catering costs

BKJames · December 2010

we are looking for caterers for our wedding and I am getting such different quotes in prices.

what would be a fair/standard price for a wedding with 140 guests--plated dinner, passed appetizers, and a bar tender (we are providing our own beverages)?

Ashes_3 · December 2010

This is definately something you need to post on your local boards. Most places where I Live our 20-25 dollars pp

kaesha · December 2010

Yeah, definitely a local thing and dependant on the quality of the food. I paid 90$ p/p for food alone on Maui. I could have done it for cheaper (like 50-60$ p/p), but really amazing food was a priority for me.

BKJames · December 2010

i guess more so what i'm asking is total costs...set up....clean up....i am getting quotes like 7200 and 8600.

Muffin'sMom · December 2010

Check your local board. Look to the upper left, click on local, and scroll down til you get to your area. The prices across the country are ALL over the place, as well as whatever venue you have. We paid 7 thousand for the site (ceremony and reception areas both, plus set up, clean up, etc) plus 40 per person for sit down dinner and a bunch of pased aps, plus 20 per person for full open bar, plus upcharges because we wanted different linens and china, etc. That was Richmond, VA. But, you can get it way cheaper here or way more expensive depending on where you go and what you choose.

Sue-n-Kevin · December 2010

I peeked at your bio, and your wedding date is not available, so it's unclear how far away your wedding is.

I've been working on mine for over a year, and not getting married until 8/27/11. Here's my take, understanding that prices can vary as much as $20-$50 depending on your geographic area.

It depends on whether you want an "all inclusive", banquet site, which it sounds as though you do, or you get the venue, then pay a caterer to come in, with all that entails, plus a bartender. I'm doing the latter, and in all honesty, it's really not saving me any money.

Our venue: $1000 + 10% of the catering cost (not including alcohol or rentals)

I checked into various catering options such as caterers, plus gourmet stores that do event catering. In the end, the gourmet stores that cater have a lower per person price. However, we have to bring and pay rental for linens, plates, eating utensils. The venue has tables and chairs.

Most all inclusive banquet halls around here are $20 to as much as $100 per person depending on all the things you want and how lovely the site is, as well as how much in demand. If you want passed appetizers, it will be more. A simple buffet dinner with 1 meat, a veggie, potato, pasta, salad and rolls & butter can be found for $20-$30 per person at a basic banquet hall that is nice but isn't really fancy (ie with chandeliers, etc). But we are in a major metropolitan area with a lot of options. I was trying to avoid this cost by finding a caterer to bring the food. In the end, because I'm a "foodie" and like good food, it is ending up costing me about $40 per person with all the rentals plus the cake. But I know the food will be fabulous, as we've had a tasting.

But I agree with all the prior posters, check your local board. My local board has tons of recommendations for places that brides have USED and their reviews.

Good luck.

kaesha · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_catering-costs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:1aef4fd9-20da-4731-9bf1-6bbabafeb58bPost:b8ee3250-b428-4b2e-8864-6b15f48ba5a8">Re: catering costs</a>:
[QUOTE]i guess more so what i'm asking is total costs...set up....clean up....i am getting quotes like 7200 and 8600.
Posted by BKJames[/QUOTE]

How much does your venue cost? How many servers will you need to hire? Are you supplying your own alcohol? What about rentals. There are a ton of factors to play with there.

Only your local board can give you an idea of what general costs are in your area. We spent about 12,000$ (for 30 guests) for the location, rentals, lighting, food, booze, set-up and take-down. But again, it was on Maui at a private estate where I had to bring in a generator for electricity.

amanda_robinson0717 · December 2010

i live in nh but am getting married in maine. we are having 50 guests and amazing food is very important to me, our caterering is $12,700 that includes staff,food, and rentals. we are providing booze and we rented an estate on a ski resort for $8500. so a total of $21,200 total for venue and food. this is too broad of a question to get an accurate answer.

LowerEastSiiide · December 2010

I'm getting married in RI and paying 8 k for the venue fee, about 17k for 100 people food/drinks and about 2k in rentals... so about 28k just for food, linens, tables, chairs and venue.

From what I know of what my family/friends paid, $150-per plate seems about typical - those are for all inclusive places. I seem to be paying more for having a separate caterer and venue

palegirl146 · December 2010

I think you might be going about this the wrong way. You can spend very little or a whole lot based on what you want. What it might be best to do is determine your budget first, and then negotiate with vendors from there. I've found that if I talk to a vendor and tell them exactly what I want to spend, I end up spending pretty close to that. In my area, there are places that charge from $20-200 per person. So, sometimes setting your budget helps you decide what works for you, rather than letting the vendors tell you what to spend!

idsilva · December 2010

Right around $25 sounds reasonable

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