Catering prices insane

You could see if a local restaurant can cater at closer to that budget versus an actual caterer? As a general rule a buffet will be less than plated. Do your prices include beverage service - if so, can you cut down to beer/wine instead of an open bar?

View Quoted Comment It’s a great idea, unfortunately the local restaurants I have reached out to charge around $50/head, even for buffet style. I’m not even considering going with plated due to the extra cost. No hard alcohol, I’m buying wine and beer wholesale and hired a cheap bartender who is local. I’m thinking of reaching out to local food trucks to see what their prices would be like, although I know that’s not the most wedding type of food to go with

Catering costs are cut in 1/2 if you'd consider brunch/lunch reception instead.

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If it's food that y'all like, then it's wedding type food, as far as I'm concerned (and much more interesting that the standard beef, chicken, fish options).

Is there Mexican/Italian/Barbeque near to you that you like? (I'm trying to think of food that tends to be less expensive to begin with, so their catering will be less)

Be non-conformist! Have fun with it - food trucks would be awesome, as long as the lines didn't get too long.

(Unfortunately, the best way to cut the catering budget is to cut the guest list, and that's always a problem, so it's not something that I'll suggest)

That budget would come out to about $35 per person. I’m not sure where you’re located, but that’s not typically going to cover a full meal for catering. Mexican and Italian seem to be on the cheaper end if you can get price quotes for drop off catering. As others have said, brunch/lunch is on the cheaper side. With that many people, food trucks would be an issue in terms of volume. You’d have some people done eating well before others even get their food.

Unfortunately I don't think your budget is realistic for the number of guests you plan on having especially because a lot of caters have minimums. For example we had a food and beverage minimum of $7,000. Also as another person pointed out food trucks probably aren't going to be the best option for the number of guests are you anticipating. They to be slower which means you will have guests just standing around waiting for food while others have already eaten. That being said I think you are very limited with your options. You could have your reception at a non-meal time and only serve cake and punch or you could do brunch like others suggested as that tends to be cheaper. Or you could cut your guestlist to be able to stick to your catering budget.

How formal do you want your wedding? You can still have an elevated wedding and serve BBQ, Mexican, brunch foods. Say it's couples favorite, make it fun. You can also informally do sub sandwiches, salads, and finger foods for a day wedding. However, whether formal, semiformal, or informal an event, you do not want to run out of food. You, as a host, also should not feel anxious the last person in the buffet line will be out of luck. So I would say, cut the guest list. It is the surest way to reduce costs. Your lowest quote of $35pp is suspiciously low for catering. If you are intentional with all your choices, incl guest list, you will have no regrets and few surprises. Everyone you invite is still an honored guest to be a witness to your commitment. Good luck.

I think this depends on a few things including the location of the wedding and what type of venue you will be having the wedding. I don't think you ll be able to find an all inclusive venue/catering hall for that budget. But you could probably get platters, trays of food, and sandwiches from Costco and a pizza place (think trays of pasta, 6ft heroes, meatballs, salads, veggie, fruit and meat trays, etc within that budget. The timing of the event will also play a part in it. Dinner will be more expensive heavy apps or a brunch is probably doable. Best of luck to you!

The best way to cut expenses is to cut the guest list. I don't know where you are, but your budget doesn't sound realistic for the amount of people that you want to host. I would suggest having a daytime/brunch wedding. If that's still too expensive, then consider having a 2 pm wedding and serve coffee/tea/cake afterward in a more casual setting.

To n it costs we got married outside of the major city we live in. We also used a small locally owned caterer. We spent about $2,000 for 65 people. This was 4 years ago. I don’t know where you’re located, but if you shop around you should be able to find some cheaper options.

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Wow that's amazing! Let us know how you cut costs. It's great that you hosted food and drinks for 65, your tips might be really valuable!

View Quoted Comment Well, as I said, we got married outside of a big city and found a small independent local caterer. And that didn’t cover drinks. We had a DIY venue and provided our own drinks bought in bulk from Sam’s club.

My dinner buffet is $23/pp, which is a standard 2 meats, 2 sides, salad and bread. With cocktail hour food included its probably closer to $32/pp, which is roughly your budget.

My caterer had some options as low as $15/pp for pasta stations and $15pp taco stations. It might take some shopping around but there's cheaper options. Olive garden. Moe's. Other chain restaurants. I'd avoid the food truck, unless they use the food truck as just a buisness vehicle and come already prepared and ready to serve. For 115 people you'd need at least 3 trucks to get the line moving at a good pace.

View Quoted Comment I’m getting married in my hometown, an hour outside of Seattle, so I’m definitely outside of the major city in my area. I’m purchasing my own alcohol, only beer and wine, in bulk to save as well. Im currently looking into more local options that might be cheaper and taking into account all of the advice posted here!

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Wow, that's great! Amazing work cutting costs on that.

I ended up doing buffet style for a Sunday wedding and we were able to keep the costs down for about 100 guests. This was back in 2018 but we were able to plenty of food and even leftovers for about $2,700 for lunch. We had BBQ foods from a local restaurant and also had another restaurant provide us with vegetarian food.

Is $4k your entire food cost? Cocktail hour, late night, main entree? Or is it just the entree cost? In my area $35 pp is very easy to come by or just a main entree, but definitely not for the full menu. If you need to cut costs I would suggest not going with a catering service and instead bring in food from somewhere non-traditional or places that offer less expensive entrees like pasta dishes.

You don’t have to cut the guest list if you want everyone to attend. That is not the answer for everything. Many casual restaurants offer catering but they will be in foil pans that sit inside chafing pans over burners and is served buffet style. The food quantity is larger and you know that the food is good from your favorite restaurant and it costs much less than a regular caterer. We have attended many weddings and parties for large groups with this type of setup and guests all said it was wonderful food and plentiful that they could go back for more later in the evening and even had the option of taking it home as they wished. No complaints to be heard even by those who were normally very judgmental. Where do you enjoy eating regularly that offers catering options?