Wedding DJ at Town Elephant Brewing in Chatham, NJ

The Space

This Chatham, New Jersey brewery opened in 2015 as one of Morris County’s first microbreweries, built around a working brewhouse that turns out small-batch ales and lagers using locally sourced ingredients when they are available. The building splits into two distinct areas: an indoor tap room for year-round use, and an outdoor beer garden that welcomes leashed dogs, giving a private gathering the option of moving between the two depending on the weather and the size of the group.

Rather than a dedicated event hall, this is a working brewery that opens part of its regular space for private reservations, which means a couple booking here is working within the tap room’s existing layout and bar setup rather than a room built specifically for weddings or receptions. That trade-off suits a smaller, more casual gathering built around the brewery’s own beer rather than a full-scale reception.

Capacity & Layout

Private reservations run small by design, 8 to 15 people inside the tap room and 6 to 8 people in the outdoor beer garden, numbers that fit a rehearsal dinner, a welcome gathering, or an after-party far more comfortably than a full wedding reception. Couples planning their main event elsewhere should think of this space as a satellite gathering spot on the wedding weekend rather than the primary reception venue.

The split between an indoor tap room and an outdoor beer garden means a group can start inside and move out, or reserve just the outdoor space on a mild evening, giving some flexibility even within those smaller numbers. Because the brewery keeps regular hours around any private reservation, timing a gathering to the venue’s family-friendly or 21-and-over hours matters more here than at a venue booked exclusively for the day.

Amenities

The brewery keeps family-friendly hours on set days, Wednesday from 3pm to 6pm, Thursday from noon to 6pm, Friday and Saturday from noon to 5pm, and Sunday from 1pm to 6pm, with all other open hours restricted to guests 21 and over. A rehearsal dinner or welcome party scheduled around those hours needs to account for whether children will be present, since the venue’s own policy shifts depending on the time of day.

The outdoor beer garden’s leashed-dog policy is a real amenity for couples who want a pet included in part of the wedding weekend without bringing it into a formal ceremony or reception elsewhere. Beyond that, the draw here is straightforward: house-brewed ales and lagers made with local ingredients, served in a working brewery rather than a rented event space dressed up for the occasion.

Location & Getting There

The brewery sits in Chatham, in Morris County, New Jersey, close to the surrounding towns the business has served since opening, including Madison, Summit, New Providence, Short Hills, and Millburn, all within easy driving distance for a Saturday gathering. The property is wheelchair accessible, worth noting for any guests in the small group who need that.

Given the modest size of both the tap room and the beer garden, a DJ setup here works best as background music or a simple speaker and playlist rather than a full sound system, since the indoor space is small enough that recorded music and conversation share the same room without any need for a stage or heavy amplification.