Ideas on how to do reception dinner with 10 guests

Is there any Airbnb around you can rent that’s close to the beach so that you can perhaps do party trays or catering there at least?

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No it isnt a air bnb around there sadly i would not cater for such a small group.

View Quoted Comment I think the best idea would be to just do a restaurant nearby. I know you said it doesn’t suit your tastes but it seems to make most sense logistically

Is there potentially a hall like a VFW that you can rent or something nearby? Or I think if everyone lives close together, is there a restaurant close to where all the guests live that you can do it at? They would have drive back home anyway. What beach are you talking about? I'm in NJ too. Long shot but maybe I'm familiar with something lol. What kind of food are you interested in? You said that the Italian isn't your style.

Maybe in a back yard??? ....make it simple but cute...park area??? Have a table set up and food with cake

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Have you looked at the website ezcater.com? They have all sorts of vendors. Can you do a meal on the beach with tents and perhaps catered through one of their vendors? I use this company for all sorts of company events and 10 people is never an issue and I've had vendors drive over 100 miles at no additional charge.

As for the Italian restaurants nearby the beach, have you checked their menu? Did you talk to their event manager, can they customize something for you?

You said all but one of your guests is 1 hour and 5 minutes from the beach. Are they all 1 hour and 5 minutes in the same direction? If so, just try to find a restaurant that's closer to where they live than the beach instead of farther away so it doesn't add as much time to their total drive.


I don't think giving people gas gift cards is necessarily tacky, but it depends on who your guests are. If you're only inviting friends, and they're all students/young, they'll definitely appreciate it. If not, they'll probably find it odd. If you really want to send them home with something, a nicely packaged dessert is a good idea because it's a nice surprise and they can eat it in the car if they want something to make the ride more pleasant.Personally, when I've had to drive somewhere inconvenient for a wedding, if I'm annoyed* about it, I'm more annoyed about the amount of time I spent sitting in the car than I am amount of money I spent on gas and gift card wouldn't help with that.

*Your guests probably won't be annoyed. If you're only having 10 people, they all care about you enough that it'll be worth driving a few hours. I'm only annoyed about driving to weddings if it's like my fiancés co-worker and there's a long break/distance between the ceremony and reception. It's fine if it's someone I care about.

As a bride planning a destination wedding (within the US, not abroad), creating a sense of convenience for my guests has been a #1 priority. I think we owe that to our guests when we require them to go out of their way for our weddings. Since it is over an hour drive for most of your guests, I am assuming they are all coming from the same general area? If that is the case, I would just choose a restaurant in that area, so that it is close to home for everyone. As far as travel arrangements go, Personally, I would rent a larger van, party bus, etc. for my guests. I wouldn’t want them to ride with myself and FH. But that’s just me. If that is not in the budget, I would probably just go with the gas card idea, that way you and FH have that time alone together. Also, with such a small guest list, it is reasonable of you to talk to your guests and see if they would prefer a gas card vs provided transportation.

As a guest I would want to go somewhere close by the venue for dinner. If it is further away I think it would be a nice touch to have a limo for the guests so they don't mind being in the car as long. In the limo they can visit and drink if they wanted. You mentioned going to a buffet in your post. I don't believe buffets can be open. I would have a back up plan.

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Hi the wedding will be at the lavalette gazebo in lavalette nj that's down the shore 10 minutes from seaside all my guests are coming from the Newark area. As far a VFW hall rental for that small amount isn't a good idea. Our original plan was a hall but we would have to get catering etc and pay for hours we are not using it which is a little much. As far as food we like Italian just not for our wedding. It can be American Mexican or Caribbean.

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Thanks hopefully next year would be open. Thanks for the idea though.

View Quoted Comment Hmm how about something in Tom's River or Brick? Those aren't that far from Lavalette and there are many great restaurants in the area. Margarita's on 37 in Tom's River is really good Mexican food. Hemingway's Cafe in Seaside has a private dining I believe, and Aqua Blu, which is right next to the bridge is another place to check out if you haven't already. There are more, I just can't think of any off the top of my head. But yeah, I think if you look at places either in the Newark area (depending on when your ceremony is as you don't want guests driving for another hour while they're starving) or looking maybe 15 minutes outside on Lavalette on the mainland you should be able to find something. The biggest issue I can think of is that 12 people total may be on the smaller side and some restaurants may not be interested in renting their private room to such a small party, depending on the size of the private room.

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Thanks for the info this has been something my FH and I have been talking about. Now you know with ANY kind of wedding destination or not if you asked your guests would they prefer a gas card or a luxury limo ride what would they say. The main thing is in this is our ceremony is at the beach (1 hr away) if we book a restaurant close to where our guest are they would to drive to the ceremony. Ceremonies take about a 1/2 hour tops and then drive back a hour to eat and then finish. my guest is my 2nd priority. I just thought it would be nice due to the distance. We have decided on where to eat as of yet but it would not be where we are getting married which is the beach.

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Thats exactly our problem as well the small guest size. my brother is in toms river and i checked those places you spoke of. I would still check on the outside of lavalette for other ideas.

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Ummm no who's backyard????

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As a answer to your first question Yes all of our guests except 1 is in the same direction and 1 hr 5 min from the beach. If I was to find somewhere closer to where they live they still would have to drive 1 hr to come to the ceremony and a hour back but it guess with the thank you bag with dessert AND a gift card with a few essentials would work. thanks alot All of our guests are 40's as far as age. We the couple are the youngest LOL