A small wedding has one great advantage over a big one: you get to talk to everyone. Around a single long table, with twenty people or fewer, the meal can carry most of the day, and nobody spends the afternoon standing around waiting for it to start.
Which part of the day?
The Cellar hosts wedding breakfasts, rehearsal dinners, and the gathering the morning after. A meal straight after the ceremony has to fit around photographs and travel, whereas a dinner the night before can run later, and lunch the next day usually wants a gentler start.
Tell us which one you’re planning in your first message, or that you haven’t decided yet.
This guide is about the meal. If you’re hoping to hold the ceremony at Royal Maritime House as well, ask us directly when you enquire.
One long table with a window onto the kitchen and a view into the wine cellar.
The larger room, with its own bar and double sliding doors. Better if there are speeches, or a couple who want to move around the table between courses.
Each room has a minimum spend on food and drink, which depends on the day and the season. It isn’t a room charge. A deposit of £20 a person on the room’s minimum numbers confirms the booking and comes off the bill on the day. It’s refunded in full if you cancel 14 days or more before.
Lunch bookings have the room from noon to 5pm; dinner from 6pm to midnight. Both rooms are downstairs, with no step-free access.
The shape of the meal
Agree when guests arrive, when you expect to sit down, and roughly where the speeches fall. If photographs are happening between the ceremony and the meal, put them in the timetable you send us, because the kitchen paces service around it.
Both rooms have a Sonos system, so you can play your own music through dinner. We provide glass oil lamps for the table. You’re welcome to decorate, so long as you take everything home afterwards. The one thing we ask is no confetti, glitter or party poppers, so it may be worth a word with any guests who like to bring them.
Menus and money
The events team plans the menu with you and sends the details in writing. We need everyone’s choices seven days before the booking, so give your guests a deadline a week before that. If the list reaches us in time, we can print name cards with each guest’s choices, which is one less job on the morning.
On the day itself, bills can be split up to two ways unless the booking is paid in advance. For a wedding, paying in advance is usually the simpler option.
Getting guests here
For guests coming from the mainland, the FastCat from Portsmouth Harbour takes 22 minutes to Ryde Pier Head, and the hovercraft from Southsea lands on the Esplanade. From either, it’s a short walk up St Thomas Street. If any guest would find the stairs down to The Cellar difficult, let us know early and we’ll work out how best to help.
For the seating plan and speeches, our milestone dinner guide goes into more detail. When you’re ready, send your date, rough numbers and a few words about the day through The Cellar enquiry page.
Questions we get asked
Can we hold the ceremony at Royal Maritime House?+
Ask us when you enquire. This guide covers the meal itself.
How many guests can you seat?+
8 to 16 in The 1982, 12 to 20 in The 1945. For more than twenty, the two rooms together seat up to 36.
Is there a hire fee or minimum spend?+
There’s no room charge, but each room has a minimum spend on food and drink, which depends on the day and the season. A deposit of £20 a person on the room’s minimum numbers, refunded in full if you cancel 14 days or more before, and menu choices seven days ahead.
Can guests with limited mobility reach The Cellar?+
Both rooms are downstairs with no step-free access. The team will do what they can to help, but please tell us about any requirements at the start.
