Minimums Are Not Your Friend

I probably don't need to tell you this but minimums are not a good idea. Whenever possible, avoid them at all costs.

A little story to emphasize the point: a dear friend of mine is getting married in upstate NY in June. In her dream wedding stupor, she signed a venue/catering contract that required a guest minimum. This didn't seem like a big deal at the time as the minimum is 135 guests and she invited 180. AND those 180 were attempting to bring children who were not invited. But here we are, the middle of May, and she is now panicking, trying to come up with warm bodies to meet the minimum to which she committed.

Point being, if a vendor wants you to commit to a minimum, do NOT tell them how many people you're inviting - they will try to convince you of a higher minimum that may land you in the situation above. Tell them you can commit to a minimum that's 50-60% of your guest list, even though you can typically expect 70-80% of your guest list to attend. Or just avoid the minimum altogether.