Opening New Jerseyville Event Site from WOW, Germania

This is Barbie and Bryan Brynildsens’ first event center in Jerseyville; the couple also own WOW Event Center, 515 E. 3rd St., and WOW on Broadway, 630 E. Broadway, both in Alton. Their son Matt Brynildsen and his wife, Reilly, are also involved with the WOW Event Center and are getting more involved as the business grows.

Ben and Matt Brynildsen also provide bartending services for venues they named The Brothers.

“The banquet space with Germania in Jerseyville is very similar to WOW,” Barbie Brynildsen said. “There are two parts of the building and the back is the reception area.”

The chairs are gold chiavari chairs and are included with every rental, and the tables at the new venue were custom-built by Bryan Brynildsen. The table tops have beautiful tops that are artwork by local artist Ken Church, a Jerseyville native who has also done custom work at WOW on Broadway.

“Ken did his ‘magic’ on them,” Barbie Brynildsen said.

The Jerseyville Germania is liquor licensed, where cocktails and coffee will be served and the venue has preferred caterers, but is also open to talking to people about other caterers.

A green-covered pergola, built by one of their five sons, Stephen Brynildsen, who lives with his wife, Katrina, Colorado, provides a beautiful centerpiece on the grounds of the new venue. He also carried out a significant part of the construction and construction of the Germania side of the new site and worked on the WOW event centers.

“It’s a really neat space,” Barbie Brynildsen said. “The venue is intended for showers, parties, wedding ceremonies and receptions, but we are looking to use it for other purposes, such as pop-up restaurants, girls’ nights and our own special parties.”

For New Year’s Eve, the couple hosted a paid New Year’s Eve party at the WOW Event Center, complete with appetizers, dinner, an upscale open bar, dueling pianos and party favors. Proceeds from the party went to Riverbend Family Ministries in Wood River.

“The new site is another space to serve Jerseyville and outlying areas,” Brynildsen said. “We get a lot of people from this area who organize showers and other events.”

The new venue held its first baby shower on April 30, as well as a second event this weekend.

“We book a lot of showers and parties,” Brynidlsen said. “It has been great working with the community of Jerseyville and the City of Jerseyville. The city has a vision for the city and its growth and has been very welcoming.”

The city already knew the Brynildsen family. The Brynildsens’ son, Daniel Brynildsen, and his wife, Erika, opened a second Riverbend Ax Throwing in Jerseyville; they also own the first location in East Alton at Eastgate Plaza.

Germania Brewhaus now has four locations, of which Ben Brynildsen is the managing director. The Jerseyville location has a great seating area for relaxing, sipping, and working on laptops, etc., as well as a drive-thru, like the Godfrey location. The Alton Germania location offers full indoor service with curbside service; the East Alton location is only accessible by car.

“We always wanted to have our own business, but the kids were young and we were too busy raising kids, so now is the time to do it,” said Barbie Brynildsen, whose 14th grandchild is on the way.

The Brynildsens have a few more exciting announcements to come once plans are final and things are official, she said.

Visit www.germaniabrewhaus.com follow on Facebook or email staff@wowfurnishings.org for more information.