Louisiana-New Orleans

Recommendations for reception dinner!

Hey Ladies!

I'm having a super small wedding of 30 folks and I wanted to see if y'all had any recommendations for the reception dinner. It could be a restaurant or maybe a facility that can cater. I'm open to all suggestions. With that said it was just have to be able to handle 30 people. I'm getting married at City Park on a thursday at 3pm.

I was thinking about going to Ralphs on the Park for pictures and cocktail hour (around 4pm) then after wards head back the Garden District or French Quarter for dinner.

Thanks in advance for your help! :)
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Re: Recommendations for reception dinner!

  • edited May 2012
    what budget are you trying to stick with?
  • I researched some places for a small wedding, and found Galvez, Wax Museum, Palace Cafe, Crescent City Brewhouse, and Napoleon House to be the most affordable.

  • I am always a fan of Commander's Palace.
  • Antoine's has several party rooms upstairs that are perfect for that size of group.
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  • egm900egm900 member
    First Comment
    edited May 2012
    Have you thought about having the dinner at Ralph's?  Ralph's has upstairs rooms, I went to a small wedding last year, ceremony in City Park and then Ralph's for the reception, it was nice and really easy for all the guests.  
  • You ladies are the best! Thank you for responses!

    Budgetwise we put our numbers to be $1050.00 for the dinner reception (roughly $35.00 pp)
    since we are getting married in the park I don't have a venue fee so that number can go up without too much strain if needed. But I would prefer to keep it around there.

    As for the recommendations wow! My FH will be doing some leg work next week to check out locations in Nola (he's from/lives in Mobile, AL...I"m all the way in Southern California) so I'm going to be added those places on the list! I've heard a lot about the Commanders Place. Definitely want to look into that.

    As for Ralphs on the park....I checked out their website and I really liked their offerings. I didn't realize they had an upstairs. Gonna have to have the future hubby check that out!!!

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  • Commanders is likely out of your budget for dinner BUT, they have an amazing jazz brunch. Just some food for thought.
  • Hey no worries. I appreciate any suggestions. If not for the guests..then maybe future hubby and I can go there ourselves!!! :)
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  • $35.00 pp is going to be tough. Does that include drinks too?   Most of the more upscale places in the FQ/CBD are going to run around $30.00 just for the entree.  Even something like Drago's (which is casual but still  quite delicious) will be around 20 per entree w/ salad but without drinks. 

    Just something to keep in mind.  You can get the price PER HEAD down if you go with a traditional caterer and have a larger guest list, but for basically a party of 30 you're going to have to get on the phone and work some deals out or else be willing to pay more. 

  • RYLZRYLZ member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    When I was trying to find RD locations in that price range, Napoleon House, Tijagues and Acme all had options under $40 pp. we were able to get $38pp at Antoine's, but only for brunch-- brunch would open up your option's, as Queen Jane suggested. Also, since it's a smaller, and likely shorter event, you'd probably do better budget wise doing alcohol on consumption, rather than looking for a package that includes unlimited alcohol or on a per hour basis. Good luck.
  • Hmm..Okay. It seems like you ladies are saying that for the best experience for my guests I need to up the the budget. Is $50.00 pp give me a better range? Or is perhaps is that a more reasonable amount to expect to spend? I'm cool doing that definitey if it means my guests will have a better time!
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  • egm900egm900 member
    First Comment
    Just so you know, City Park has a fee for professional photos being taken by non-park brides. City Park is actually a state park, so $50 fee for photos, and while they don't have people running around to check frequently, it does happen, although a Thursday during busines hours will up your risk. I'm not sure if there would be any fee for the wedding, my friend that got married there last year got married in the Botanical Garden and she said it was inexpensive.

    I think $35 pp for food and drink will narrow your options considerably. I think Ralph's will likely be closer to $50 pp for food. Ralph's also doesn't open until 4:30 or 5, even for private parties. We had to hang around the park for a while before they opened. Muriel's might be able to do $35 pp for food, their table d'hote menu is around that I think. Last year they told me they didn't have a minimum for groups, but I've seen recently on this board someone said they have minimums at all times. They're probably worth an email to their group event person, since you're looking at an early time they may work with you more. They have good food, and I think they're open all day, so you wouldn't have to wait.
  • ^^^You're correct about the park fee for photos! We definitely upped the budget for $50.00 pp
    . FH is going over to NOLA tomorrow morning to check everything out! I'll be able to post more once he reports back in!!!! You ladies are awesome! Thanks again!

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  • Just wanted to update everyone! We ended up booking dinner at The Bourbon House. Its going to be roughly about 4649 pp depending on entree selected. Thank you ladies for all your suggestions!!!! :
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