Relationships are woven with memories—how your fiancé tried to wow you on your second date by making spinach lasagna but accidentally used parsley instead—and the look on his face when he tasted it; your first dance; how you knew it was love when he wiped spaghetti sauce off your cheek at that fancy Italian café. Even though we make memories each day, it’s the emotion-filled ones that remain the most vivid.
Your wedding should be a day of vivid memories, and that starts with the perfect backdrop. Sure, you could mark your big day at a hotel or banquet hall, but why opt for a predictable venue when there are plenty of charming, elegant restaurants, large and small, all around town?
“I never even thought of looking at a restaurant [for my wedding reception], and we just happened to stumble upon Black Forest,” says Megan Herb, who chose the Green Bay restaurant for her Sept. 4, 2010 soirée. “I’m sure glad we did. Our day was perfect!”
Like old times
Having your ceremony or reception at a restaurant is a great way to incorporate aspects of your everyday life into the event. Green Bay couple Tim and Dawn Ryan considered a destination wedding, but worried some of their family who couldn’t make it would feel left out. Then they realized the perfect venue was a one of their regular stomping grounds: The Whistling Swan in Fish Creek.
“I knew it would be the perfect backdrop for our wedding—simple yet beautiful,” says Dawn, who held her ceremony and reception there on November 13, 2010. “We have a sailboat in Fish Creek and love going to The Whistling Swan for dinner.”
Julie and C.J. Krawczyk’s September 18, 2010 wedding at Milwaukee’s Lake Park Bistro was also doubly special: A good friend, Zak Baker, is chef de cuisine there, and the couple got engaged in the bistro’s portico. “A restaurant wedding is certainly an option worth exploring, especially if you have a place that’s special to you, like we did,” says C.J.
Jessica and Jaimeson Lutz hosted their ceremony and reception at Paradise Landing on Balsam Lake because they loved its classy yet rustic, log-cabin feel.
Show some personality
Most restaurants come with a distinctive ambiance and décor, which attracts individual tastes, says planner Cindy Williquette, owner of Green Bay’s Silhouettes Events. “Many brides today seek venues that already have personality.”
Megan Herb and her husband, Joe, selected Black Forest for that very reason. Joe’s an avid hunter and angler, and the restaurant’s rustic lodge feel, with exposed beams extending into the ceiling and a fireplace of river rock, reflected that aspect of the couple’s life.
“It was simple yet elegant, and with the Black Forest space there’s not much you need to do,” says Megan. “It’s beautiful just the way it is.”
That classic northwoods feel is also what attracted Jessica and Jaimeson Lutz to Paradise Landing, located on Balsam Lake in northern Wisconsin; the couple held both their ceremony and reception at the lakefront restaurant. (See Jessica and Jaimeson's engagement photos here.)
“The whole feel of Paradise Landing is in keeping with our style: a little bit of rustic, log-cabin feel, but still beautiful and classy,” says Jessica. Situated right on the lake, Paradise Landing offered an intimate spot, cloistered in trees, for the couple’s ceremony.
Restaurants also offer ethnic authenticity if you want to work your heritage into your big day. Williquette worked with an Italian couple who hosted their wedding at a local Italian bistro. The restaurant was draped in romantic fabrics, with Italian tile and imported tables and chairs. During cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, they featured an Italian soloist, the chef created authentic dishes from various regions of Italy, and Italian wines flowed all evening. “There is no way I could have created the authenticity they already had there,” says Williquette.
One-on-one attention
Restaurants are sorely underutilized for weddings, especially when you consider the many benefits. “There’s something special about the setting,” says C.J. “The chef and staff have the benefit of being on their home turf, which makes a difference.”
With more personal attention from the owner and top management, and the ability to work directly with the executive chef, restaurants offer an opportunity to truly craft your menu, even offering tableside service from a menu specially selected for the event.
Jessica Lutz wanted a menu that catered to her guests’ varied palates. Pecan-encrusted walleye appealed to her husband’s side of the family; in a nod to her Italian heritage, the chef created vegetarian butternut squash ravioli especially for the event, to pull in the flavors of the season; they also offered vegetarian appetizers not typically on the restaurant’s menu. Prime rib was also available.
“The [restaurant] really worked with us on the menu and created something memorable,” says Jessica.
For the Krawczyks, the menu was paramount given their relationship with Lake Park Bistro’s chef—and it turned out magnificently.
“I’ve heard people say that food at a wedding isn’t something to which you should allocate too much of your budget because people are focused on other things at such occasions and won’t remember it,” says C.J. “I think that’s probably true to a point, but one thing I’ll take away from our experience is that if you serve people memorable food, they will both remember and appreciate it.”
Seating and spending
A downside is that most restaurants have limited space and guest seating, prompting couples to be choosy with their guest lists, says Williquette; many of the couples in this story had to limit the number of guests at their wedding.
“That was a challenge,” says Dawn Ryan, who wed at the Whistling Swan. “The restaurant is small, and we had to make sure we only invited our closest family and friends. You always feel like you left somebody out, but it was nice having the wedding on the smaller size so we could get to visit with all our guests.”
C.J. agrees that limiting your head-count can be a benefit: “It wasn’t wide open like a traditional wedding venue so it always felt lively and full.”
Venue size and layout can also constrain other aspects of your event, from speeches to dancing to cocktails. On cost, however, couples can save some money and planning time hosting a smaller affair. Restaurants already come with most of the items that might have to be rented elsewhere, including tables, chairs, linens, decorative items and ambiance, reducing the money and time spent arranging for these items individually. Plus, most restaurants are already tastefully appointed.
“We were able to spend extra in other places because we didn’t have to decorate as much,” says Dawn.
Then again, it might not cost less. Buying out the entire restaurant, says Williquette, can be expensive, especially if you choose a prime dining time. Jessica also recommends learning about the various taxes and gratuities.
In the end, though, choosing a restaurant for your wedding offers something the standard hall can’t, says Julie Krawczyk: It connects your wedding memories to a place you can easily enjoy again and again, for the rest of your marriage.
“You walk in, look around, and all these little spots in the restaurant hold special memories for you,” she says. “Right there is where you sat, there is where you cut your cake, here is where your dad gave a speech, where you danced with your sister, here is where you snuck a kiss, where you had a laugh with your brothers. It’s all there for you to walk right through and touch, any time you want!”
Questions to ask before hosting a restaurant reception
Choosing a restaurant for your wedding isn’t like choosing a place for dinner Friday night; it takes time, consideration and taste-testing. Cindy Williquette of Silhouettes Events and Lindsay Schuemann of Lake Park Bistro offer questions to ask and considerations to account for when choosing a venue.
- How many guests can the restaurant handle? What is the seating arrangement?
- Can the entire restaurant be bought out? If you have only part of the restaurant, will you have privacy? “I once had a reception in half of the restaurant and we had to constantly turn down the volume, even for their video during dinner, as it was just too loud for other regular patrons,” recalls Williquette.
- Are there enough bathrooms and parking for your group?
- Take in the design and features when touring: Is there a terrace or courtyard area that can be used for cocktails or catching the sunset? What mood do you feel as you walk through? “Capitalize on the small details of the property,” Williquette advises.
- Ask about vendor setup. “As opposed to catering facilities and hotels that don’t use their event space every day,” says Schuemann, “restaurant space is used on a regular basis.” Brides must work with their vendors and the restaurant to make sure that setup is arranged at an appropriate time.
- What’s included when booking the space?
- Make an appointment to try the place out for lunch or dinner, suggests Schuemann. “This way, you’ve met the venue’s planner, seen the space, tasted the food, sipped the champagne and been waited on by your potential service staff, all at your first meeting. Now that’s a nice perk!”
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