Difficulty with reception venue minimums

mags0722

I'm still in the process of finding a reception venue, and I'm having trouble with the minimums they all require.

Our current guest list is 162. My fiance's entire family is coming from out of town, and we're assuming that several of the cousins and such probably won't come, due to the cost of airfare/hotel. So if we take out the "probably nots", we're down to 124! Yes, he has a lot of cousins.

Almost all the venues I've been looking at have minimums of at least 150 or 175 (in some cases, much higher). I highly doubt we'll be able to meet that. I'd love a minimum of 100 guests, which seems doable, but those venues seem few and far between in my area (Chicagoland suburbs). Or if they exist, I haven't found them yet (so let me know!!).

I've tried looking at smaller venues but I just wouldn't feel comfortable booking somewhere that only seats, say, 100, when there's a decent chance we'll exceed that. Maybe all the cousins WILL come!

All these minimums are making my head spin. How do you ladies handle this, when you're booking a venue a year or more in advance and have no idea how big your final guest list will be?? Thanks

cschuma2

Post this on your local board.  Those ladies will likely give you some suggestions.  While I was looking for venues, I cannot remember any having minimums.  I was also looking at less expensive halls, so maybe that is what made the difference.

lotishave1

Most venues are interested in making a specific amount of money regardless of the ultimate number of attendees you'll have.  Try talking to them about revenue minimums instead of a minimum number of guests.

PharmacyBride

ditolotishave.. I had to ask about minimum $.. because the places I looked at only talked about min people.  This is a much better option for 2 reasons.

One .. I don't have to worry about every "no" i get as a response

Two.. if less people come... I can simply increase the food or bar packages!  (ie. add on midnight buffet or desert table).

Also- for your size wedding.. I highly recommend looking at golf clubs.  The setting would be very pretty and unique.. vs your typical hall (which I chose because our guest list is over 300) and you will be able to take pictures right on the grounds.

If the hall is your style, you can usually decrease your min. # if you pick a hall that does multiple weddings.  They will likely give you the less desirable middle room.. but at least it is an option.

vegasgroom

I had actually not heard of a guest minimum before; we're expecting 100 to 150 in Vegas next year and the 15 to 20 places we looked at just had a food and beverage minimum dollar amount.  The place we picked is a restaurant and is allowing us to count the cake towards the minimum spend, so once we have a final tally of guests from the RSVP's, and a rough estimate on the cake price, we'll know how much per guest we're going to be forced to spend and can plan the menu around that number.

Are the venues you're loooking at hotels?  Maybe that's why they want a minimum guest count because they're hoping for room revenue from guests.

Jelenny

i had venues that did have min guest counts but some shifted away from that if we ment the min dollar amounts...

for example friday wedding we had to meet the min number of people - but saturday we could have less than the min number of people but we had to meat the $ amount min...

lyndausvi

Most places I know are worried about $$$$ than people....

 If you change your thought to I'm paying 'z' dollars regardless of the amount of people  you might be able to deal with the cost better than paying for X people for UP TO  Z dollars.

omgitsrojo

to the OP:

I looked at a lot of different venues in the suburbs (barrington/schaumburg area) and the only one that had a $$ minimum was Chandler's in Schaumburg (Schaumurg Golf Club). And it was less for Fridays- I believe that by booking there, you would be able to have less people, but then have to spend the $$ elsewhere, which could be a good thing- think sweet table, decor, etc.

gottahavashorti

Plan for 100% attendance in terms of budget.  As far as minimums go, the venues probably just want to ensure a certain amount of profit, which they can do by requiring a minimum number of guests.  If your guest count ends up being too low, see what food, beverage, decoration, china and linen upgrades you can make in order to meet the equivalent of the minimum.  It might mean top shelf open bar, a dessert table, more appetizers at cocktail hour, etc.

mags0722

Thanks everyone! The minimum dollar amount is a good idea - some places have that option already, but not all - but maybe I can talk to them about switching from people to dollars.

@vegasgroom - We're looking at everything - hotels, golf clubs, country clubs, event halls, etc., and the majority I've seen so far all have minimums.

@omgitsrojo - We've mainly been looking in the Lake County area, since that's where my parents live, but also have looked a bit further south - and they all seem to have minimums so far. I've thought about switching to Friday or Sunday... that may be an option.

Thanks again ladies.

gottahavashorti

Have you looked at places where you bring your own caterer?  The venues we looked at included a mill, winery, barn at an indoor/outdoor museum, historic mansion, farm and church hall.  Those types tend to let you bring your own caterer rather having an in house caterer like hotels, country clubs and ballrooms.