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Catering Budget

LC983LC983
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in DC
Hi everyone! Just getting started to plan and budget. I'm wondering what I should budget for catering in the DC/ NOVA areas. I know most templates say 50% of the overall and specific caterers will work with you and your budget, but I'm trying to gauge the cost difference between a hotel that has XX/ person costs for different menus vs bringing a caterer in to a somewhat non-traditional (i.e. non-hotel) venue. It looks like it will be around 150 people, Saturday evening, would like a sit down plated 2-3 course menu with some appetizers, bar service etc. Mainly I'm wondering what a reasonable number would be for that. Thanks!
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Re: Catering Budget

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    calliopeia2013calliopeia2013 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited May 2012
    The figure I got from the independent caterer I'm going with was just over 10000, not including alcohol. But I can provide my own alcohol and they'll serve it, so I'm not expecting to pay a whole lot above that.

    ETA: Sorry; I should have added that that comes to something like $80 per head for food, linens, china, service, etc.  It doesn't include tables and chairs; those come with my venue.  And, like I said, it doesn't include alcohol.
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    tessb1125tessb1125 member
    First Comment
    I was having the same issue and I will share with you what I learned. 

    For the hotel I was looking at, (downtown DC) I was looking at it was about $150 per person plus 22% service charge and 10% tax.

    In comparison, the catering company was around $110 which includes basic table and chairs.

    In the end, depending on your venue and rental fee a caterer can be cheaper.. but if you have a 7,000 or 8,000 rental fee it could end up being more. 

    hope it helps!
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    DCBride2013DCBride2013
    First Comment
    We looked at both hotel packages and bringing in our own caterer. We found that for the venues we were looking at (in DC), bringing in your own caterer was cheaper. With the venue (8k) + caterer, it came out to be around $165 per head for everything. I can't remember if that number includes taxes and fees. 

    The hotel was going to be about $209 per person not including the taxes and fees. We ended up booking a non-traditional venue, but with a hotel like package (they do their own caterering) and it came out to about $250 per person after taxes and fees. Def. found it to be cheaper to bring in your own caterer.
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    LC983LC983
    First Comment
    Thank you all for the information! It's so helpful to get an idea of what we need to budget!
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