Reception in a restaurant?

Most non church weddings run about 30 minutes to max 45. So taking that into consideration.

Hey! We did our reception at a restaurant. Are you using the whole restaurant or does it have a private room? We got the whole second floor of the restaurant so we didn't have to worry about other people having access. We were supposed to set up the night before but our rehearsal dinner ran late so it was closed by the time we got there. So I ended up going over in the morning bright and early and banging on the door until they let me in to set up haha!

I don't think you would have time to take the pictures and then come back to set up before the guests come back. And it's kind of a big gap so what would your guests be doing during that time? Also, you're not going to want to be setting things up when you're all dressed up for the wedding! I would say if you want to do it at the restaurant that you should hire a coordinator who can set it up for you. You'd be surprised how quickly the day goes and you won't really have time to set things up if you set up at 2 pm and then have the ceremony at 4 pm. It takes a long time for hair and makeup for the whole wedding party and then your photographer and videographer will come early to take pics while you're getting ready so that adds time.

Is there someone you can trust to set things up while you're getting ready? The nice thing about restaurants is that they're usually already nicely decorated so you don't need to do a whole lot to them so maybe you can show someone how you want everything and then ask them to set it up for you? Only problem with that is that you won't get to see it before you get there so if there are any issues, you just have to roll with it. I could not handle that and it's a good thing that I did go to set up because some of the tables were set incorrectly and we had to move a few things. If you had a coordinator, they would know that though and be able to fix it more than a friend or family member.

We did really love doing the reception at the restaurant because they did a great job with service and it was less expensive than hiring a caterer. Good luck! Let me know if you need any other help!

View quoted message It was free time that they had to do what they wanted. No one complained.

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Yeah I was thinking to do the ceremony later, but how would the morning work? I guess I would just get my makeup and hair done beforehand and then come set up and head from there eh? But seems like that may be the best route.

Thank you!

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Yeah I may have to see if other family would be willing to help with decorations because I would like my bridesmaids to be with me for the photos. For the break from ceremony to reception, did your guests just entertain themselves? I know some people were telling me that they should wait at the restaurant with snacks, but again, I just don't think that is possible.

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Yeah. I am trying to keep the cost of the wedding down, so I don't think hiring a consultant would be good for us. I wish! But yeah maybe the restaurant would help or just need to figure out who out of our guests would be willing to help us since we wont be there for set up.

And oh! Never thought about the center pieces! Thank you! I will keep that in mind!

Thank you for your input =)

We are having ours at a restaurant too. I would definitely enlist someone to do the set up for you. If you're able to hire a consultant for the afternoon or maybe get the restaurant to help you out. Also I was planning on larger centrepieces. Then when we went back to my venue I realized the tables were quite small. Some for four only so my centrepieces will need to be much smaller. Watch for those kinds of details that are different than a banquet hall or wedding venue.

We had our “reception “ at a restaurant. Granted we had a planner who took care of the decoration (including take down), but our guests had a few hours to themselves between the ceremony (3pm) and dinner (6pm). We were off doing pictures between the two. My suggestion would be to enlist your MoH and bridesmaids to get the decorations done at the restaurant while you and your new hubby are out doing pictures.

We were going to have our wedding reception in a restaurant but changed our minds later. Maybe the restaurant could give you some advice. If they close at 2 pm for you to set up, why don't you do that first, then go to the ceremony at 4 or 4:30 (it only takes 20 minutes), the take some pictures and head to the restaurant for a 5:30 dinner.