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My venue is roughly around $17 - $45 per person for the entre, and about $4 - $5 for the salad (this is for a seated meal that it just like a regular rest. and cooked to order), I'm sticking right in the middle around $25 - $35 PP wit the salad. I am in getting married in a mountain town that is little bit on the higher end of prices then some places. Hope that helps

It totally depends on your overall budget. Take what you have to budget for the wedding, subtract the attire, transportation, photography, music, ceremony fee, etc, etc, and go from there! Also, specify if the number you give her includes alcohol and if it includes tax and gratuity, or if you'd pay extra for those. Good luck!

Ours, including salad/food/cake, came out to $34 a person. Not to be rude/stuck-up/spoiled or anything like that but I had a pretty expensive wedding. So the $34 is probably more than you want to spend. (again my parents paid for it) But for a small/rural wedding I'd say no more than $15. If it is rural, LOVE IT!, then what about just getting your local BBQ restaurant to cater? A lot of people do that here in Tx and it is always good.

Oh, and mine is way higher pp than MRW82584, but it includes everything. But we're only having about 75 people, because I wanted to spend more pp than having 200 people and spend less pp, you know?

What type of food will you be serving? I am having a very casual reception in a rural setting. We are having picnic fare (chicken, ribs, red skin potatoes, salad, rolls, coffee.) It is $17.95 per person. Does not include drinks other than the coffee. They are cooking on site. Hope this helps.

My eyes water every time I look at that caterering bill, the food is more than the venue. And so far I am looking a bill based on 100 people and I know we are going to go over a 100 guest. At least they threw in my wedding cake from a bakery of my choice for free. Mines averaged about 40 pp.

Oh and don't forget about bar. That a lot of time is also done by the caterer. Ours came out to $14 per person I think.

Yes the bar is almost as bad as the caters bill. I chose a limited martini, wine and beer bar with a speciality drink. That came to 1200.00 I got a special at a wedding show from Mixology. Ladies in your in the metro DC area thats the best deal around town as long as you book before december 31st lol

I have been a chef for 18 years. I am sorry but it does not make any sense for the caterer/chef to tell you to name your top price. That is totally bizzare and it gives me the impression that they do not have a clue what they are doing. He or she should show you a variety of options / menus and prices and you decide from there. Make sure that you do an tasteing before booking and make sure you speak with someone that has used their services before. It may only be 20 people but it is still can be a huge amount of work especially when you are looking for elegant. High end restaurants calculate their menu prices but by taking the raw food cost at approximately 30%. If you have an idea what you want on the menu the you can calculate it from there. I hope this helps and did not confuse you more. Good luck

Mine is $40 per person but that includes the rent of the venue, tables chairs, linens, servers, the table and glassware and everything. The $40 is actually $20 off the normal price because we are having our wedding on an off day.

I do agree with Angie, it seems a little odd that they are having you name your top price. I would feel a little more comfortable if they had some kind of menu and was able to tell you "I can do this for this much on the lower price range or this for this much on the higher price range"

Angie said it best...she should have a set price and then you can negotiate from there. Ask her what she usually charges...I assume she might need to figure in the cost of having some help even if it is 20 people that is a lot for one person.

I'm also with Angie. Don't tell her what you're will to spend. Just tell her what you want and she can tell you what it will cost.

Yes, we were talking about this yesterday and it does seem a little odd that she's asking us what we're willing to pay before she even knows what kind of reception we want. I think we're going to first present with her with some food ideas and go from there. Thank you sooo much for everyone's comments. I'm a first-time bride at 45 years old and haven't even been involved in a wedding in almost 20 years, so I'm having some sticker shock with some prices I've seen lately. Thankfully, we think we found a terrific photographer at a really great price.

The range can be pretty wide. I've seen really low end caterers in the Chicago area charging as little as $10 a person, and at the top end, you can spend $250 or more.

With a personal chef (I've hired a couple) I usually go about the same price as a good restaurant meal minus the liquor. It usually works out to between $30 - 50 a person, plus tip. If it were my wedding, I'd figure between $75 - $100 a person for a once-in-a-lifetime event.

But I would also hire a server or two and a bartender. They will make service and clean-up much easier and well worth the expense.

I agree with the others...don't mention how much you can spend before you know what she can offer. The first rule of negotiating is to keep that info private! Once you let that cat out of the bag, you're going to loose all negotiating power.

Ok, gang, we are not used car salesmen. You tie our hands when you give us NO idea how much you've allocated for your food budget. I can work up a buffet of lobster and steak or I can work up a buffet of hot dogs and tater tots ... or I can come up with something in between. I always ask my brides "What kind of budget number do we need to keep this UNDER?" I'm not there to try to get most of their dollars .... I want them to get the most for their dollar.
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It takes a lot of time to meet with a couple, work up some quotes just to be told "Oh, we only wanted to spend $500 for 400 people!" Why even waste my and your time? Tell us that up front and we can either help you with foods that fit that budget OR help direct you to a caterer who can work within your budget.
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We are not the enemy. We want to work WITHIN your budget to get you the most for your money that you can. But we need to know where YOUR mind is so we can get there with you and help you achieve that vision you have

I understand you're not the enemy, Debi. However, I think that the better way for the caterer to handle this situation would be to say, "We offer many selections in a wide variety of prices. Would you like to see our $15-25 meals, $30-40 meals, or our $50-60 meals?" I think it's totally unreasonable to expect the bride to tell you her "top price" right out of the gate.

I have a friend who is a caterer who does many small weddings. She said it is more expensive per person for her to do a wedding for 20 than it is to do a wedding for 100. I appreciate the brides input, especially the Potter's, but $48 pp for food, cake, and bar is very cheap in parts of the East Coast. I'm sure the caterer is just trying to figure out if you're even in the ballpark. I would expect to pay the same as if I went to a nice restaurant unless you're doing a buffet. Good Luck!

Yes, now I'm just completely confused. LOL