Well, I've tried to be very optimistic the whole way through that we'd be ok with meeting our minimums (I thought we'd be
slightly under or just right there), but I've spent a lot of time with all the more "final" numbers tonight, and we're showing that we'll no longer be meeting our minimums (or even close)
. We have some "extra" money to cover some of the difference from raffle sales, but I didn't really add in "extra" money anywhere along the way because I wanted to keep the registration fees as low for you guys as I could, and I thought at the time we'd have a MUCH larger turnout which would've naturally met the minimums
. I know some of the difference will be taken care of with drinks, but I seriously doubt we'll drink THIS much alcohol (and if we do...we need HELP
)!!! I thought about adding on extra food since I'm adamently opposed to handing the hotel "free money" (because we owe them $3,000 minimum for food and beverages, whether we consume that much or not), BUT...we'll ALSO owe additional service charges and taxes on any additional food we order, and I'm already looking at having to pay out-of-pocket for this, and I can't afford to pay any additional to cover the additional charges associated with bringing in more food. SO...unless the hotel takes pity on us (I'm going to plead the best case I can), it looks like we're going to be essentially handing over "free" money, which kills me since I was hoping to be able to make a donation to a Yorkie rescue in YT's name
.
SO...I'm sure you're asking...what does this mean for YOU? Well...for now, you can BUY MORE RAFFLE TICKETS! That's the money I'll be using to pay for this extra expense (and you might win a GREAT prize)
! I'm sorry it's up to those few of us who are going to try to cover this $, but had I known we would have such a low turnout from the start, I would've charged more for the registration fees (or not had the meet-up at all
). Secondly, DRINK UP! We don't have a minimum to spend with the bartender (they've waived the minimum there and the bartender fees for us), but anything you spend will go toward the overall minimum we owe, so at least we won't be handing over any "free" money, and maybe we can still eek out a small donation to a rescue.
Thanks in advance for your help everyone!