Do i need a traditional reception???

That is perfectly acceptable and more common than you'd think. My friend did that for her micro wedding


Some restaurants have a ceremony space, that may be worth looking into

This is totally acceptable. Most restaurants may have minimums for large groups but if you do some exploring I’m sure you can find something great. Avoid telling them it’s a wedding… say it’s a family gathering or something.

This is absolutely perfect! This is actually what I wanted to do, but my fiance wanted the big party. As long as you're having some sort of reception, you can make it as quiet and intimate as you would like!

Nope, nothing wrong with this at all! Honestly, I'd much prefer to attend a wedding where something like this happens over a typical reception. Your guests still get dinner and they will probably end up getting more time with you than if you had a normal reception.

The only thing to consider for this though is what your guests will be doing during the typical cocktail hour. If you and your FH are off taking pictures for an hour what will they be doing? Could you set something up with the restaurant to have a few appetizers available for everyone and they could do something small there?

View Quoted Comment We have already booked our ceremony space, and are OBSESSED with it... just need to reach out to restaurants to see about a dinner I suppose!

I don't see a problem with that!

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That is something I am looking into right now! The ceremony site is about 20 minutes away from the place I HOPE to have the dinner at. We want all of our guests involved in our pictures as we don't have a lot of family and the people that will be there are family to us!

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My fiancee was the one that got excited for the big party, but then we realized the cost and just the having to host people for 4-5 hours. That would be so exhausting and time consuming! I want to be able to enjoy my guests and truly celebrate our marriage, not have people being bored and just waiting for the cake cutting!

Absolutely nothing wrong with this at all! We are doing a meal after the ceremony, but no dancing. We are doing a Sunday brunch meal, so I don't think many people would be trying to dance at 2pm on a Sunday. Plus, Sundays tend to be cheaper and everyone will be able to get to work the next morning.

As long as you host all your guests equally, they should be happy with whatever you pick

I agree with not mentioning the word wedding in your reservation because they will try to charge you more!

View Quoted Comment Because of the number of guests, we have to do a private event. They don't accommodate reservations of large groups at the restaurant we are looking at. We also want it to be kind of private. I want the intimacy of interacting with my guests and a small spot for a first dance.

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Totally get that! We were able to get a private dining room at a restaurant for a "family gathering" but we only had 25 people.

View Quoted Comment I will talk to them and see if it's an option! I do like the idea of the private event because I know how much we are paying! The guests can't order endless food or drinks, and then we are stuck with the bill!

Aren't stuck with the bill!

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I looked at the menu of the place we were checking out and then the private event menu, and with the private event menu it is price per person for an entire 4 course meal, and at least then we are locked into a menu and knowing how much we are going to spend.