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Anyone else? I know there are lots of Seattle brides out there :)
@wescarley: thanks for the suggestions! I had actually thought about Anthony's or Salty's as well
I don't live in Seattle anymore, but I would suggest La Carta de Oaxaca in Ballard. I just went to their website, however, and it looks like you can only make reservations for a maximum of 20 and that can only be for the outdoor space. However, if you end up with less people, that would be perfect for August!
I remember liking "Mexico" in Pacific Place, but I don't know if they have spaces for large groups nor do I remember it necessarily being authentic. It has a nice atmosphere though. You could call to see if they have anything available for large groups.
It's not Mexican, but one of my favorite places is Ray's Boathouse in Ballard. It would be a great place to show off Seattle with the gorgeous views. I just checked and they do have banquet rooms available.
@cafegirl: oooooh, La Carta de Oaxaca looks perfect! hmmm, will need to check - perhaps we could arrange something :) thanks!
What kind of food are you thinking? There's Maggianos in Bellevue, not Seattle but close, Barolo (excellent food), Gallerias on Cap Hill if you want Mexican, Wild Ginger for Asian food, and Cutters for Seafood/American.
@Denali & @cafegirl: I work in Ballard and can confirm that La Carta has amazing food, but I would absolutely not recommend it for a rehearsal dinner. Is your rehearsal Friday night? If its been awhile since you've been in Seattle, you may not know that Ballard has blown up lately. Finding street parking is insane. Last time we went to La Carta was on a Friday night a few weeks ago and at 8:30 we still had to wait 30 minutes for a table for 3. It's absolutely packed and you can hardly hear the person sitting next to you, let alone someone across the table.
What kind of budget are you working with? I firmly second Ray's boathouse - that's where we had our wedding. The food is great, the "Northwest Room" is perfect for 30 or so people, right on the water. There's another private room in Ballard I've had my eye on at Volterra. That's an Italian restaurant, but the room is so pretty! Exposed brick, crystal chandelier, its really lovely. These places are going to cost a few grand for a private dinner though.
Let me know what you're working with, I'll do a little more brainstorming.
We had our rehearsal at Purple Cafe in downtown Seattle and it was fantastic! We had our own room with a giant table that seated 22 people. I know you said you are having 35, so you may want to check if they have other rooms. What I loved about this place is everyone was at one table which was nice because nobody was excluded.
The service was awesome, the food was amazing and the $1,500 minimum covered two appetizers, salad, a meal, five bottles of wine, two mini-desserts per person, a set menu with the bride and groom's names, and your own private room.
I would definitely check it out!
Oh boy, I am tackling this right now! My inlaws (who are hosting it) are all from down south so it's up to me to plan the rehearsal dinner, aka, what seems like the mini wedding before the wedding. Here's who I have looked into so far, I'm still waiting for information from some of them, but all these places have private rooms. We're looking for something under 3k, but preferably closer to 2k, in Seattle, for 50 people.
-5 Corner Market (Ballard), haven't heard from them but I know their capacity is at least up to 50 peeps
-Bastille (Ballard), new-ish French restaurant, you can rent either the back bar or the patio. $5,500 food/drink minimum for my June date, it was 1k less for non summer reservations.
-McCormick & Schmicks (West Lake Union), On the water, $2,500 food and drink minimum
-Anthony's (Ballard on the water or the downtown Seattle waterfront), 2k food and beverage minimum
-Rays Boathouse (Ballard on the water), haven't heard from them yet
-Hi-Life (Ballard), Old fire station, they have a nice room behind the bar that seats 40 max, no children allowed though! I'm not sure on pricing because I didn't pursue it since we have 2 flowergirls in attendance. This is a great place though.
-Farestart (Downtown), Came to about 3-4k
-Ivars Salmon House (North Lake Union), on the water, great views, they have several different sized rooms, this is one of the most reasonably priced places I've found, under 2k
-Hales Ales Brewery (Ballard/Fremont area), They have a whole upstairs room with separate bar & bathroom, it overlooks the brewery, from discussion they seem pretty reasonable, about 2k+ and very nice to deal with so far
-Volterra, The Drawing Room (Ballard), this is their private dining hall right next to the restaurant, 2700 food/beverage minimum...but it seems like this would be hard to accomplish, their cheapest bottle of wine is $36 and the food is pretty pricey and they also had some other fees listed. You could probably only do beer/wine and heavy apps to keep it under 3k, dins would definitely be more
-Tutta Bella (Wallingford), haven't heard back but my friend did her 35 person rehearsal dinner there and they had gourmet pizza, salads, beer and wine for less than $700 after tax & tip!
Hope this helps, if anyone has other suggestions I'm still looking before I make a final decision for myself!
We almost decided to have our rehearsal at Agua Verde. They have an enclosed deck that would fit 35ish and in warmer months they can set up tents in the back. Also, it is on Lake Union and they rent kayaks, so a possible pre-dinner fun event. My future in-laws don't want Mexican food, so we had to scratch that idea, but I think it would have been fun. I've never eaten there though, so I can't vouch for the food.
@ cafegirl - I second Ivars in North Lake Union. We had close to 100 people, and this place had a reasonable venue price (~$30/head)- and food-wise that still had a great essence of the PNW, and you can get some great views of downtown and the Lake. We definitely saved around $1000 compared to other places that would hold this many people. Also, another reason of why picked this place was because we had quite a few out-of-towners, and they seemed to enjoy the food and relaxed atmosphere. The food was good and the service was great...they even provided small boxes for people to take home the brownies and cookies they provided in the end. I wouldn't say it was "fun" like there was entertainment or anything, but it was a nice, enjoyable, relaxed yet elegant place to have dinner. Plus, there's plenty of free parking!
My second choice would be Salty's if you have lots of out-of-town people going to the rehearsal as well. I went here for a rehearsal dinner - the food and service is great. Plus, you get your own deck and can enjoy beautiful views of the skyline and water. It is more expensive, however, but well worth it.
FI and I are thinkng about going with Habesha Ethiopian restaurant--one of our faves. It's small, but we're thinking our rehearsal dinner will be small-ish too. Maybe about 30?
@Looopy: I <3 Habesha. Took the in-laws there before they left town after our wedding. Definitely wouldn't have been able to get all of our family to eat there though, unfortunately!
Thanks for all the feedback, guys!
We had a whirlwind trip this past weekend back to Seattle, attempting to tick some things off our planning list, and were able to check out a few places. We absolutely fell in love with "Smith" on Cap Hill. It is totally our type of place - rustic, laid back, amazing beer choices. And, my last name is Smith, so it would be a good 'farewell to Smith' dinner location :)
It's pretty small, and they don't have a separate function room, but we're going to get in touch with them to see about the possibility of shutting the place down. Our rehearsal is on a Thursday night, so we'll see.
Have any of you found an affordable place? Preferably <$2000 .... a view would be grand ....
We have 40 - 45 although I'm trying to trim the list.
We were thinking about catering to some park -like magnuson or something .... but the thought of getting plates etc ... and not being able to have EtOH is a deterant.
Any new ideas??
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All you Seattle brides,
I am getting married in August. We are planning on having a smallish (~35 people) rehearsal dinner. FI's family is not from Seattle, so it's kind of on me to deal with this (woohoo!). It has been a while since I have actually lived in Seattle, though, so I'm a bit at a loss.
Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for a fun place? Ideally we would have a room/ area to ourselves. Probably something in/ near downtown. We were thinking Mexican food, since his fam is from San Diego, but then again it would have to be very authentic Mexican food, because they're used to the good stuff :)
Any of you Seattle Bees have any suggestions?