. I plan around the steel tanks, the beer hall timber rafters, the patio string lights, and the Festival Field stage.
How much is a Surly Brewing wedding photographer?
Surly collections start at $2,700 for 4 hours and $3,900 for 8 hours with a second photographer. Prospect Park — no travel fee from my North Loop studio.
Best photo spots at Surly?
The fermentation tank room (with permission), beer hall arched windows, Festival Field stage, the patio string-light canopy, the brewery exterior brick, and the Witch's Hat Tower in Prospect Park (5 min away).
Surly lighting at night?
The Beer Hall has gorgeous edison-bulb ambient light but it's warm and dim — I bring 2–3 off-camera flashes and shoot reception with mixed natural + bounce flash to keep it editorial, not flat.
Do you carry Surly vendor insurance?
Yes — $2M general liability with Surly Brewing Company added as additional insured on request. Sent 30 days before your date, no extra fee.
How many people does Surly hold for a wedding?
Surly's Event Center seats up to 350 for dinner and 500 for cocktail-style; the Beer Hall accommodates 250 seated. I've photographed everything from 60-guest patio ceremonies to 400-guest full-venue takeovers here.
Is Surly Brewing wedding photographer-friendly?
Yes — the events team is one of the best I work with in Minneapolis. They give full brewery access for portraits, coordinate elevator time, and let us shoot in the production floor when it's not in use.
Best portrait spots at Surly Brewing?
The outdoor beer garden at golden hour with the Prospect Park water tower, the sliding steel doors for backlit portraits, the corten steel exterior wall, the fermentation tank room, and the second-floor mezzanine for skyline dance-floor coverage.
Do you handle Surly's low fermentation-tank lighting?
Yes. I shoot dual Sony A7IV bodies at ISO 6400+ cleanly and bring off-camera flash for the tank room and darker reception zones. Every Surly gallery I've delivered has clean, editorial low-light frames.
Is there parking for wedding vendors at Surly?
Yes — dedicated vendor parking on Malcolm Ave and a loading dock for gear. I arrive 30 minutes early to unload without impacting your guest arrival.
Can we do a first look on the Surly patio?
Absolutely — the outdoor patio at 3:30pm with the water tower behind you is one of my favorite first-look spots in Minneapolis. I block it off with the venue coordinator so we get 15 uninterrupted minutes.
Book Your Surly Wedding
Surly Saturdays book 10+ months out. I'll send real Surly galleries on request.
Check AvailabilitySurly Brewing Venue Overview
Surly Brewing Co. on Malcolm Ave SE is one of the largest industrial wedding venues in Minneapolis — a 30,000 sq ft brewery with the Beer Hall, Event Center, and outdoor beer garden. The exposed steel, corten weathering panels, and Prospect Park water tower views make it a dream for editorial couples who want texture without a traditional ballroom.
How I Shoot Surly Weddings
I plan portraits around the brewery's massive sliding doors for backlight, the outdoor patio at golden hour with the water tower, the fermentation tanks for moody editorial frames, and the mezzanine railing for wide reception coverage. I bring a second shooter on every Surly wedding — the venue is too big for one photographer to cover well.