Post # 1
Member
1856 posts
Buzzing bee
We’ve been engaged for awhile and have decided we want to get married in March of 2013. We were originally thinking of a wedding on the Outer Banks but the whole thing was too much of a hassle, so we’re trying to go very simple. My partner lives in Durham while I (and our families) live in Canada; we’d like to get married in the Triangle followed by an intimate dinner at a nice restaurant.
Does anyone have any suggestions about good restaurants with private rooms to fit about 20 people? We’re open to anywhere in Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, and we’re pretty open about the kind of food – we love anything, but our older relatives wouldn’t be very excited about anything too interesting. We don’t want to buy out a place as we’ll be a pretty small group, so somewhere with a private, or even semi-private room would be perfect. I’m only down here for another few weeks so we’d ideally like to get this squared away before I go back home. We don’t have a specific budget in mind, but probably between 40-60$ pp.
We’ve heard good things about Elaine’s on Franklin (CH), Piedmont (Durham, but not sure they’ve got a private space), Zely & Ritz (Raleigh), Four Square (Durham). Any experience with these, or any great suggestions? We really love place that use local ingredients so that’s a big plus.
Thanks!
Post # 3
Member
62 posts
Worker bee
Never been to any of those places….a few others are Cafe Luna (downtown Raleigh) Bloomsburry Bistro (Raleigh)
In chapel Hill you have 411 West and top of the Hill has private dining
GOOD LUCK! 🙂
Post # 4
Member
1856 posts
Buzzing bee
@MissKK: Thanks for the suggestions! I’ve heard a *lot* of recommendations for Caffe Luna; people really seem to like it. I think Top of the Hill isn’t quite what we’re looking but I’ll have to look into Bloomsbury Bistro and 411 West.
Post # 5
Member
232 posts
Helper bee
@kittyface: We’reconsidering having our rehearsal dinner at Parizade in Durham. They have set menus for private parties and could def accommodate 20 people or so 🙂
Post # 6
Member
1856 posts
Buzzing bee
@MrsElle: You’re the second person to recommend Parizade to me, actually. I know we’d thought about it before but had ruled it out, but now I can’t remember why… Thanks!
Post # 7
Member
1849 posts
Buzzing bee
@kittyface: Fiance and I are doing a restaurant banquet reception, and we used OpenTable.com to specifically search for restaurants with banquet rooms in our area. I bet you could come up with a decent list of options. It even says right on the search results how many people the room accommodates. Good luck!
Post # 8
Member
213 posts
Helper bee
I haven’t heard good things about Zely & Ritz or Cafe Luna. We had our rehearsal dinner at Maggiano’s (by southpoint mall) and it was great-lots of options and different sized rooms to use. You could also look into renting the private room/space at Sullivan’s steakhouse in Raleigh-it is my favorite steakhouse in the area!! Good luck!
Post # 9
Member
1584 posts
Bumble bee
Go look into Brasa! Assuming no one is a vegetarian.
I’d also look into Caffe Luna. They have 3 private rooms. That’s where I’m getting married. With everything open it’ll hold 150, but if you close the partitions you can easily fit 20 without it feeling too empty.
Post # 10
Member
309 posts
Helper bee
La Residence in downtown chapel hill is beautiful!
Post # 11
Member
6 posts
Newbee
Hey girls! Congratulations on your engagements! I’m posting on a few message boards to brides that live in the Triangle area. I am currently working to build up my photography portfolio and am looking for couples or brides (or grooms!) to do a session. I would like to do this for free for a few people, because it really is mostly a favor to me to build up my portfolio! I am not interested in taking away any business from the local professional photographers, so I would ask to PLEASE only use this opportunity for some “extras”. I am currently working to get my website up and running with some samples of my previous work. If anyone thinks they might be interested or would like more information about me, please feel free to contact me! Thanks everyone!
Post # 12
Member
117 posts
Blushing bee
I haven’t been to either one of these places but they are pretty.
Second Empire Restaurant and Tavern (It’s in downtown Raleigh and its a beautiful old house. I believe that they have private rooms too. I’ve never been there but my sister ate dinner there with her friends before her hs prom. She loved it!)
1705 Prime (It is another beautiful old house in Raleigh that has been renovated. It was a restaurant but I think that it only does special events now.)