Life events
Arranging a lunch after a funeral
5 min read · Published July 17, 2026
The short answer
Ring the hall directly and give them the name, the date and a rough number — most halls can turn a funeral lunch around in a few days. A weekday here is $500 for the whole building from 7 AM to midnight, with coffee and tea kept going all afternoon at $2.75 a head. You do not need to have decided the details; the count can move until a day or two before.
If you are reading this because somebody has died, here is the short version first: ring (204) 326-7300. Give us the name, the date and a rough number. We will have the building open early so nobody is standing outside, and the details can be settled later in the week.
Everything below is the detail, for when you want it.
How fast this can happen
Days, not weeks. Funeral lunches are the one booking we hold weekday space for, and a weekday is almost always available inside a week. You do not need a final headcount to book — the count can move until a day or two before, which is how it always goes.
What the room needs to do
A lunch after a service is a specific kind of event and it needs specific things:
- Rounds of eight, not long tables. People need to be able to sit with the person they came with and talk quietly.
- Linens. It matters more than anyone says. They are hired or borrowed — they are not ours — and putting them on is the job to hand to the friend who has asked what they can do.
- A photo and memorial table, somewhere with good light and room to stand in front of it without blocking a walkway. The window end is where families usually put it.
- Coffee going all afternoon, topped up without anybody having to ask for it. In this part of the province the coffee is not a detail. That one is ours if you want it: $2.75 a head, urns kept going from the first guest to the last and a thermos left on each table.
- An early start. The rental runs from 7 AM, so the room can be finished hours before the service ends and nobody is carrying chairs in good clothes.
- Somebody named for the dishes and somebody named for the cleanup. Not the family, if it can be helped at all.
We do not set the room and we do not decorate it — not for a funeral lunch and not for anything else. What we do is unlock the building early, run the coffee if you take it, clean up afterwards if you take that, and otherwise stay out of the way. The tables, the chairs, the dishes and the kitchen are here and they are in the price. The hands are yours, or a church group's, and around here there is usually a church group.
What it costs
| Weekday hall rental, 7 AM to midnight | $500 |
| Coffee and tea, 80 × $2.75 | $220 |
| After-Event Cleaning | $250 |
| Subtotal | $970 |
| GST 5% | $48.50 |
| Total | $1,018.50 |
At eighty people that is about $13 a head for the building for a whole day, the tables and chairs, the dishes, the coffee all afternoon and somebody other than the family in the hall the next morning.
A slideshow adds $125 for the projector, screen and microphone. Nothing else on the list is compulsory, and there is no food-and-beverage minimum because we do not sell food.
Who does the food
Whoever you like. There is no in-house caterer and no list you have to book from. In practice it is usually one of three:
- A church auxiliary or a group of friends. The kitchen is handed over — two fridges, a stove, a coffee maker, and a commercial dishwasher that runs a wash and rinse in two minutes, which is the number that decides how long the washing up takes. It is set up for exactly this.
- A caterer. Anna's All Occasions has cooked in this kitchen.
- Both — a caterer does the hot food, the family brings the squares.
The practical questions people ask
Can we come early to set up the photographs? Yes. The building is yours from 7 AM on the day you book, so come whenever suits. Tell us and it will be unlocked.
Do you set the room up for us? No. We do not set rooms, decorate, or rent linens or decor, and we would rather say so plainly than have you find out on the morning. Most families here do it themselves with a few helpers and it takes about an hour. If you would rather hand it to somebody, we will tell you who to ring.
Can we play a slideshow? Yes. Projector, screen and a microphone is $125.
How many does it hold? Two hundred in the room; 180 seated. A funeral lunch is rarely near either.
Is there a deposit? The standard $500 damage deposit holds the date and comes back within two to three weeks. If that is difficult this week, ring and say so.
What if the number changes? It will. Tell us a day or two before and that is soon enough.
Getting here
31085 Rd 32 East, about ten minutes south-west of Steinbach, forty-five from Winnipeg. Parking is on site, free, and there is plenty of it, which matters on a day when everyone arrives at once. Full directions are on the contact page.
If it is easier to talk than to read, the number is (204) 326-7300 and it is Helmut who answers it.