California Grill Reception.....Help!!

[seaprincess]

Good Morning Everyone, I am interested in hosting our reception at the California Grill after our vow renewal. Because I am an Intimate Bride, I called the number for Private Dining/Parties and spoke with a very nice woman named Lizette. She told me that the smallest room, the wine room, would accomodate our party size of 15. Lizette told me that the room faces Bay Lake so I am little concerned that all guests would have to go the Observation deck to see Wishes instead of seeing it at the table. The problem is that there is a $2,000 food/beverage minimum. We went Allears.net last night and priced out a meal for a group of 15 using the most expensive appetizer, entree, dessert and even sushi.( my husband is a chef so he has a good idea of how much people could potentially eat ) We still could not come close to the minimum. Of course we did not factor in beverages other than tea, coffee and soda. About 1/2 of my party are social drinkers (maybe wine/beer) the other half do not drink. Because our renewal is not for a while I could not speak to a sales manager to ask the specifics.

DO you all think it would be better to rent the room and somehow add in more food to meet the minimum?? Or should we make an Advanced Reservation 180 days out for a party of 15?? Of course everyone wants their reception to be perfect.

Has or is anyone had experience with planning a reception at California Grill?? Any feedback would be lovely!!!

 

[D&R love Disney]

The beverages will add up quickly. We had 11 at Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner after our wedding and the bill with tip was around $1,100.00. That included about 12 beers and 2 bottles of wine.

It might be tough to get a reservation for 15 for later in the evening if you are trying to time Wishes.

Good luck.

 

[heathrow42]

Seaprincess - I sent you a pm, part of which is posted below..

First let me say, that if you call 180 days out, I don't think you will have a problem making a PS for 15 and you may even be able to ask for that room, you may or may not have other people in that room with you though.. I can't remember how many it can hold, but I think 20-30.. the later in the evening the more likely you will have to share the room. Try calling Disney dining today, and see what they say.

Also if you are a FL resident or an Annual Passholder - look into picking up the Disney Dining card. It's about $60, but you will save about 20% on all sit down dining, including drinks!

--Heather

 

[Laurafoster]

I agree, wine and beer do add up quickly, think its about $6/$7 a glass for wine!

You may struggle to get a table at a later time depending on the time of year you want to go and whether its peak season or low season etc- hopefully if you ring early enough you'll get one. The other thing to bear in mind is that it is a piority seating and not a reservation, so even if you have a reservation for say 8pm you may not get a table to 20mins. Some restaurants only take reservations for large groups at the beginning or end of the dining times but your not too large agroup so that should be ok.

Are there no other locations around there that may be suitable?

 

[Laurafoster]

.

Also if you are a FL resident or an Annual Passholder - look into picking up the Disney Dining card. It's about $60, but you will save about 20% on all sit down dining, including drinks!

--Heather

Each Disney Dining card only entitles you to a discount for you and up to 10 guests!