Catered vs uncatered - what's cheaper?

JoeJoe67

Is it really cheaper to find a place that does not cater and hire a separate caterer and linen company? If so, is it even worth the hassle?

tortoisebride

I think it depends a lot on your budget and what you want your wedding to look like. Hiring a separate caterer started to look pretty expensive, and cheaper options didn't come with the service, which is arguably more important than the food. Maybe it's cheaper if you have a really cheap or free venue, but if you go for a nice caterer I suspect it'd add up to the cost of a full service venue quickly.

I also considered buying all the linens and flatware and stuff ourselves, used of course but so are the ones from catering! Once I realized how much we'd have to do between getting servers, doing setup and cleanup (Trucking dirty dishes from the venue to someone's kitchen? Ick!), thinking about refilling chafing dishes, dealing with a zillion different transactions... Maybe I'm just lazy, but an affordable full service venue seems a lot easier. 

On the other hand, if you have your heart set on a certain "look" and you can't find any full service venues with that "look," then it's worth it to deal with the hassle. Remember you can always delegate friends and family to help coordinate, or hire a planner. You might also turn out to know people who can help. I thought I knew NO ONE in useful industries, but a friend of my sister-in-law works with a caterer and a bakery and could have gotten us discounts on linens and food. Just tell EVERYONE you know that you're getting married and you'd love to meet anyone they know who works in relevant industries.