Anyone else getting married in Hawaii? Catering craziness...

Wish I could help. Good luck!

Good luck! I would expect the catering to be a lot more in Maui, but that's a bit much considering that's catering alone, not the reception site rental and extras. Is it the type of food you're choosing or is that just their price for almost everything?

We haven't decided on the food yet but told them the lower price food would be fine. I am hoping they are really over estimating to be on the safe side. My FH and I are fine with paying twice as much as on the mainland or maybe even three times as much but seven to eight times is just crazy! Sigh...hoping our coordinator can work something else. If not my FH is an awesome negotiator so I'll just have to be patient until we go scout in October and can negotiate in person. It's just stressful because the catering is such a HUGE portion of our budget.

I live in hawaii and love Maui. What a great place to get married. As soon as I fly in from Oahu it is a feeling of instant zen. :-)

Have you talked to the Caterers on The knot website? You can click on Local vendors, then hawaii, then caterers. I checked and there are a few to pick from. Most caterers can work with your budget if you are up front with the budget. Keep in mind that not all of your friends and family will be able to attend because of distance, flight and boarding expense, and time away from home. Also, it depends on what you want to serve. You can do a luau buffet style which tends to be a little less expensive, but OH so good.

I have talked to the caterers listed on The Knot and from brides on Best Destination Wedding Forum. I'm hoping our coordinator will find the best three options then on our scouting trip in Oct. we can taste and negotiate! Once we are in person and have tried the food I think we'll have a better idea of what we are willing to pay for. We are def doing a buffet dinner (but not luau, we are doing local food for our rehearsal dinner) to save on service costs but the prices are still ridiculous. We are hoping to use our numbers as a negotiator too (80 ppl is really being conservative, there could be as many as 100! ugghhh to catering cost) since it's a lot less work/cost to do one wedding that has 80 guests than two weddings with 40 each. 40 seems to be the average guest count for most Hawaii destination weddings. Thanks for the advice! It will all work out in the end I was just hoping for a magical suggestion!

I would say that the average cost per person for catering is $25-35, so the price range seems about right for Hawaii. It definitely sucks though I'm looking at San Diego prices and at the hotel I am considering, it's about $50-70 PP, but that includes the location. I hope you can find something a little less expensive. Good luck!