How much to spend on catering?

witt21tiger

We're meeting with our caterer soon and I need to give them a budget.  We're planning on a cocktail hour (app table), buffet dinner & late night snack.  What is a "normal" amount to spend per person?

akbrown19

I think it depends on your budget and how many people you are trying to feed. We ended up at $7K for 130 people with a 3 course meal, 4 hours of open bar and some appetizers. It all depends on where you're having your event and what type of food you are wanting to have. Steak is going to be a much different price than BBQ sandwiches.

cece301

When I meet with a bride and groom, I ask them to provide me everything they are looking for. We will than work with them, to help them stay within their noted budget. We work with them, instead of the caterer telling them how much they wiill be charged.

Nancy Plassman
Director for Catering, Carfagna

witt21tiger

Thanks everyone!  This is very helpful!

[Deleted User]

It really does depend on what you want, how many people and whether or not you have an open bar. Our food totals were about $6000 which included a few hours of hor'dourves, only serving beer and wine as well as a 3 course meal along with a salad and bread. This was also over 2 years ago and I am sure prices have gone up since then. We fed about 115 people at our wedding.

MrsColeman2012

We were quoted about $1500 with service for 80 people for the following menu: 
 -Roast Beef with Au Jus
-Roasted Red Potatoes
-Fresh Green Beans
-Baked Ziti
-Rolls/Butter

This does not include alcohol, but our venue allows us to DIY and we are just doing wine and beer. We didn't end up going with this place because we had to scale back so we could move but they were very reasonable and very helpful.

brendan947

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_ohio-columbus_how-much-to-spend-on-catering?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:112Discussion:089cff01-c24d-4fa2-b619-4c050ff4ee88Post:52919a79-0f9c-4fc6-9140-77321a3e02f7">Re: How much to spend on catering?</a>:
[QUOTE]We were quoted about $1500 with service for 80 people for the following menu:   -Roast Beef with Au Jus -Roasted Red Potatoes -Fresh Green Beans -Baked Ziti -Rolls/Butter This does not include alcohol, but our venue allows us to DIY and we are just doing wine and beer. We didn't end up going with this place because we had to scale back so we could move but they were very reasonable and very helpful.
Posted by MrsColeman2012[/QUOTE]

<div>Where was this at?  Sounds reasonable.</div>