I run a large restaurant/bar/music venue with tons of semi and private event space. We hold a lot of different events year-round but don't normally host weddings/receptions, we're just not that kind of place.
Late in the day this past Thursday an event is uploaded to us by our corporate office: a wedding reception for 75 people. For this past Sunday. Yep, 48 hours to plan.
We call the couple first thing Friday to get them to come in to discuss their food and beverage. We have until 2pm on Saturday to will-call additional food from our purveyor as we get orders on Mondays and Fridays. Nope, they're "busy" with wedding preparations until 4pm Saturday afternoon. Nothing could possibly go wrong in this scenario, right?
With a ton of foreboding I tried to remain as professional as possible through the meeting. They think they're only going to have 60 adults and 20 kids. Ok, great. They choose a buffet from our menu for $28 per person. We can execute this. Things aren't as terrible as they seem.
Then, reminding them they have a $1200 minimum spend, which they agreed to when they signed the space contract on Thursday, I asked about alcohol. They tell us their guests will have to run their own tabs. Cash bar. Ok, I can deal, I've seen this before, a million times. I then ask who will be responsible for paying the final bill for the food. This is where the needle skipped the fuck off the record: they look at me like I'm crazy and they tell me their guests are responsible to pay for their own meals. Meals they don't even get a say in ordering!!! I barely remain my composure and I ask, carefully phrasing this to not offend the client, "Has it been made clear to your guests that they will be responsible for their meal as well?" They say yes, but for some reason I'm not fully convinced.
My mind is reeling at this point because I know 24 hours from then I was going to be dealing with possibly intoxicated, probably nuclear-pissed wedding reception guests when we hand them their bills. Fuck me, I have no idea how we're gong to figure out who is supposed to be on whose tab and how many buffet meals per tab, etc. I finally decided I would appoint a buffet czar and have them collect credit cards to start tabs and wrist band those in the buffet line. I'm appalled but have few options. So we humor them.
They call later Saturday night and reduce their numbers by about 1/3. By the big day, they drop their number again upon arrival to 20 adults and 10 kids. All-in they had 12 adults (including the B&G) and five hellion children, who inevitably trashed the place frat-party style.
The Bride was inconsolable that so few people showed up. Her mood was made significanly worse when she remembered she was legally bound to spend at least $1200. Apparently they have "no money." She refuses to eat to control costs (which is completely counter intuitive since they have a minimum they HAVE to meet, but whatever). Her few guests look miserable. Her husband would sneak back to the buffet repeatedly so she could eat from his plate. She found $4 in the bust of her dress to pay for his one beer. Then they started opening the few cards the handful of people who did attend brought obviously looking for cash to pay their tab. It was heartbreaking and like a train wreck all at the same time.
It was the single most depressing wedding reception I've ever witnessed. I waived their minimum. Her Mom coughed up the $400 they spent to avoid further embarassment.
Moral of this nightmare: Cash bars are icky. They happen, we all live through it. Cash buffets, not so much. Your people won't show up. You'll be heartbroken. So much NO. I never thought this scenario could truly play out. But I've seen it. And it's ugly.