Cafe reception no reservations???

I feel like the issue you run into is....what if they can't seat you all together? How long will it take all of you to get the food? With reception venues, caterers usually start preparing the food well before the reception starts. If 40 people descend onto a small restaurant at 1 time, the kitchen may not really be able to accommodate everyone at the same time.

For the number of people you plan on inviting, you definitely need a place that you can rent out. Forty people are way too many for you to expect a restaurant to be able to accommodate without renting the space. I would look for somewhere else to have your reception. Italian, Mexican or BBQ places tend to be rather inexpensive options so I would look for one of those types of places with a private room. I would also forgo serving alcohol. For my rehearsal dinner, we had it at an Italian place. There were approximately 30 people. My mother-in-law paid roughly $1,000 to host the rehearsal. We didn't serve alcohol. We had tea, lemonade, soda, and water. Everyone was happy and $1,000 for 30 people wasn't bad.

As someone who usually works at a very small restaurant, please don't do this. They won't necessarily have the space for you, there may be a wait, and there's no way the kitchen can handle 40 orders all at once.

Does the chapel recommend a place?

Okay. Thanks for the input!


How about having a reception a week later? Is that too weird. We could have cake outside the chapel. Most guests would be more likely to attend reception as it’s semi-destination.

The reception needs to be held the same day as the ceremony. Talk to the manager and ask what they can arrange for you. You might be surprised what outside-the-box places will do to accommodate you.

View Quoted Comment Okay. Thanks!!! I’ll figure something else out