Wedding Rehearsal Dinner suggestions? help please :) [General]

2008 Apr 27
Hello fellow foodies,

Well it is time, we are tying the knot, but now the stressful part, trying to figure out where to eat!

I am wondering if any of you out there have suggestions for where we might have our rehearsal dinner. We will have 20 family members, eight of them under the age of 9 years. We (the bride and groom) would prefer to avoid "family style" restaurants, because we fear the food, but we need to have something to feed the kids. The kids, for the most part, are not fussy eaters. Any suggestions would be helpful, as we would like to check the places out before October when they all arrive.

Cheers & thanks in advance!
t'n't

ps the post on wedding cakes was useful... has anyone tried the cakes from Signatures?

2008 Apr 27
Scores for Quebecois-style rotisserie chickens and ribs, with AYCE salad and fruit bar.

Otherwise, Chinese food is a great place for group dinner. Try Mandarin Ogilvie. Kids always like the cripsy deep-fried chicken, fried rice, shrimp balls with Thai sauce, spicy prawns there.

2008 Apr 27
Congrats on your engagement, TnT!

How pricy are you guys looking to go for your rehearsal dinner?

Rich and I had our rehearsal dinner at The Blackthorn Cafe, but half the reason we chose there was because it holds special memories for us. :)

2008 Apr 27
tnt - First off, CONGRATULATIONS!
I'm willing to help with suggestions for your rehearsal dinner but need some more info.

People = 20 -- and 8 of them under 9 years old

Part of Town?

Friday Night I assume?

Aproximate Budget (assuming someone is picking up the entire tab) -- inexpesive, moderate, whatever works.

2008 Apr 27
Thank you Candice & Food... we are downtown, market area, but we could go anywhere a cab will take us... Saturday night of the Thanksgiving weekend... budget... moderate to high... (probably more moderate), but the parents are picking up the tab

Thank you for the input, we love the Wellington Gastropub... we will talk to them about this... great to have other suggestions.
Cheers!

2008 Apr 30
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
I was just surfing Ron Eade's blog Omnivore's Ottawa and the April 22 article talks about Derek Benitz opening a new venture next door to his current restaurant Benitz Bistro called B Wine and Small Plates. It is due to open this summer and will feature a private dining room. There is a video talking about this in more detail. The premise of the dining room is that you choose the entire menu. This may be a possibility for a rehearsal dinner and it is downtown, not far from you.

2008 Apr 30
tnt - Being as it is a Saturday Night, I too was going to suggest working with an establishment that has a "private room" available, or perhaps a smaller establishment that might be more accomodating and you'd get to work one-on-one with the chef. I'm still looking at a few possibilities, and will get back to you with what I find.

The input from Gardener Mom is interesting. Although I recalled reading this article on Ron Eade's Blog at the time, I went back to check it out again, turns out the private room accomodates up to 25 people, sounds like a good possiblity for your event.

Cheers!

2008 Apr 30
Thank you for the input... I will keep searching maybe the B Wine and Small plates would work
Cheers!

2008 May 1
For something that might be a little more "moderate" in price, Vittoria Trattoria in the market has 2 upstairs areas, one of which seats up to 32 people. You might be able to get that section set aside for your group. They have a few different options for group menus that you can choose from, or you can customize as you'd like.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now and this is where I'm looking...but I also appreciate the other suggestions!

2008 May 2
Have you thought about getting takeout? Not sure if your hotel downtown will be accomodating, but often they have meeting rooms available for guests to book, and I can only assume if you're all staying at the same place, you should be able to get it for free. Then you get to pick food from a variety of places, and if the kids get tired, or unruly, they can go back to the rooms and watch some TV or something. The only problem is if you want to serve alchohol, you'd need a temp license or soemthing. The hotel can provide this, but will need you to pay for a bartender for the event. I expect the 8 out of 20 people in your group who are under the age of 9, would be most happy if you just ordered pizza... ;-)