Venues for small wedding....the minimums

Look at little restaurants. We have dozens that we recommend. The problem you may find is that most of them are not booking that far out...

We did! We found a smaler boutique hotel with appropriately sized rooms and a lower f&b minimum - 5k if I remember correctly. We still blew that out of the water with luxury bar, etc but they were will to work with us and specialized in smaller weddings. Try searching for "intimate" wedding venues. That appears to be the code word online.

Yes we estimated 40 guests for us and most places I found had a minimum of 60 or 70 guests. We had to start looking for "alternative" venues near us. We booked with a blueberry farm that had a big hall room that fits 60 comfortably, but I think their minimum was like 20 people.

Try google searching the word "intimate" and you should find more options. I would look into unique restaurants too. Some have nice rooms you can book. Is your city on water? If so, maybe look at unique venues that may have some really nice scenery and may be a little smaller in size.

Google elopements and your city. You can find places that allow smaller groups of people! I had 15 guests and that's how I found my venue.

Look at heritage property's. We are having a small wedding(30 guests). We found a restored 1930s estate owned by the city we live in. Pricing very fair and accommodates small weddings.

Look at restaurants and maybe hotels. We have a smaller guest list than you, less than 20. We are having our ceremony at a gazebo and then having the reception at a historic hotel 10 minutes away. For one of the smallest rooms at the hotel, there is no food or guest minimum. Just the room rental fee.

I guess I mean to say I'm sure other hotels and restaurants have similar deals

Great ideas guys thanks so much!

We are having about 40 and found a historic chapel and park run by the county. No minimum, as long as you pay hourly for the staff.

We're having about the same size wedding and are thinking of a room in a restaurant or having something catered at the common area of our condos in where everyone will be staying (has a fireplace, comfy chairs, tables, etc.) We will most likely do the ceremony on the top of a mountain (Steamboat in CO).

Same issue, we chose a garden for our ceremony and a restaurant private room for our reception (no dancing) ETA: garden, $300, restaurant $900 minimum

Totally agree with others, esp Celia. A nice restaurant with a private room or some other type of non traditional venue is your best option. Also, see if they are willing to waive or lower the minimum if you have a non Saturday wedding. Most places I looked at had lower minimums for Friday.

We are anticipating 30-45 guests and our ceremony and reception venue is a craft brewery/restaurant. Since catering must be done by the restaurant, there is no food or drink minimums. There is a venue rental fee but for our day and time, it's only $250 for the 4 hours. This includes coordination, plates, glasses, utensils, some linens, tables, all service fees, any decor set up, all break down etc.

I agree with Celia! Her advice during my planning period helped me pick my venue.

A lot of restaurants have private rooms that are free or very affordable to reserve. We found a restaurant that is only open for dinner and does brunch on Saturday and Sunday. They told us that we could use the entire restaurant for no charge, outside of food and drinks, during weekdays or meet their brunch minimum of Saturday and Sunday which is only 2,000. We are doing a Saturday brunch for 29, 31 including vendors who will of course be fed, and we get the entire space from 8-4pm for a 2,000 dollar minimum before tax and tip. Even if we don't spend that much on food and drinks, which we should, the fact that we get the entire place is worth whatever we fall short on. We decided to do the ceremony here as well since we will have the space and that helped us save money on booking a ceremony location.

Our venue requires a 100 people minimum for a Saturday night. Even though we are inviting 110, probably only 75-80 will come. So we will most likely be paying for people who aren't even there but oh well. It sucks though.

I found this a challenge too with 15 or less guests. I ended up opting for a restaurant because at least the minimum included food and beverages and the cocktail hour. I found one with great views, and a semi private area that our guests could dine.

The fact is total privacy and venue buyouts are costly.

Is it possible to still buy a venue for the price that it asks without meeting minimum guest requirements and filling the room with other entertainment?