Where should we have a party?

January 3, 2011 1:10 PM

What would be a good place to have a post-wedding reception for ~100 people in or around Seattle, WA? The wedding is in Wisconsin but we want a reception for all of our coworkers back in Seattle.

I work on the east side and about 80% of my coworkers live there. SO is a grad student at UW. This means we'll have a mix of people coming from UDistrict and people coming from Redmond/Bellevue. I'm thinking something on the east side would probably be cheaper, and since east siders like to bitch about driving around in Seattle I'm leaning towards something near Redmond or Bellevue.

I haven't decided yet whether it's going to have catered food or whether it will be a pot luck. The event will be early June (wedding is May 22, we leave on honeymoon June 18th-ish so it'll fall between these two dates). I'd like some sort of DJ/band. Someone to serve drinks would be good.

Any other ideas/gotchas/did you think of this'es welcome.

And what do you think about a pot luck wedding reception?

posted by kthxbi to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Golden Gardens has a really nice event space. It's also quite cheap as I recall.
posted by lattiboy at 1:20 PM on January 3, 2011

No suggestions for venue, but I love potluck wedding receptions -- I find it enhances the idea that the wedding is a community event where the guests are not just spectators but play a part in supporting the couple.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:21 PM on January 3, 2011

My friends had a pot luck wedding reception, and it was a blast. They made sure to provide some big items (a deep-fried turkey and all of the beer) and to tell everyone that their presence was all that was required. This works best if you're not known to be swimming in money, but when done graciously we all loved it. They did it at a state park with a tent in case it rained if that helps you venue-hunt.
posted by ldthomps at 1:34 PM on January 3, 2011

My sweetie and I had our reception at the Georgetown Ballroom, which I highly recommend. It's a great location, and the owner was a helpful, thoughtful guy. I can't remember exactly how much we paid for it--it wasn't as cheap as Golden Gardens (which we also looked at), but it was significantly less expensive than hotels or the like.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 1:36 PM on January 3, 2011

Response by poster: I like the idea of golden gardens and think that would go well with the pot luck. The thing is, there are people on my team that like to dance, but the majority are way too awkward (we're software developers ... ) so though I know SO would love a good DJ, I'm not even sure it would be worth it.

Keep the ideas coming though. The georgetown ballroom looks gorgeous and I love that it's half inside half outside.
posted by kthxbi at 1:50 PM on January 3, 2011

I catered (I am not a real caterer-just a friend who likes to cook) a wedding for a friend at Golden Gardens and it was easy to set up a space for dancing, leaving room for others to sit and talk. (FYI-It is often difficult to find reception halls that will let you bring your own food)

If you want info on how we set up the room, contact me.

You might look at Sunday afternoons for your reception, you can save lots of money.

Lots of folks are using mp3 players instead of dj's these days.
posted by jennstra at 2:25 PM on January 3, 2011

Sodo Pop might fit the bill if you are looking for something on the hip side ala Georgetown Ballroom. http://sodopop.com/
posted by anotherfluke at 2:34 PM on January 3, 2011

You might like Robinswood House in east Bellevue. My ~50 guest wedding and reception was held there and it was great.

It's charming and easy to access and find.
posted by bz at 3:08 PM on January 3, 2011

Oh... and for more money, you might consider a Sunday afternoon/evening buyout of Pomegranate Bistro. And let them cater, too. Lisa Dupar is a fantastic caterer.
posted by bz at 3:12 PM on January 3, 2011

The Graham Visitor Center at the Washington Park Arboretum is quite nice, especially in the summer.
posted by lantius at 4:55 PM on January 3, 2011

The Center for Urban Horticulture near the UW has an events room. Friends of mine got married there years ago and it was wonderful, adjacent to a beautiful courtyard. The weather might be iffy in your timeframe, though.

The Columbia City Theater might be good as an indoor venue. It's an incredibly cool space, there's a bar in the lobby, and they do a lot of business with Tutta Bella pizzeria next door, which has fantastic food--I imagine it'd be easy to just arrange food/alcohol/etc right there.

Congrats on your nups!
posted by Sublimity at 9:54 AM on January 4, 2011

Best answer: How about one of the shelters at Lower Woodland Park?

And what do you think about a pot luck wedding reception?

I think it sounds fun!
posted by grouse at 7:59 PM on June 5, 2011

Response by poster: Grouse wins via cheating (he posted after receiving the invite in the mail). We ended up having it today at one of the shelters at lower woodland park. It's a great area for a potluck and it's pretty cheap. You can book it through the Seattle Parks and Recreation Picnic Events Scheduling people. I'll warn you, don't say "it's possible but not at all likely that 200 people could be there" because even though you'll ask to rent only 5 picnic tables they'll force you to rent 12 more to accommodate the 200 people. And at $10 a pop it's not worth it. BUT even with that little snafu the whole thing only cost $230 to rent which is significantly cheaper than golden gardens and that place in Georgetown.
posted by kthxbi at 5:37 PM on June 11, 2011