Reception help needed for very small wedding

gosuzy

Our wedding is going to be quite small. We'll probably end up with between five and thirty guests.

I  need help planning a reception for a group this size. I doubt I'll have a good feel for the head count until a week or two before. If it's going to be only five guests, a table in a local classy restaurant with us picking up the check would be just fine with us. Elegant, simple, and NO STRESS - yippee!

OTOH, if it's going to be closer to thirty, then I would prefer a separate party room at a restaurant, or maybe a small room at a banquet hall.

But I can't imagine that any venues are going to be THAT flexible with the numbers. Can anyone help me out with this?

Also, I need suggestions for making the reception special without going through a lot of fuss or expense?. We want this to be simple and relaxed and not cost a fortune. No dancing, probably no background music, no garters or bouquet tosses. I'm thinking orchids/other flowering plants or groupings of candles on the tables, a nice dinner, a cheesecake wedding cake, and a few toasts. But that seems, well, a little EMPTY somehow.

It is a wedding, after all, so it should feel festive! We want to celebrate the fact that FI and I finally managed to find our perfect match! (And of course there is my paranoia that the guests will get bored or think we were cheap and/or lazy, LOL.)

Ideas?

fireytiger

Well, I would recommend you look at restaurants first and foremost, and find ones that have banquet halls. Most restaurants will work with you, if you can say you're gonna have a group then they can give you some prices, and even if it's a small affair they can usually work something out. Although you might also want to consider a community center, a park, or a backyard. Most of those ideas would be affordable, you can have food and drinks catered in, and everyone should enjoy themselves.

To be perfectly honest, one of the most elegant and beautiful wedding receptions i've ever been to was for some friends of my dad's. They had it in their parents' backyard, they had some hors d'oeuvres, drinks, and a small cake. They played some classical music in the background, and had some chairs and other seating arrangements for the guests. Everyone mingled and enjoyed the refreshments, and it was classy and beautiful. I personally wanted something different than this, so that's not the route I went, but it suited this couple perfectly and it was absolutely lovely. Nobody felt like it was lacking in festive mood, everyone was happy and enjoyed themselves because the bride and groom were happy. It was short, only for about 2-3 hours at most. But it was really great. Hope this gives you some ideas, good luck!

2dBride

We had our reception in the private dining room of a restaurant.  We had only a dozen people, but the room could have held up to 25.  And the only rental cost for the room was that a 2% surcharge was added to our food and beverage costs.

You might consider at least reserving such a room.  If it turns out that there are only five guests, you can typically cancel up to very shortly beforehand and just have a table in the public area of the same restaurant.

As for its being boring, the smaller the party, the more of the entertainment is likely to consist of their catching up with each other.  We had no planned entertainment other than a lunch--not even a wedding cake.  However, we were there for over two hours, and we pretty much had to throw people out at the end, they were having so much fun talking.

Lizdc

I am having a vow renewel that is 26 people total next weekend. I wanted a small intimate feel and not a big event. I am very social because of my profession (I run a non profit) so could have turned my event into a big to do. While I love attending big to do's and throwing them for other people I hate throwing them for myself. Anyhow what we are doing is a really nice beach gaezbo with ceremony happening on the sand first then the champenge pinic lunch second. I went this route so that I could keep it the size I wanted. Also to keep the feel of basically a nice dinner party I am doing 1 table. Currently in a T with one 8 foot table at the top and two coming out of the middle. That was designed when we had 22 people confirmed but I way switch to just a long table. I think with a small event too much entertainment can feel like overkill and be distracting. I do like the 1 piece live music idea.
For food we were going with catering we pick up at whole foods until 2 days ago when I found a great cater who can cook vegan and non vegan. I wasn't looking but since he will likely work out it will avoid a 4 hour drive to whole foods the day before. So I think that one way to look at it is a med sized dinner party and what makes that successful vs a 100 person house party. They have different needs and entertainment. I am sure that you can find a restaurant who will work with you on numbers. One cool things about smaller events is that you normally get more time with each guest AND better food/booze.
Also with that size look a museum, art galleries, historic homes, parks,and  beaches. You can find very interesting places when you don't need the space to hold 150 people for dinner.

Sarahkayfa

A restaurant. My first wedding was small, about 20. We found a great restaurant with a good wine list, and booked the private room. We met with the restaurant manager about two weeks prior to discuss our plans and lay out a menu that worked. They were able to give us a per person price. We didn't have any decorating costs, because it was a pretty room with little vases of flowers on the tables. And when our baker dropped off the cakes, they dressed them up with a few fresh flowers as a favor. It was wonderful to enjoy a meal with our friends and families without any hassles.

We did the same thing for the rehearsal dinner too at a different restaurant.