too much, too little??

belle3476

hello!
i've always read great advice here and i'm hoping that you all have some left for me too.
i need to budget and figure out how much food i need. a family friend has offered to cook all the food for my wedding and bring it to the reception for $150 - but i need buy the food. my question: how much food should i get and how much is a good amount to spend. we have invited 120 people, but i'd like to round it up to 150 (to be safe). possible menu options are chicken quarters, sausage, rice and beans (hispanic families) with lemonade and tea to drink.
also for the cake - what's the ratio? my FI and i have decided to have a small tier cake for us and a sheet cake in the back for the guests.
thank you in advance for advice given!

tldh

Before you agree to this, has your friend catered before?  Does she have the means to keep food hot or cold?  Is she going to be serving, cleaning up, and taking home the leftovers?  Is she going to provide the serving dishes, plates, utensils and napkins?  Does she carry liability insurance for her catering?

I know you think you'll be saving money here but if you have to hire a serving staff, rent plates, etc., hire a clean up staff, it's probably going to be cheaper to go with a caterer.  Also, if anyone gets sick from the food, the caterer would be responsible.  With your current plan, you are the one who would be held responsible if something like food poisoning were to happen.

juma1111

Ditto PP. Definintely consider all of the above 1st. Once you have, to help answer your questions you need to atleast get 1 piece of cake per person. Depending on the size sheet cake it can serve up to 108people. Our sheet cake, from our  baker serves 84. But that is if it is cut into exactly the correct # of pieces. We are also having a 3 tiered cake, so we will have plenty of extra cake.

As for the food, you need to figure out how much 1 person would normally take, then multiply that by 150. Add in enough for people to help themselves to 2nds, to take into account wasted food, different ideas of portion sizes, etc. and go from there.

Good Luck. My suggestion: hire a caterer.

belle3476

thank you for your posts, and yes they have catered before - it's not their full time jobs, but they've done it for several years now, and they have several warmers that they use for the food - transport/serve. plates/utensils are included with the price of cooking, but no they won't serve. i was hoping to make it more like a self serve since it's not a lot of people. clean up would be by the facility.
i still like the idea and it does fit my budget better then some of the other cateres. my FI suggested that on the RSVP cards we place a spot for guests to select chicken or beef. he explained that when they chose beef - they would get a double cheese burger and if they choose chicken - they would get a spicy ckicken from mcdonalds. i needed that laugh.