Small Wedding - reception ideas?

cupcait927

So FI and I are having a very small wedding - > 30 people total tentatively. We want to keep it intimate and close and truly celebrate our day and the people who are there with us (and because he has a ridiculously large family and we're not made of money). We had been set on having the reception in his parent's backyard (ceremony in another location) but now, due to family concerns and logistics, this isn't going to be possible. If we were having a large wedding, finding a venue wouldn't really be an issue as I live in an area that is booming with wedding venues (Finger Lakes area in NY - wineries and Inns and the sort abound). Being that we are having such a small guest list, I'm having trouble finding places to hold the reception. So any ideas as to a type of location that would be ideal for a small wedding? I'm not looking for specifics necessarily (I did post on my local board looking for suggestions) but wanting to get an idea from brides that either had smaller weddings or attended smaller weddings, where those receptions took place so I can start looking at similar ideas where I live. Thx in advance!

Edited to add - please disregard my wedding ticker - I'm having the worst issues with it!

Jen4948

At a restaurant or bed-and-breakfast type inn?

southernbelle0915

Look into community centers. Look into your parks and rec to see what meeting spaces they have available - many are covered or meeting rooms that just fall under this dept. Look into restaurants that have private rooms available. Look into meeting/conference rooms at hotels - they probably have smaller spaces than the giant banquet halls you're used to.

tammym1001

I'm only having 35 people at my wedding so I had the same issue as you. I found that a lot of the typical wedding venues in my area also have smaller rooms. They don't generally advertise them for weddings, but they can be used for that. We ended up finding a place on a golf course that is separate from the main country club/ball room but it's an absolutely gorgeous space that holds 50 people and they still have all the same things that they use in the main ballroom. 

Some other suggestions: restaurants with separate rooms, hotels that have multiple meeting rooms, bars with party rooms, wineries with private tasting rooms (these are usually smaller rooms), parks that have indoor pavilions, or talk to some caterers and see if they have any suggestions for smaller wedding venues that they've worked in.

melbelleup

Look into volunteer fire fighter halls, rec parks (picnic pavilion), restaurants will prob be your easiest and they're used to them.

cupcait927

Thanks everyone! This all has given me a much better jumping off point.

boobyswope

Community center is ideal place for reception.