Venue Touring & Minimums

I would go with what is the most budget-friendly venue. Who knows, you might be able to go to your first choice and let them know that venue #2 has better offerings and doesn't have a minimum.

We are going to be short of the minimum, but we talked to the venue recently and they said we can add extra appetizers or late night snacks to meet the same dollar amount.

Make sure you ask about a monetary minimum! My venue has a guest minimum of 150 on a Saturday, I wouldn’t be able to reach that at all because we only have around 75 people on our guest list. I asked about any other options and they suggested a monetary minimum which was perfect because I could have the guests I wanted with enhancements and late night snacks. Just an option to think about

We realized we were short the minimum but we were allowed to just buy 26 tables and just spread people out amongst the tables

Our venue did not have a guest minimum, only a food & beverage minimum. We were able to have them reduce this slightly for our guest count and only use 2/3rds of a ballroom for the reception. (With the wall dividers, they could rent out the other side for a different non-wedding function.) To meet the final numbers, we added courses to our plated dinner and late night snacks too.

There were 2 we didn't meet the person minimum. One we were off by 10 and they said we were close enough (we didn't have an accurate guest count) and the other we were off by a lot more but didn't love what they were offering for the money.
Most will work with you on terms of head count and sometimes budget. Get it on paper before you sign!

If you love the place, talk to them and see if they’d be willing to bend their rule a bit and figure out how to host your wedding there. But if you are way below the minimum, the venue may feel empty because you’re not filling the space.

Congrats on the engagement!
Within a week or two we looked at most if not all of our venue options (emailed a few other back and forth during the same time).
The pricing is what really got us and the minimums. There were a few places we didn't bother looking at just because of their minimums were too pricey. We feel we have to do ours on a Saturday based on most convienece for everyone, and also easier to celebrate the whole day! The downside is that its always mote expensive on Saturdays so we had to limit our venue options.

Honeslty our last place we looked at is who we're planning on signing. No place was 'perfect' for each and everything we could ask for (bridal suite, private entrance or restroom, outside patio or ceremony area). We both still really love the number of options were getting for menu, 5 hr open bar, ceremony on site (but unable to be outside) no bridal suite (we live 5 minutes away). And their guest minimum was only 75, so we really have more control over the price we pay compared to other venues.

I would go for your first choice. You might regret it if you don’t go for it.

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I actually meet the minimum for a Friday Night (140 Guests) but that's with hoping everyone RSVP's yes, lol! I do prefer wedding's on Saturday's as many of my guests are teachers and I want to be mindful of their schedule as it is about an hour away. And of course Saturday minimums are at 155-160 but we'll see.

I didn't even think about monetary minimum but I'll definitely be sure to bring it up!

We don't know if we will meet the minimum but we really wanted the place.

I would never pick a venue that has a guest minimum over what I wanted to invite as these places often charge per guest and that's a lot of money spent on people who aren't even there.

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What is your invite list minus about 10%. That is realistically about how many guests with show up. If that is not comfortably within the minimum then I wouldn't do it.

View Quoted Comment This is what we’re likely doing too. I don’t think venues care so much about how many people, it’s all about how much you spend. If you’re only a little short see about adding apps, snacks, etc to get your moneys worth

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I should have written we didn't know if we would make the minimum But the price was in our budget, otherwise I would never go over either.

We upped our invite list