How to handle wedding food and beverage minimums for small guest counts
Most venues set food and drink minimums intended for large parties of 50 to 70 people, leaving small weddings unable to meet the high spend threshold. Couples end up facing thousands of dollars in unreachable minimums or inflated drink costs that vastly exceed their actual menu choices.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
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How to handle wedding food and beverage minimums for small guest counts
- 1Renting through city parks department websites to use tables, chairs, and kitchens with freedom to bring in separate cateringDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The restaurant gave me a $9000 (!!!) food and drink minimum for 70 people.”source ↗
“The thing is, on their menu, the most expensive per person package you can get is $70 a person. Which adds up to be $4900, not even close to $9000.”source ↗
“Do they expect 70 people to spend $4100 in drinks?”source ↗
“most venues have food and beverage minimums that cover closer 50-70 people... so I'm really struggling to find something nice within our budget!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to plan a restaurant reception for a micro wedding
- 2How to invite people to a short ceremony with no reception
- 4Finding exact wedding venue prices without taking a tour
- 7How many drinks to buy for a party
- 2What food and drinks should we have while getting ready on wedding morning?
- 3What happens if you don't hit your wedding venue minimum?