Connecticut

Catering in CT

Hi Everyone,

I'm newly engaged, and new to all of this, so please bear with me!

We are currently trying to decide whether it would be more economical to have our reception at a hall with a caterer, or at a country club or other full service reception facility.

I am having difficulty getting an idea of how much a caterer would charge per person for a full service dinner with open bar.

The reception facilities post their package prices, so that's been very helpful in planning - but I just can't find the same information for caterers.

Can anyone provide a ballpark figure of what a caterer in the Hartford area  might charge per person for a Saturday afternoon reception?

Thank you!

Re: Catering in CT

  • you have a PM
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  • Krause catering in East Hartford was by far the cheapest caterer we met with, and DELICIOUS food. expect 50-200 per person for caterers in Hartford
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  • calindicalindi member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I liked the flexibility of hiring my own caterer - that way I didn't have to find a venue I loved that also had really good food.  More often than not, you find a venue you love with mediocre food or a venue you think it okay with excellent food.  You're able to have whatever package you want.

    However, it's not necessarily cheaper because you have to pay different people.  The venue has to make a profit and the caterer has to make a profit.  You can often find a cheaper deal by finding an all-inclusive venue.  However, you can potentially save money on the bar by doing it yourself - some caterers will stock the bar with non-alcoholic products and let you bring your own booze. Ours is doing so for $5/person - very, very reasonable!  And the liquor store is letting us return all unopened bottles.

    That said, the wedding I'm having is a real bargain for what I'm getting.  We certainly could have spend less, but I feel like we're getting absolutely everything we want for our budget.  We rented the Branford House in Groton, CT for $4000 for the full day - we're having the ceremony on property for no additional fee, and it includes tables and chairs, though we're renting different chairs.  That was on the cheaper end for bring-your-own venues - another good one to look at in the Southeast is the Eiola Mansion at Harkness Park.

    Our caterer is Emily's Catering, and I'm SO SO SO excited about them!  They'll work with literally any budget.  We're paying $95 per person, including taxes and labor and service and linens and place settings.  They are also staffing and stocking a full bar (though we're supplying the alcohol - a great way to save money, as you can usually make arrangements with the liquor store to return any unopened bottles).  Also, that price includes sooooo much - pre-ceremony lemonade and ice tea, pre-ceremony popcorn, a Mediterranean grazing table for cocktail hour, 8 passed hors d'ouerves (including ingredients such as duck, foie gras, and lobster - not cheap!), then for dinner 4 different live action stations, and for dessert, a full gourmet coffee & tea station, an ice cream sundae bar and make-your-own-s'mores station and a late night station for rootbeer floats & pizza.

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    Anniversary

  • We found that renting a venue and booking a caterer can be rather costly. Rather than spend $3,500 on the venue rental and then $120 a head, would could have spent more per head at an all inclusive venue (country club, etc). Also think about what kind of vibe or feel you want. We wanted a rustic vibe, so we went with barn, but it has been more expensive than we expected!!
  • Keep in mind with hiring a caterer you may have to pay rental costs for plates, silverware etc. Rental costs for us for a 150 person wedding were estimed at 2,500-3,000 so while our site fee was lower relatively speaking we have to pay for rentals. 

    Most caterers can work within your budget and you can have your per person cost go up or down depending on what you want. I've been quoted $20 a head for an estimate for open bar. This seems VERY Low to me and i thought it was more like $25-30. However, a lot of it depends on how heavy your guests drink. 

    Hope this helps! 
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    We used Ciao! Catering out of Danbury.  Out of everyone we interviewed, they were buy far the best price and best quality food.  Tom Devine is amazing to work with.  We ended up using them both for our reception and rehearsal dinner.

    One of the main things to take into account when getting quotes from both caterers and venues is if and where there are hidden fees.  Some caterers charge a corking fee if you provide your own liquor or a cutting fee if they aren't providing the cake.  Some will quote you a price that seems reasonable, but then tack on an additional $2000-$4000 for waitstaff fees and taxes while others include those fees and taxes in the per person price.  Gratuity is often not included in the numbers.  Ciao includes their waitstaff charge and taxes in the person price if you have at least 75 people or it was a $500 waitstaff fee below that number.  We met with many other caterers that quoted us similar pricing to them but they were then charging us an additional $3000-4000 for taxes and hidden fees... very very sneaky and not so transparent.

    Providing your own liquor and having the caterer serve it can often save you a ton of money.  Our caterer gave us figures for how much liquor we needed and gave us a provider we could use.  It ended up costing us only about $10/person with a full open bar and top shelf liquor because we brought in our own and didn't end up using as much as we thought we would.  The liquor provider let us return anything that wasn't opened.... huge huge savings.

    If you want to see specifics on what our caterer provided and costs, PM me with your email address and I can email you some info.

    Yes, it can be a bit more work when you're not using a 'wedding factory', but you can also customize things completely to your liking.  On the other hand, if you don't want the effort of having to hire all your vendors, then a banquet facility is a great choice because they can do it all for you.
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  • Nova Catering is in NY but they travel for free.  Their site is www.novacateringco.com
    abc
  • Thanks SO much to all of you for taking the time to offer such detailed information - it's been immensely helpful!!!!!
  • It can be more costly getting it catered. I am doing that because the place I loved needed to be catered. There are so many things you have to rent that you never knew. I am renting every plate, knife, fork, glass. I even have to rent the ovens to be brought to the sight. It would have been less expensive to get married somewhere that had everything but it really is about what place you want to go to. 

    In the end I is really the place you want. You can find ways to make the budget stay the same and still be as special. 
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