Hi all,
FI and I made the mistake of over-inviting and estimating too low... we had a lot of people coming from out of town and were simply overly optimistic because FI's family is huge and we wanted to be able to invite more. Now the wedding is in 2 weeks out and we're over our estimate... by a lot.
Our reception is in a family member's backyard and that's just a matter of setting our more seats and informing the caterer. Unfortunately, the ceremony venue has a contract-listed max guest count and we've passed it. What the contract doesn't list is what happens if more guests come (do they get kicked out? do we pay a fee?)
What to do? One some sites, the max count for the venue is listed higher, so there's some hope that the site manager is just being conservative and wouldn't mind adding some more chairs if we ask. But what if they tell us we have to find another venue? With the wedding party standing, we might be able to get by with the max number of actual chairs, but even that is contingent on a couple of no-shows or toddlers sitting in moms' laps (and it would still be obvious if the venue decided to count that the total # of people is well over...)
Has anyone else had this issue, and what did you do?