Catering Costs

It depends on the caterer, but I would tip 20% anyway so 18% gratuity is actually a little cheaper than what you should be tipping in my opinion.

Unfortunately, that is pretty normal. Ours is similar, the gratuity isn't added automatically but the service fee doesn't count as the tip so we'll be tipping 10%-20% depending on service quality. I've noticed other brides mention the same situation.

This is very normal. This is how catering and venues make money, $12pp sounds great originally but once you break it down for final payment it is almost double. Don't forget tax!

We paid an "industry surcharge" of around 10% and tax, in addition to paying hourly fees for each staff member. They didn't add in gratuity though, that was something we paid separately. Food was only about half of the actual cost, the other half was staff.

Yeah, unfortunately this is standard. What's nice is you have a final total and don't have to worry about giving cash in an envelope on the wedding night.

Unfortunately, that’s pretty normal. Think of it this way—if they’re serving 200 guests they’re going to want to make sure they get a tip. Just like when you take a large group to a restaurant and there’s gratuity added automatically.

Our contract is very clear that there will be a 20% "service charge" in addition to an 18% gratuity that will be added to the final bill.

It sucks, but it's the reality of professional catering and venues. A quick calculation of the math, and your $600 service fee is actually less than 20% of your total, so you're getting off a bit cheaper than some. Tip is often calculated by the establishment for a large event. Even in a regular restaurant, if you come in with a large group, they often have a policy that allows them to add an 18% automatic gratuity, to make sure they get tipped for serving a large group.

Yea that all sounds pretty standard to me. And at $12/person sounds super reasonable!

It depends on the caterer but I didn’t pay a service fee and my gratuity is entirely optional(but we’re paying it anyway of course). My caterer’s company is a smaller staff so maybe they have more freedom with pricing? Not sure.

Completely normal. We're at one of the cheapest venues in our city and it adds 21% service fee, and 8.9% tax. That doesn't include tips.

We havw 18% gratituity tacked on to our Bill. Meala aee $49/plate. I've just accepted thats what it costs but we only have around 80 guests expectes to show.