Have a small wedding and looking to have it at a restaurant with a private function room. need help!

We’re doing a 35 person backyard wedding. My BIL has an Apple Music Subscription and is going to put together a playlist. No formal dancing or anything like that. Our feedback has been pretty positive- and it doesn’t mean people won’t dance... I dance to the music at the grocery store, so.... lol

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That's a really good point haha! thank you!

I had a small 28ish person wedding reception in a private room at a restaurant. We also didn't have a DJ or music. My mom brought a speaker and she played dining music for us and we had our first dance and that was about it. We kept the reception short to like 2 hours. Enough time for mingling, talking, food, and then good byes. It was honestly perfect and sooooooo beyond stress free. We used the decorations provided by the restaurant for place settings, center pieces. It was also very cost efficient like $950 for the reception with food and cake. I highly reccomend it. Just don't expect it to last as long as your typical reception and don't stress too much about having "things to do." Mingling, toasts, cake cutting, food is all good. Keep it simple

I don't know where you live or when you are planning to have your wedding, but in many areas restaurants have to follow strict spacing and social distancing requirements which drastically cut the occupancy of a given space. Most restaurants don't have huge private rooms, and they may accommodate between 10-50 guests whereas a function hall is typically designed for 100+ people. You may find that no restaurants available have space for 30 people with social distancing.

You can still have a wonderful time without a dj or dancing! Your guests will be happy to eat, drink, and mingle. You can also share a photo slideshow or play the shoe game if you want to add an activity!

Here's a few discussions you can check out where other couples have shared their ideas:

Reception activities other than dancing?

Intimate wedding with no dancing - will this work out ok?

How did your no dancing weddings go?

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Thank you for sharing your story! That is really good to know! It sounds like you had a wonderful wedding!

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Great! thank you so much!

That all sounds amazing! A nice meal in a good restaurant with a close group sounds great.