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Sanity Check Please - are these prices reasonable?

Hi all(!), this is my first post so please bear with me.  I'm planning a Brooklyn Heights wedding at a venue where the caterer has to bring in the food prep equipment and chairs/tables/linens need to be rented.  Here's my estimated cost per person:

Food - buffet style $70 pp (excludes alcohol and wedding cake)
Staff $43 pp (includes bartenders, chefs, watiers)
Rentals $50 pp (tables, basic chairs, basic linens, kitchen equip)

So we're looking at $160 a head just for food, staff, and chairs/tables/linens - I know NYC is costly but is this reasonable or high?

Re: Sanity Check Please - are these prices reasonable?

  • edited December 2011
    Are you getting married at the Brooklyn Historical Society?

    But if you are getting married at Brooklyn Historical Society aren't you required to use their caterer?

    Are they just quoting you 50/person for rentals to give you an idea of what it will cost?  

    I think it is reasonable.  It is not the best price you could get but when you are forced to use the in house caterer you don't really have a choice.

    But I will say that I think the historical society is desperate for business so try negotiating with them and the caterer.
  • edited December 2011
    Wow, you hit that square on the nose!  Yes, it's Brooklyn Historical Society and their exclusive caterers, Naturally Delicious.  Good point, I didn't even think to negotiate the venue fee since it seemed pretty low.

    I converted the quote they gave me to a per person rate for comparability.  Good to know that the rates aren't completely outrageous, I'll try to whittle it down a bit.

    Thanks!
  • edited December 2011
    Or maybe use the venue to help you negotiate with the caterer.  Say to the venue, I really want to book but the caterers quote is a problem.  The thing I don't like about the quote you got is this:

    If you have 100 people, rule of thumb is that you have 1 waiter per ten people.  If you have say 2 more people, you don't get another waiter and you certainly wouldn't get anymore staff so I don't like the staffing charges but there is probably nothing you can do about that.

    Did you book the historical society yet?  I think if you book by Dec 30th you get 2k off of the site fee.
  • edited December 2011
    good ideas that everyone has had about negotiating and hopefully you can get the discount off the site fee.  

    we're having our reception at a loft type venue where we're allowed to bring in our own caterer.... and while originally i thought this would save us money, now i think it's going to turn out to be more.  hearing the "minimums" that hotels were charging for us to hold our receptions there gave me sticker shock originally, but now i'm thinking it would have worked out to be cheaper, if not easier.  like you, we're now having to pay for rentals, staff, etc. when usually at a hotel that's included (i think).  

    i'm definitely not trying to talk you out of your location since you probably picked it for a good reason, but if you still have a choice definitely keep that in mind since you still have alcohol to add to that per person total as well.


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  • edited December 2011
    Thanks all.  Yes, we booked the BHS and got the recession special discount.  They also agreed to let us start at 5:30PM, which is earlier than their standard 7-11PM time slot.  I'll ask that they throw in the "lighting package" that costs $500 into the fee, otherwise I'll just do without.

    I never really considered the hotel route, probably because I associate hotel meeting space with work conferences and training.  But it makes sense that in the end there might not be a significant price difference between hotel vs other venue.  I've heard open bar is what kills the budget.  For the venue/caterer we're going with, we select the alcohol options ourselves and the caterer provides the bartenders, ice and mixers (which we could also buy ourselves if we wanted to) - and whatever unopened bottles are left at the end of the night can be returned.  The total budget for alcohol, ice and mixers will be less than $2,000 since I'm only expecting to offer wine and vodka options, plus something sparkling - basic is the theme here.
  • alisonzalisonz member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I would be sure to nail down the cost of the alcohol and the cake cause those could really drive the price up.

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  • edited December 2011

    I don't know how many folks you are planning to have, but your cost for rentals seems a bit high, to me anyway.  My estimated rentals will be about $2000 for about 110 folks, which is less than $50 a person (from my caterer).  But if you are having really big wedding, then your rentals sounds about right.  If you can shop for rentals, I would give it a try.


    If you can buy your own alcohol and cake, then you have a lot of room there to save quite a bit as well. 

  • edited December 2011
    If they have to bring in a kitchen that is why rentals might be higher.  50/person is pretty standard.
  • edited December 2011
    Yup, the rental fee includes kitchen equipment.  I asked them to break it down so I get a better idea of what I'm paying for each type of rental.
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