San Francisco Bay Area Catering Prices

nic5483 · December 2011

Does anyone know the average price range for decent catering in the San Francisco Bay area? I've just begun planning my wedding and have found a few seemingly inexpensive ceremony/reception venues that let you bring your own caterer and I'm wondering just how much this saves. It seems like the venues I've seen so far with required in-house catering range from $40-$150. Would love some insight if anyone has researched outside catering.

ElisabethJoanne · December 2011

$40+/person is what I've found for outside/independent caterers. That's before tax and gratuity, and may just be dinner, no cocktail hour. Also, no alcohol.

We got a complete proposal from Wedgewood, which is one of the less expensive all-in-one venues. I think it worked out to $30-50/person for the food, with appetizers/cocktail hour. It was the same price buffet or plated. I think vendor meals were $25/each.

We looked at some venues with approved caterers lists, the middle road between an in-house caterer and choose-your-own. The approved caterers were always on the high end of the price range and never specialized in the food we want.

If you want a tight but realistic budget, I'd do $50/person to include cocktail hour, buffet dinner, but not alcohol. If you don't want to be limited in your choices, I'd budget up to $100/person.

There are ways to save on caterering if even $50/person is too much. I once priced a cake-and-punch reception at less than $2/person.

nic5483 · December 2011

Thanks! Seems to be on par with what I've seen so far. Looks like there's a pretty wide range of pricing for both in-house and external catering.

San Francisco Bay Area Catering Prices

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