V.small wedding - reception in a London restaurant. Anyone done this?

[artylady14]

Hi everyone. I am thinking of having a very small wedding in London (20 or fewer of us in total) and having the reception in a restaurant in London afterwards. I am thinking of a place with a private dining room otherwise, of course, that would be weird being in the middle of a restaurant with other diners in a wedding dress? Right? My only worry is with such a small group in a dining room, would we lack the 'fun' factor - no music or dancing. Has anyone had a similar wedding? Thanks for any feedback!

[GarlicBreadItsTheFuture]

Yes it was fab. Loved it.

[Southpaws]

Yep did it 2 weeks ago (in Cornwall not in London) and had a lovely hotel who let 15 of us eat in their private dining room after the wedding for no extra charge. It was amazing and we had loads of fun. Wouldn't change it for the absolute world.

[Linskibinski]

Sounds beautiful and classy and memorable. Your day your way.

[artylady14]

Thank you so much for your replies. So its like having a dinner party really? You didn't have music or entertainment? Not that I am a big dancer, lol. We will probably be around 15 people too. So glad you both had fun.

[KristinaM]

Not everyone is into dancing. I prefer to talk to people I haven't seen in ages .

Can I come to your wedding, it's sounds lovely

And congratulations BTW.

[Lesleythegiraffe]

Sounds like my idea of a perfect wedding

[vitaminC]

We did this for our wedding last year. There were 12 adults (including ourselves) and 7 teens/tweens. We live in France and had the meal in a hotel in Burgundy, where my parents live, with an oenologist (wine specialist) commenting on each dish (all local specialities) and providing us with a different wine to accompany each course (7 in total!).

Luckily we had all booked rooms in the hotel , so no-one had to miss out, in order to drive. They also put on a special menu for our kids (aged 9-19), who were too old for the children's menu, but didn't want to be involved in the wine-tasting etc.

Everyone had a fantastic time and the meal was amazing! In fact, DH and I went back for a weekend last month for our 1st anniversary

[fixyourgardengate]

I attended a wedding like this as a guest a few years ago.

It was fab!

Ceremony at registry office, short walk via some public gardens for pictures, dinner in private dining room then back to another guests apartment for drinks.

Got to speak to all the other guests, lots of laughter. Just a really lovely day.

[Snog]

I went to a wedding like this in Primrose Hill and it was fab.

[MrsLettuce]

Sounds like my sort of wedding, TBH.

[Southpaws]

We didn't have any entertainment, dancing, flowers, nothing. Most of the guests said it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to because it was so relaxed and focused on the people there rather than whether the place settings match the invitations and all that faff.

[catwithflowers]

Sounds perfect . Have a lovely day.

[SquallyShowers]

Yep.

Got married in Islington registry office with eight guests.

Lunch at Odette's in Primrose Hill. Didnt have a private room, but we had the main table near the (open) French windows at the front of the restaurant. It was sunny and it was luuuurvely .

Went to the pub across the road afterwards in my wedding dress and had champagne .

Then jumped into a black taxi Eastenders-stylee, went to the airport in my wedding dress and straight to our honeymoon in Thailand. Wedding dress got us an upgrade

[SquallyShowers]

I did change into comfy clothes before the flight, though!

[HillyBillyBoBo]

We did this last year. Ceremony at Chelsea Registry Office, then lunch for twelve at Murano in Mayfair. It was wonderful in every sense and enjoyed by all.

[LilyBobtail]

My friends did this and it was such a lovely wedding. They got married in the hotel then they went and had photos done in some nearby gardens and guests had champagne and milled about. After that we all went to private dining room for the meal with about 20 people. No dancing, no disco - it was perfect. Just good friends and family celebrating their marriage.

Congratulations and have a lovely wedding .

[Spottybra]

My sister did this, not in London though, and we did very similar with 30 guests. Both were beautiful.

[ShineSmile]

Sounds lovely! You could get like a private area for a restaurant, and have the area to yourself. I can think of two Indian resturaunts in London that would probably be able to accommodate that, so I'm sure there must be others. All the best

[Mnippy]

We did this - hired a room in the zetter for 40 guests. Ended up paying about £50 pp for food, but that was a lovely six course taster menu. Afterwards they moved the tables and let us play music until 1am on an iPod so we danced away.

[Lottapianos]

All these weddings sound absolutely lovely. If DP and I ever do take the plunge, I would like this sort of day - ceremony, photos (without much faffing), then an afternoon/evening of plenty of food and booze.

SquallyShowers, DP and I ate at Odette's for our anniversary a couple of years ago - it was fab. Excellent choice for a wedding meal. Your whole day sounds like it was great!

[BristolRover]

yes, have been to ones like this and they've been great. Lovely private rooms though normally in club type places - Home House / Mortons, also Kensington Place.

[BristolRover]

(I had my first date with DP at Odette's)

[WilsonFrickett]

I've been to one, Kings Road registry office, then onto a London bus (a hired one!) with mini bottles of champagne, bus took the senic route to a v. Swish hotel and we had a lovely dinner. It was a great wedding.

[Mnippy]

Should add - if you want fun factor, get a good playlist and make sure your friendship group is well prepared to dance! We had all sorts, aunties, uncles, parents, etc dancing in the middle of a tiny room in low light to loud music. Looking back we looked crazy, but everyone was so hyper that it was great.

[CleanAllThebastardThings]

We are planning a small late morning ceremony at the reg office followed by afternoon tea reception at an old fashioned tearoom. Then in the evening, new DH and I are going to a lovely hotel just the two of us for dinner and staying overnight in the honeymoon suite. I can't wait!