I know it seems kind of overly frugal but ask the reception hall to box up the meals of guests that never made it to the reception. It really is unfortunate when guests RSVP and then don’t show up (they usually won’t do this on purpose) but you can take a little bit of the sting out of it by asking for the reception hall to box up the meals that go un-served. If you’re paying $100 a head and ten people don’t show, at least you’ll have ten prime rib dinners waiting for you instead of a big empty $1,000 hole.
Now, be prepared for the reception hall to reject your request for the meals to be boxed up because of health regulations but if you’re persistent, you might be able to walk away with at least a little something.
