A free wedding chapel? How 2 ex-teachers built a KC venue that’s cheap to rent
The words “free” and “venue” almost never go together when planning a wedding. But a Kansas City couple set out to change that, opening a chapel in the Northland that offers free weddings to those hoping to get hitched without breaking the bank.
Before building The Brim, Both Aaron and Kelsie Kleinmeyer were both teachers in Liberty. Aaron Kleinmeyer taught middle school wood shop and social studies, and Kelsie Kleinmeyer taught high school English.
For years, the two brainstormed how they could both invest in the community and share their belief that marriage is important.
“We didn’t really set out to build a wedding venue. We kind of set out to say, ‘Hey, how do we strengthen marriage in our community?’ We believe in marriage, we think it is a good thing,” said Aaron Kleinmeyer. “...and through all that we said let’s flip this industry idea of a wedding venue on its head and let’s start it free, and then we’ll work up from there.”
Around 2019, Aaron Kleinmeyer learned that there were on average 13,000 weddings in Kansas City every year. Of that number, about 700 happened at the courthouse.
“There were two reasons why couples were getting married in a courthouse from our research. The first one was price, they couldn’t afford most places, and the second was need, they didn’t need a space that held 300 people,” he said.
So the couple set out to create an affordable space for those wanting to celebrate their nuptials in an intimate ceremony in Kansas City’s Northland, in a location that’s not a courthouse.
How it began
The Kleinmeyers believed there was another way to make weddings more affordable besides heading to a courthouse, so the two began looking for land. It was challenging, according to Aaron Kleinmeyer, who said many real estate deals were being done with cash, with people going over the asking price.
“We just drove around and one day I drove by the property that we now own,” Aaron Kleinmeyer said. “It wasn’t for sale.”
The two wrote a letter to the owner, who lived in California, asking if they would ever consider selling the property. A month later, they got the call that the land located just northeast of Kansas City International Airport was theirs to purchase.
While on a trip to Austin, Texas, the Kleinmeyers had met a couple who had also built a free chapel for wedding ceremonies. That couple wrote them a check to help fund the project, and connected them with an architect who offered to draw up the building design for free.
But as the chapel was being built, COVID-19 hit. The Brim’s first wedding was done in their outdoor space with a tent in March 2020, and they began offering the free two-hour ceremony package at that time, as well as paid reception packages.
“Suddenly everybody was downsizing and moving outdoors and doing all these different things with their weddings,” Kelsie Kleinmeyer said. “ We ended up having 39 weddings that year, and we had a tent that we started renting out and did receptions in.”
The chapel was completed in June 2021. The event space was finished two years later.
Soon enough, word spread through word of mouth about The Brim’s free ceremonies.
“We even had Boulevard Beer get in on it and were giving free beer to a few other couples that we did (the Cake and Toast package) receptions for,” Aaron Kleinmeyer said.
Ultimately, the Kleinmeyers raised over $100,000 to build the free wedding chapel, with many funds coming from strangers in the community. They also leveraged their home and assets to cover the rest of the cost.
But it was the charity of strangers that was most memorable for the couple
“I was closing the gate, we didn’t have a building at the time, but somebody had heard about our story and drove by and said, ‘I’ve driven by multiple times, is this where the free wedding chapel is going to be built? I told him yes, and he stuck a check out of the window for a thousand dollars and said, ‘Please make it happen’,” Aaron Kleinmeyer said.
The free wedding package
Wedding ceremonies at The Brim are free Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for up to two hours.
The Brim also offers a Cake and Toast package. For three hours, staff will also set up a table in the back with linen, plates, napkins, forks and chairs. All the couple brings is the cake and something to toast with. It costs $700 on Wednesday and Thursday, and $950 Friday through Sunday.
“It’s basically all the heavy hitters of a reception without the cost, so they can do their first dance, and they can do their pictures,” Aaron Kleinmeyer said. “ This one has been the most famous package, it’s blown up for us because it’s just economical. Couples after that can then head to dinner with their closest family and friends.”
The Cake and Toast package also includes set-up, tear down, use of the chapel and the outdoor space. It’s ideal for 50 guests, according to their website. The Brim also offers a full reception option, day-of coordination and add-ons.
Weddings at The Brim have taken off since they opened. In 2022, Aaron and Kelsie Kleinmeyer reported they had 201 ceremonies. That jumped up to 365 in 2025, and they anticipate surpassing 400 next year.
The two kept teaching for a while, but have since transitioned to working at The Brim full-time. Besides hosting weddings, they offer pre-marital workshops and have a podcast about marriage.
Aaron Kleinmeyer says they hear all the time that their customers were planning on getting married at a courthouse before finding the chapel, which they consider a huge victory.
“Having a day that you can look back on and pictures that you can share with your kids or whoever, or that you can even look back on yourselves,” he said. “That’s important.”
Information on dates available for free wedding ceremonies can be found on their website.
