Catering on a Budget

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That's not a bad idea either!

Cake, punch, and pizza, salad, burgers and dogs.
Don't forget, tip and taxes
I have 70 people and my current caterers estimate is $5000. Now that includes linens and insurance and all that but still. 200 people for $1000? You might need to reduce the guest list.

I'm working on cutting down my guest list. Thank you, everyone.

I think you’re going to have to settle for a bunch of spaghetti and some loaves of bread. We are spending $2500 to feed 55 people. You may want to cut down on your guest list.

I would see if you could cut costs elsewhere? Or see if your family or friends would be willing to help you cook? Most people expect a meal at weddings and you don’t want a reception of 200 hangry guests

In our area your not getting catering service for less than $15 a head for dinner but we've considered self catering and making tacos or our own submarine sandwiches. Subs we priced at feeding about 4 a sandwich and we could do then for about $10 each. Tacos were about the same price for a dozen but would need to be cooked and kept hot. If it's in winter my family sometimes does chili or soup parties that end up being less than a $1 a guest.

One of items on my menu is assorted tea sandwiches, that came out to $4 pp. A lot of caterers make you pay for servers if you are under a certain price per person. My venue is at least 30 per person or you have to pay 125 per server. Even though I'm having a buffet, they are required to replenish food and keep everything warm. You may want to look into something that is low maintenance, like sandwiches that do not need to stay warm and do not need servers.

People are saying it is not possible, but it totally is in my case.
We are getting lasagna and garlic bread from an authentic Italian restaurant for around $350. It is absolutely delicious. We will likely buy salad from Costco or something similar to go along with it. Additionally, we will probably provide water, lemonade, soda, beer, and wine as drinks, however guests are allowed to bring their own preferred drinks into the venue as well.

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I think you're my hero right now. That's a really good deal. I can ask some local restaurants and do the Costco thing. Thank you!

View Quoted Comment This. Or cut your guest list.

We're going with Chicken shack

PARTY PACK #3Party for 75

150 pc. Chicken
6 pans Shack Potatoes
3 pans Cole Slaw
6 doz. Rolls
$436.35
(Under $6.00 per person)

Everyone always says that BBQ, Italian and Mexican are the cheapest catering options but I looked into all of them and they were crazy expensive and we are only having around 75 people. That is a lot of people on a very small budget, so I am not sure you will find anyone to cater for that amount. I'd strongly suggest cutting your guest list way down but if you can't or don't want to do that....you will definitely need to find other areas to cut into so that you can have more of a food budget. I am also assuming you are not counting drinks in that budget either.

Some casual wedding food options are...

A pizza bar! Depending on the pizza places in your area, you can get pizzas from $5-$10 each and they will deliver-in 30 mins or less haha JK! My cousin actually did this for her wedding last weekend and it was surprisingly a hit!

You could also do an appetizer buffet instead of a full meal.

You are in a tight spot and have a difficult decision to make. Lowering your guest list and having your reception earlier in the day vs at dinner time, not having alcohol are probably the best ways to cut costs. Good luck and I hope you find something that will work for you.

Uff this sounds almost impossible. You might consider buying all the food and having a family member or make it yourself the day before? I’ll say Italian or Mexican and just have buffet style.

Cake and punch! Early in the day.

You could cook it yourself! We have around 80 guests coming and we are making all of the food ourselves and it is only costing about $700

We won't be having more than 100 people but our reception will be a BBQ and mini carnival.

We are doing a taco bar from our favorite street taco stand in town and if you get more than 200 tacos they are $1 and it comes with limes. We are also getting rice and beans for $50 it may not be the ideal wedding meal for some but our crowd is definitely not a plated multi course meal kinda group so a taco bar works for us.

View Quoted Comment No problem! Food was an area we wanted to cut down on costs, but still taste good (better than your typically catered food).
Keep searching! Maybe look for a local deli/restaurant that does party sized portions of food. They could be willing to provide, although someone might have to pick it up the day of.

I had a friend post on FB marketplace in Spanish asking for any local caterers. She got more than 30 responses from local people quoting her insanely low prices for traditional Latin food. There was shredded pork, veggies and more. It wasn't the most incredible food I've ever had, but it was good and memorable!

If you speak Spanish or know anyone who does, I'd recommend giving it a shot!

Truthfully your budget would only be around $750-$800 for 200 people since you need to factor in tax and tip.

For $3.75-$4 per person you might want to consider a cake and cocktails reception with light appetizers.