Venue Contract - WWYD

minionlover

So we got the contract for the venue yesterday which has a food/drink minumum based on the number of attendees.  I had originally quoted her 20 people and then dropped it to 15 for the contract.  I am debating on dropping it to even less than that, (maybe 10 or 12), in the unfortunate event that people can't make it. 

If you were in my shoes would you keep it at 15 or drop lower?

venus909

How many people are you actually expecting?

When I first did my quote for my venue, I had about 70-80 people saying they were going... if I did a contract on that I would have been screwed!  Turns out I have abou 40 adults and 10 kids going....  I expected 40 - 60 people... 

I suppose if you are expecing 20, 15 might be safe enough... 

Erinkathleen84

Can you change it later or do you have to tell her the number of people right now ?

loramarie03

What is the option if you end up having more people? For instance, our contract we did for 10 rooms. But, if we do more than that, we will only pay for the # that book. If we do less than that, than we have to eat the cost. If they charge you per person for those above your guarantee, I would go for less people... if that makes sense.

harr0610

I'd put it higher than you think, but low enough that you can afford it, if that makes sense. So if 15 won't break your budget, I'd go with that.

Then if you end up with less, you have extra money left over for extras for your guests---extra drinks or more food or whatever, whereas you might end up in a pickle if you go with 12 and 14-15 show up.

ETA-Did i really just write "in a pickle"? Man.......

Sp2012

we put our estimate at 100 for our wedding, but total ended up at 58.  our venue only charged us our based on our final count even though the contract did specify an acceptable 10% attrition rate.

So depending on whether the # of guests you provide locks you into a minimum food/bev cost, I would err on the side of lower.