Budget Conscious

If you’re just trying to find the cheapest catering possible then your best option will be to find a venue that allows outside catering and do bbq, Italian, or a Mexican restaurant drop off catering. If you want a more formal setting with a plated meal then you would have to price out in house catering vs finding your own. I paid $134 per person for food but I’ve seen people post about bbq restaurant catering for as little as $10 per person. It is never acceptable to ask guests to contribute to something you are hosting. If you can’t afford to feed them you will need to push your date back in order to save money, cut your guest list, or have a cake and punch reception at a non meal time.

I agree with PP, don't ask guests to contribute or expect anything out of their gifts because you're the one hosting them.
The deal you got for $10 sounds pretty darn good though!! If the venue allows outside catering also be sure they won't charge an additional fee for doing so

$10 per guest is probably the cheapest you'll find. That's a great deal. However, you also have to factor in plates, linens, utensils, drinks (even non-alcoholic is not free). Catering is usually the biggest expense. If you need to cut it, as Kelly said, you need to either cut your guest list or just do a cake and punch reception at a non-meal time. It is not appropriate to charge people for entry into your wedding.

$10 per person is about the cheapest you're going to find I think. My catering is BBQ, ribs, 3 sides, and hors d'oeuvres plus dessert service. I will end up paying $15 per person. Like PP said, if you can't afford to feed your guests, you should rethink what type of reception you're having or do a cake & punch reception in between mealtimes.

$10 per guest is an amazing price. Don't ask your guests to pay for their dinner. You are hosting them, therefore you need to provide food.

Every venue is different. We are paying $12,000 for 120 people. That includes appetizers, dinner, linens, china and staff. It doesn't include alcohol or dessert. I would absolutely not ask your guests to pay for their dinner. If you can't afford dinner, host a short cake/punch reception outside of meal time.

Every venue is different - if you are going to bring outside food in, make sure that your venue is on with that. We are anticipating on paying $14,400 for 120x guests (guest list hasn’t been sent yet, so that number is only an approx.) and that includes everything; appetizers, lunch entree, centerpieces, linens, flatware, China, staff & 4 hr open bar.

$10 is really cheap per person, but please don’t ask ur guests to pay that.

If you are not completely intent on having like a formal dining option, one of my best friends had a taco bar. They bought the meat, the toppings, shells, and the burners and foil pans etc. This way was way cheaper because they didn't have to pay for catering at all, just food, and it was a serve yourself type of deal.

Do that taco meal deal! Then find out if you can bring in chips and salsa and put them at the tables like mexican restaurants do. I honestly would be so pumped if I walked into a wedding and saw that haha

$10 pp is an insanely good deal! Agreed that you should not be asking the guests to contribute though.

View Quoted Comment I thought of that actually! ty!