So as my fellow 2013ers know, me and h2b have been hunting for a venue, yet again. There is now not a venue in South East London I don't know about lol.

Anyway... We're down to three venues, each with their pros and cons and will hopefully decide soon. However, do have a bit of a problem with one. We don't want to do a 3 course sit down meal, but this venue offers loads of different buffets (mix of hot and cold fork and finger) which is exactly what we want to do for our day guests as we're having a late afternoon ceremony. Venue is quite happy to do this as stated in their brochure, but the minimum they do that for is 80. Fine, we've looked the price and that's all well and good and in our budget.

Problem is, we're having a registry office ceremony and the nearest registry office only holds 60 people. Venue itself isn't licensed for weddings, so we don't have the option to do everything in one place. There is another venue within the same park that is licensed but they want £1200 just to hire the room for the ceremony, so completely out of the question (and budget!). My question is, if I go back to this venue and explain the situation, do you think they might a) let us just have the 60 people and not charge us for 80 (unlikely I know) b) charge us a supplement fee, but not as much as for an extra 20 people or c) charge us for 80 but give us something extra for the extra money we will be paying despite the fact there won't be an extra 20 meals.

This venue is just lovely and this is one of the major problems with it. If we could have 80 people, we would, no questions asked, but we just can't. There is another registry office that we could use, but it's miles away and would be a nightmare to travel from there to this venue. Any advice, please??

Thanks! x

Not sure about advice, but our situation is similar, although we are having the civil ceremony there as it was easier. We have a package which includes 50 people..then a minimum number of 80 guests! bit silly really...surely they should must make a package for the 80 people and have done....but thats how they make more money out of us! I asked our venue what would happen if we only had, lets say 70 people, and we were told we had to pay for the full 80.
Can you have any people standing, or have a whole ceremony with standing only? like i said just thoughts? is the capacity for space or fire regulations?
All you can do at this stage, is ask your venue what you have just asked us here and see what they say, at least then you can sit down with your H2B and discuss your options as you know them, rather that what if's and but's.
If it is the same as us and you have to pay for the full 80 (even if you dont have them) i would, either look for another venue completely....or find another 20 people so your money dont go to waste.

Let us know how you get on hun x

I would explain the situation. They may be sympathetic but doubtful but you never know. Failing that, ask them if there is a way to pay the extra fee but get the freebies thrown in as suggested. If they wont do anything then they dont deserve your business x

my venue has a 60 minimum number, but since i am having a monday wedding they have decreased that for us, is having a weekday wedding a possibility?, if not just go and be honest ;) - sa how you love the venue but you cant have the 80 people due to the ceremony etc, and go on to explain that if they cant lower the numbers to 60 for you then you will just have to go to XYZ (name another venue you like)as the will allow it - you just prefered the look and customer service of them.See if they want to loose buisness over 20 people or not.

stupid reg. office
makes me wonder why people ever use them , as very few weddings i can think of has had under 12 people ( i know their is some, but not the norm)

I'd try for a minimum 'spend' rather than a minimum number. So increase the drinks or food variety for example.

I'd agree with dove. Offer to replace the money you would pay for the extra 20 people with wine or something so they aren't losing out on the money but you are at least getting something for it x

Just got a reply from the venue - they say that as long as we spend a minimum of £2,000 on the food, the number of guests won't be an issue. But we've just had a look at the registry office that's a bit further away that can seat a lot more people (and therefore we could meet the minimum of 80) and it's only a 20minute drive. So maybe we won't have this issue after all! x