How per head pricing works, and how to read a venue quote

Two venue quotes sit side by side. One says £95 per head, the other £140. The £95 venue ends up costing more. This happens constantly, and it is not deceit, exactly. It is dialect. Venue quotes are written in a language where the headline number and the final number are distant relatives, and learning the grammar is worth thousands.

The four numbers that matter

First, what the per head price includes. A full package rate covers room, dinner, some drinks and staff. A dry hire rate covers walls. Between them lies every combination, so make each quote list what a guest actually receives: canapés or not, how many courses, how much wine, the toast drink, evening food or not.

Second, the minimum spend or minimum numbers. A venue quoting £120 a head with a hundred guest minimum is really quoting £12,000, whatever your list looks like. Saturdays in summer carry the highest minimums, and this is precisely where midweek dates earn their discount.

Third, the drinks structure. A package usually means half a bottle of wine, a welcome drink and a toast. What happens after that, a paid bar, a tab, corkage if you bring your own, moves the total by thousands. Corkage between £10 and £25 a bottle can still beat list prices, but only arithmetic will tell you.

Fourth, the departures: service charge, VAT, and whether either is already inside the quoted figure. A £100 per head price plus 12.5 percent service plus VAT is £135 in real money. Ask every venue the same question: for ninety guests, what is the total figure on the final invoice? A good venue answers in one line.

The standard extras

Ceremony room fees, cake cutting fees at some venues, late licence fees after midnight, and next day collection charges are all normal and all worth knowing in advance. None is a scandal. Every one is a surprise if you meet it in month eleven.

Build one spreadsheet, force every quote into the same rows, and compare final invoices rather than headlines. The £140 venue with everything inside it beats the £95 venue with a toll booth at every door more often than you would believe.