What happens if you don't meet your minimum guest requirement?

jessikayla

Besides the obvious you still have to pay for the guests you guarenteed, in your experiences, how do venues typically handle this? Are they willing to work with you, or throw in extras?

cvl105

I didn't get any extras thrown in...although there wasn't really anything I could think to ask for. We had so much already.  They did let us count our vendors towards the minimum, so we didn't have to pay extra for them.

brad1431

huh?  why would they throw in extras, you are the problem not them, you agreed to meet the minimum.  It you fail why should they throw something in, that makes no sense.

USER876

They gave us the Filet dinners to go (raw).....we picked them up after our honeymoon and grilled them up during a family party

Danes983

Well Brad someplaces understand that things happen and they are willing to work with you instead of you paying for someone who isnt there. 

Just Jen

Brad, because their cost goes down, since they are supplying fewer meals. By throwing in "extras," they're providing (approx) the same amount of food as they would if you met your minimum -- it's just re-allocated a bit.

But to the OP, I don't have an answer...

jessikayla

Wow Brad..
I didn't think I'd be "the problem" for not meeting the minimum. I havent' even gotten that far yet but I was just wondering which obviously must be a problem too.

 These boards aren't for people to make others feel like crap. If you don't have something positive to add don't comment on a post. 

Thanks to everyone else who obviously understood what I meant.

jrsygrl719

MOST places are willing to work with you. ie: counting vendors towards your minimum and things like that.  If you see you are coming across that issue, which you won't really know until the RSVP date, let your venue know.   I'm sure they are willing to accept ANY business than no business at all.

Pay no attention to brad, hes worse than a troll. He's Groom-zilla.

justkris10

rofl at jrsygrl's " pay no attention to brad, he's worse than a troll. he's a groomzilla"

alliecarrie41

i was originally told i had to pay for them (mim. 100) but when i only had 98 she gave me back the money i pre-paid for the 2.  this is not the norm, i just had an awesome place.

brad1431

giving you the food you paid for isnt throwing in an extra.  I took it as she now wants an upgrade like an extra station or something, which is retarded.  of course you count vendors towards the min and if you pay for 100 plates and 95 people show I am sure they will give you 5 dinners to go, but to think they will give you an extra like another station or an upgraded entree makes no sense at all.

melissa82

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_happens-dont-meet-minimum-guest-requirement?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:fcc1f566-79d8-4961-90ec-ff0ca67192e7Post:82609df1-ab82-413a-9f7d-5c14f1b90e69">Re: What happens if you don't meet your minimum guest requirement?</a>:
[QUOTE]giving you the food you paid for isnt throwing in an extra.  I took it as she now wants an upgrade like an extra station or something, which is retarded.  of course you count vendors towards the min and if you pay for 100 plates and 95 people show I am sure they will give you 5 dinners to go, but to think they will give you an extra like another station or an upgraded entree makes no sense at all.
Posted by brad1431[/QUOTE]

Some places will give you these things--it's not "extra." It's reallocating the $$ as someone said. Like if you're 5 people under your 100 person min at $150 pp--that's $750, so you could perhaps a station that's $7.50 pp. Instead of allocating it for 5 people's dinners, you're spending the $$ elsewhere. Some places do a catering minimum instead, same idea.

A lot of places do not want to give you food to go due to health concerns.

And some places just don't really care because they're getting the $$ anyway. But it's smarter business to make the hosts happy and impress the guests.

jessikayla

Retarded? Really Brad?

Now I know why you are so damn hated on this board.

Consider the fact that "you took it" wrong and didn't understand what I was asking...

Did I say anything about an upgrade in my original post???? I asked what typicaly happens as in, I have no idea and was looking for other people experiences.

jessikayla

AND by throwing in extras I meant exactly what PP said about reallocating the $...no so much getting freebies

pmpknbride

I didn't even come close to my minimum - which was really surprising!  We were shy about 25 people. Our reception site only charged us 50% of the full per head price, which I think was more then fair as they didn't have to buy food for those people.

They also "threw in" a raw seafood bar - I'm not sure why, but I think they did it because they were still making a lot of money by us not meeting our minimum...So that was really nice of them.

kewltif

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_happens-dont-meet-minimum-guest-requirement?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:fcc1f566-79d8-4961-90ec-ff0ca67192e7Post:05adc421-55fb-496d-b432-00bcd85d5864">Re: What happens if you don't meet your minimum guest requirement?</a>:
[QUOTE]i was originally told i had to pay for them (mim. 100) but when i only had 98 she gave me back the money i pre-paid for the 2.  this is not the norm, i just had an awesome place.
Posted by alliecarrie41[/QUOTE]

This is the exact reason it's good business practice to "throw something" in.  Granted it was only two people for Allie, but she walked away from the situation feeling positive and raving about her venue.  Had she been forced to pay (possibly for a lot more people) without any concessions, she would have cut the check, but it might have left a slightly negative taste in her mouth which could affect future business.