Wedding Reception Forum

Dinner-party Reception

Has anyone else done a dinner-party style reception? We're thinking of reserving a private dining room at a local restaurant and just doing dinner and then maybe going to a local bar later on as a sort of after party. It's going to be less than 40 people, mostly family, and we're not planning on having dancing or any of the tosses- just dinner and cake. 
Has anyone been to/hosted a wedding like this? Did people react okay or were they confused by it?

Re: Dinner-party Reception

  • I've been to a wedding at a restaurant before.  They arranged to have a set menu with a choice of 3 appetizers, salads/soup and entrees.   There was about 40-50 people. It was nice.  They had an open bar, but had table side wine, which really cut down on those who drank from the bar.  Actually my annoying DH was one of the few that didn't drink wine.   






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • My brother/SIL did this and it was perfect.  They had apps & open bar available for when guests got there from the ceremony while they finished some pics.  Once they were there (30 minutes maybe after guests arrived) we sat at a big dinner table and had salad, dinner (set menu picked between 3 main dishes) and dessert (no wedding cake, just restaurant dessert, delicious).  They had an open bar throughout it all so after dinner some of the older guests eventually left but most of us stayed around and drank, mingled and had a good time.  I loved getting to know my SIL's family and friends better in a low key setting and catching up with family/friends of my own.  There were about 30-40 guest and I would estimate about 20/25 of us were there to the end.  A lot of us still continued the party back at the lobby bar at the hotel too. I loved it and had a lot of fun, even without the dancing and usual wedding activities.
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    Anniversary
  • wrigleyvillewrigleyville member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited January 2015
    I've been to a few weddings like this, and I liked the more casual/intimate atmosphere.

    At one wedding, we were served family style, which I loved, but most restaurant receptions have a fixed menu. 

    If the restaurant doesn't offer family style, they will generally work with you on selecting 2-3 entrees, sides, etc, and your guests order from that menu. Sometimes the restaurant prints the special menu, but more often than not, the couple does.

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  • This is what I wanted for our wedding, but we didn't end up doing it.  I think it sounds very intimate.
  • One of my good friends did this for her wedding. They had about 25 guests and held it in the private room of an Italian restaurant. They did family-style apps, then we were able to order entrees from a limited menu. I can't remember if they did full open-bar or just beer/wine, but there was definitely some sort of free booze.

    It was a really nice evening, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
  • I did for my wedding. We had 23 guests. We got married on the restaurant property (was supposed to be a local park but it rained so they let us do it on the restaurant's deck). We had a appetizers set up and then a preselected menu with 4 choices. No DJ or dancing but we played some music on a cell phone for background noise. We obviously paid drinks and everything. People chatted and mingled and it was awesome. My parents and grandparents loved it since they don't like loud parties/ typical receptions.

                                                                     

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  • csuavecsuave member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2015

    I went to one wedding like this.  It was very enjoyable.  They made some unique food choices and everything was family style so there was a lot of interaction/activity that way.  B&G also made their own playlist of background music and they did a great job. 

    The only bad thing was DH and I didn't know many people there.  There were 3 long tables.  One really big one for family and two smaller tables for friends.  DH and I were were slow to get to the tables and when we did we found the only two seats left were at separate tables.  G quickly solved this problem by squeezing 2 chairs into the family table.  However, it wouldn't have been an issue at all if we either had assigned seating/tables or an extra seat at each of the small tables.  An extra seat probably wasn't an option though since they maxed out space in the venue and it was really crowded. 

    Long story short, go for it.  I think people will enjoy it.  Just make sure it isn't too crowded and that you carefully consider the seating arrangements.

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