Small wedding - rant

I agree it's rude, a lot of venues have a minimum of 60-100 guests and their intentions are to make as much money as possible off every couple that walks through their doors. I know this is probably frustrating for you, but I also think your smaller wedding has some advantages (and potential for savings!). I'd consider a nice restaurant - some smaller restaurants will close down to the public for weddings and parties, and some restaurants have their own rooms that can be reserved/rented out. With this option, whatever money you were going to spend on a minimum headcount can go towards more food, alcohol or entertainment for your guests. Additionally, if you have a big enough backyard, you can rent a tent, tables, chairs and hire a catering company to take care of the food.

Shla did you end up booking a wedding venue yet.. I have about 60 guests looking to host a smallish wedding next fall totally off season.. have not been able to find anything yet! my only venue that I love but not sure if I' am going crazy by spending 18k on 60 ppl including everything food.. open bar.. overnight stay .. flowers.. photos..DJ... We have looked at every venue from Grand Bend to Picton lol even some restaurants too feeling totally lost.. looking for something elegant .. do not want to do the all inclusive wedding away.

I feel you on this. I recently got told by a caterer that they would not travel (approx. 15 min) for less than 150 people minimum. However, I thought it was a bit presumptuous given that they didn't even consider the fact that maybe we would be willing to pay more per person than usual.

Ooh, the high level street car in Edmonton?! My fiancé rented it out for my 30th birthday party and it was fantastic. Great time with a $10 liquor license! lol

So sorry your having that kind of reaction! I also experienced a lot of people telling me how small my wedding is we are only having 90 guest, a little less. I prefer a more private intimate setting anyways. We are social people but some things aren't meant for everyone, and we like it that way. Hang in there, you will find the perfect venue, sometimes a "no" is a blessing in disguise. The wedding industry is definitely an industry of excess spending.

The wedding industry is nuts! I agree with you that it seems like excess is the point of the wedding and not the celebration, unfortunately.

We had our wedding on some family property because I had always imagined getting married there and we didn't have to deal with all the difficulties of a standard venues rules and regulations.

I would agree with what others have said about just saying you will have the minimum for the venue and see where it gets you. It's not like they can turn you away the day of your wedding because you don't have the minimum number of guests. They have to know that some people will decline and it shouldn't be a problem.

The wedding industry is a crazy industry, unfortunately!

Have you tried looking at some non-conventional venues? Like a restaurant, an art gallery or museum...or even a boat or train (I'm in Edmonton, and you can actually rent out a two-car train for events under 20/30 people!)

I would suggest even telling them the minimum, or slightly more than the minimum (since you are willing to pay the minimum price!) They don't know how many no's you will get; we were aiming to have a wedding for 100 guests, and it ended up being less than 80. But, when we booked, we thought it would be 100.

That is bananas! I'm honestly not shocked by the venues reaction to your small wedding tho. When we began planning ours, we were aiming to keep the guest list close to 100 and we had several venues not take us seriously.

I would suggest finding a nice restaurant with a private area for events instead of looking at larger venues. Good luck!

Yikes! I'm so sorry that people are being so rude!

I get you're willing to pay the minimum... but I guess venues would rather that have be a backup plan, then know that's actually all they are going to make. Still though, you're a paying customer, and should be treated way better.

I agree with the other girls. Look for a restaurant or something similar that you can either rent out, or rent the private room/portion. Or "unique" venues that have a 50 person maximum... take advantage of your small guest list and go to the venues that many people can't use due to having too many guests!

Good luck with your search!

My wedding was around 37-people (including us).

WE didn't get married in our home town though. We went 4 hours away to where our cabin is.

Had the ceremony at the cabin and the reception at the local even hall.

But... we did get price quotes from around town first (Canmore/Banff area is wedding central). No one really questioned our head count. I was just too cheap to pay insane wedding season prices for everything-in an already over priced town.

Maybe try looking at unconventional places, something more unique? Like a trendy restaurant or art gallery of sorts?

The wedding industry is crazy though I do appreciate where they are coming from in a business perspective - they could however be a heck of a lot politer about it!

What sort of venues have you been calling? I got married in a nice lake front resturant and had a small guest count. That being said - we did have a minimum spend. It just meant we picked more food for our guests.

When trying to find venue for 30 I got a lot of "oh well we have a minimum spend that wont work for you" before even telling me what that was. Um- you have no idea how much money I have or are willing to spend; why do you assume that I have a small guest count because I can't afford a larger one? Maybe I want a small wedding and spend a ton on the people we have there? I found it just rude.

Oh I hear you don't worry... we had to give a good bit of extra money to our venue to allow us to use the room we liked sooo much more in their venue! The minimum was higher than the numbers we had but we did an additional fee to be able to claim it!

Sadly I think a lot of venues hope to get a bigger party in especially on Saturdays to in the end get more money.

Have you thought about maybe doing a Friday or Sunday wedding? I feel venues are a lot more open and flexible on those days!

Good luck!

A restaurant or community hall would work! My friend got married in a restaurant and I think it turned out lovely! The food was great and the cost is also lower!

I can only empathize, as my wedding is a more 'regular' size, but one of my colleagues went through the same problem a couple years ago.

I don't remember what they eventually chose, but I know that they looked at a few restaurants. If the dining room is small, you might be able to rent the full place for the night, granted you pay the restaurant enough to cover their usual revenue. Otherwise, you can see if any restaurant has private dining rooms. We've rented those quite often for family events.

I found a venue that I fell in love with and they have a maximum cap on the guests, but not a minimum. What they do require is a minimum amount spent on food and beverages. If you don't have many guests then you will be spending more on appetizers, late lunch and alcohol to make the difference.

I honestly got that kind of feed back but without the option for a backyard wedding. My guest count is around the 200-250 area and most venues told me that they can't accommodate that many people. And of course the ones that could were all-inclusive... aka $30,000 starting price before MUA, DJ, or Bar service. People in this industry seem to always find a reason that you are in the wrong or that you're asking for something drastically unrealistic. (A venue for less than $25,000???? Are you insane???? - no, just know that I don't want to pay that much for what they would be giving.)

Ulgh, that's so awful! I'm sorry that people are so...dumb. It's stupid cause you should be able to rent it for you just to stand there alone as long as you're paying for the space. It's entirely their loss, isn't it?

I hope you can find a venue to work with you so your day is exactly how you want it!