Catering costs

View Quoted Comment To include alcohol it’s $18 pp or mixers, soda, bar set ups etc are $6 a person. So our plan is to pay their $6 for setups and bring in our own beer, wine, 1-2 cocktails.

Sarah, i am in new jersey as well and i understand your pain! Everywhere i have gotren quotes from had been 15000 and above for a MINIMUM of 150 people. Its absolutely insane! We had to change everything (date, place, etc) just to save us 6000 bucks. Not aure where you are in the state but i do know of a slim few cheaper places i could recommend if you were interested

That’s similar to ours. Our food cost is $25,000 for 200 people in Carmel, CA. That’s passed appetizers during cocktail hour and a 4 course plated meal. And then alcohol will be about another 10 grand on top of it.

Omg that's expensive!! At least it would be considered that in my area (south Texas). Did you already book the venue??

Catering near me (Chicago) is $130-$150 per person not including alcohol. I haven't found anywhere that's significantly less expensive than that without getting into food that's way too casual and not my style like fried chicken and such.

I was pretty astounded by catering and venue costs, for sure. Then I started reading this thread. Holy tons of money, Batman! My primary goal was to not go into serious debt over our wedding. We're older and paying for it ourselves. We looked around and were able to find a venue that charged $1400 for an outdoor open venue rental from 10 am - 10 pm, china, tables, linens, wait staff, and setup/tear-down of the ceremony and reception. We're doing a Sunday wedding, which we found to be about half the cost of a Saturday. Food is an all-you-can-eat buffet for $19.95 per person, and we're doing a 'per pour' price on wine and soda + a keg of craft beer. At least 50% of our guests don't drink, so doing an open bar fee per guest would have been a total waste of money. Just wanted to share, in case some are looking for cheaper options. We're doing more of a picnic theme in the fall, so it's informal and low-key. We're in the Chicagoland area, and decided to have ours just over the Wisconsin border. Tax in WI is half what it is in our area, and their rates tend to be lower.

This is why we are doing a brunch. $38 for food and alcohol. China rental is $7pp. Catering staff only adds $400. No cake cutting fees. We are in the south though. Total costs for 60 guests is a little over 4k with other rentals.

View Quoted Comment I wish we had the option to bring in our own alcohol, but our venue doesn't allow that. My fiance works at Trader Joe's and could get his discount on the alcohol from there. ☹️ It would be a lot cheaper.

View Quoted Comment Everything is expensive in Jersey! We did already book the venue. We wanted a barn and found one that is absolutely exactly what we wanted so I really don’t want to change it!

Goodness!! That's $115 a person!!
We're paying about $3,000 for 100.

View Quoted Comment So much cheaper! Food stores here don’t sell alcohol but we’re considering driving to a Costco in Delaware because that’s where we will get the best price!

View Quoted Comment Sorry to hear that someone else is suffering our high prices! I’m in south Jersey but I don’t think I’m in a position to change anything around. The venue is absolutely my dream and I’ve already put down a deposit!

I’m at $24k in DC, granted an expensive place to live, no venue or booze for 150.

We're getting low country boil for $35 a head. That comes with a chicken option, cole slaw and key lime pie. They generally supply tables (good), chairs (metal folding so I'm renting chiavari), plates (it's Fiestaware so it doesn't match my colors) and linens (same thing).
We have a second caterer coming from a well known local restaurant for hor d'oeuvres (along with cornbread and a veggie option) but because of a long standing business relationship we're not sure how much it will be for us. It retails at $35 a head, which we have the budget for, but will wind up being anywhere from a gift to $19 a head.
We're doing self-serve beer and wine, so even with staff managing that table it should be less than 1200 for 75.
I feel like this must be wrong, though! I've done the math and refigured it a dozen times but I either hear *much* higher or something ridiculously low. It's just the golden ticket if it's right.

It was shocking! We were hoping for maybe $80 per person and ended up at $137 per person. I’m in Baltimore and that includes open bar, two signature cocktails, five passed hors h’oeuvres, two dinner stations, two mini desserts, cake, linens, silverware and glassware, and staff.

Same, for about 130 people before taxes and service fees. I think that's pretty normal. Usually catering is the biggest expense and the venue cost is much lower.
Between dinner, hors d'ouvres, open bar, and taxes and service fees we are at about 24k.

View Quoted Comment Smart thinking!

What area? I got a good deal in Maryland

Mine is 1300 for the food for 80 people. Doesn't include any rentals but includes paper plates. We are having tri tip and turkey with 2 sides, rolls and drinks. If we included rentals we would be at about 2300 on a best guess. I'm also in Idaho so it's cheaper than most states.

View Quoted Comment I'm in the Chicagoland area! We are getting our catering from Relish Caterers. Very reasonable in their prices, and have options for renting dishes, etc!