Help with a carvery reception.

hjsmum

Hi there everyone.

I'm new to this board having recently decided with my partner of 12 years that we were ready (lol). We're booking the register office next week for the end of March.

I've kind of got my heart set on this idea of getting married and then going and having a carvery dinner somewhere with a disco afterwards. I have a budget of £1000 to spend on room hire, food, decoration (?), glass of sparky wine and DJ. We have 80 guests.

I've started to have a little look around but most of the pubs near us aren't big enough to accommodate 80 people without closing and anyway when you mention the word 'wedding' everything suddenly jumps from £7-8 a head for a normal carvery lunch to £30 a head!!

I don't want starters and I'll give folk wedding cake for dessert. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment and wondered if anyone had any ideas? We're in Derbyshire but Notts, Staffs and Leics are all quite accessible.

Thanks in advance for any help.

xx

White_Sapphire

I don't know that area of the country but wanted to say congratulations and welcome to the board!

I'm sure someone local to you will be along soon...

codemonkey

I don't know that area either, but again, congratulations and welcome to the hall of budget bridezillas :rotfl:

If there's one thing I've picked up while I've been planning my wedding, it's that you should never, ever, ever mention the word wedding. Case in point: my local hairdressing salon offers 5 hair ups and a bottle of bubbly for £100. Mention wedding and the price goes up to £150 for just my hair.

So, assuming you're holding the ceremony elsewhere, tell the restaurants/pub you're booking for a party. Most places will be willing to offer you exclusive use for a roomhire fee or minimum spend, which will include drinks bought by your guests, so it might be worth looking into that.

Your idea sound fabulous though.

Faerie

We live in Sheffield but are looking at derbyshire/peak district too. We also would love to have a carvery style meal but haven't found anywhere yet. I noticed Crown Carveries allow you to book tables for a couple of hours but don't know if you'd be able to book the entire restaurant. I'll be keeping my eye on this thread! Where in derbyshire are you looking?

maggie111

Places like that are very unlikely to let you book an entire restaurant. Most restaurants make money by having a set number of covers - and normally only want people to be seated for an hour before they want you to go and someone else can sit down. They might expect 300 covers on a Saturday (no idea, just guessing) and all you can offer is 50 for example.

Some places might have a section they can close off for you though. If you want to go cheap with a pub type - ask if they have a function room or similar. A wedding just wont bring in enough money for them to shut business for a day, and it might be too awkward for their regulars even if just for 2 hours.

Sammy85_2

How about hiring a hall and getting a caterer to come in? They can do caverys quite easily, or even a hog roast.

Sorry dont know the area, so cant suggest anywhere specific.


x

ticklepenny_2

How about hiring this lovely village hall and having a hog roast.
local hog roast companies 1, 2, and 3. Company 1 does 75 guests for £495 which is about £6.60 a head.
The village hall main hall hire is £11 an hour so that would be £264 for 24 hours. Or you could hire their dining hall from £5 an hour. They have good kitchen facilities if you wanted to bring in an outside caterer just to do a standard carvery.

If that venue had been in Calderdale it would have been my 1st choice as it is lovely. Anyway rambling now.

HTH

binkyboo_2

I'm having a 3 course carvery in a hotel but it is £20 a head for adults and £10 a head for kids. For this we are getting soup starter which will be served to the tables, a 2 meat carvery which will people will go up and serve themselves, then desserts and coffee which again will be served at the tables. I don't think this price is too bad for a hotel. I didn't choose from one of their menus they made one up for me to my budget. So could be worth asking around.

Gemmy_2

Have you looked into Toby Carvary?

My parents had their wedding reception at a Toby - i don't know if they are still open to an idea like that though

Dizzie77

Also consider getting married on a weekday - if that's possible. You'll find that things are quite a bit cheaper if you can get married on Thursday for example.
Start the call with asking how much a carvery for 80 people would be and see where the conversation goes...but I wouldn't mention wedding unless you have to!!

Not sure whereabouts in Derbyshire, but the Peacock in Bakewell is quite nice.

Lexxi

You might be better off with an independant pub than a chain as the chains may have set guidelines dictated by head office whereas an independent will be glad of the guaranteed income