When we booked our venue, we had to pretty much guarantee a number of people to hold a certain amount of space. We ended up taking two adjoining small rooms in a venue that hosts up to 900 people if all four adjoining rooms are used - they have those sliding wall thingies... Anyway, our rooms hold a maximum of 125, however we had to guarantee (or at least pay for) a minimum of 76. All our payments were due about 3 months apart, with the last payment due in April - any guests over 76 would be paid for later, just before the wedding.It seemed ideal at the time, since our guess was that we would have 76 people exactly! However, the recession is taking over the world and accidents happen. Because of medical issues and lost jobs, many people are not able to travel (sad, but to be expected) so our actual number is 60 people. It's a good, intimate number and just enough for a party!!! It's also more than we thought we'd have 6 months ago when people started to get sick and lose their jobs rapidly - at one point we were afraid we might only have 30 people so with 60, we're pretty psyched!!!
As all you brides out there know (or should know if you don't), you also need to feed any vendors who will stay there throughout the ceremony and reception, such as the photographer and the DJ. We have 3 of these types so we're feeding 63 all together.
You do the math - we're 13 under. We thought we'd have to eat this cost until it was suggested by our venue planner that we might like to add a few more hors d'houevres to the ones we have with the credit left over! So rather than paying for 13 plated meals & the open bar for 13 people, we are able to add more to our original choices of hors d'houevres as well as the same quantity of a 3rd choice in order to use up the credit we have left! We will now have terryaki chicken skewers, bacon & cheese stuffed new potatoes and the new choice is bacon twirls!!! There will be 150 pieces of each (450 pieces total) and they will be butlered throughout the cocktail hour! Originally we had two trays of chicken and two of the potatoes - only 200 pieces, which would have been fine, but more is always better.
The point is, if you don't have the numbers you thought you would, remember that you're paying for the space and not necessarily the food. When they give you a cost per head, they are saying you have to feed this many people to make the use of the real estate of the room worthwhile to the venue. People aren't always nice and honest, so it's your responsibility to say, "Hey, we're paying for 30 people who aren't eating - can we have something else instead?!?!" You might be surprised by what they're willing to do for you!
Note *** This may only work for plated meals - not sure what you could do about station meals and buffets, which are usually priced per 25 people or something similar. However, if you reduce the size, it is possible.
Happy Wedding Planning!
xoxo,
Pink Julep
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