Catering

How many people are you expecting at your reception? Because that number has a large impact on price usually

View Quoted Comment 70 people I feel like that’s not many people. I don’t know I felt like it would be more affordable.

I think for 70 people it's possible if you find something more casual like Mexican or Italian catering or bbq!

Girl I spent the majority of my planning on the food, the stress is real! Especially if anyone has food allergies. If your venue allows it, look into local restaurants that cater. Some of them provide full service(staff to serve and clean) and you can get a steep discount! All the actual catering companies near me wanted $30-$35/pp for just the food. The restaurants I looked into wanted $12-$18/pp for banquet style food(meat/veg/starch)

So I’m doing bbq that’s what we want and I live in Charleston and that’s really popular for weddings so everything is already extra expensive sadly. Thankfully, nobody has food allergies but it’s sooo pricey and we’re trying to do buffet to keep the cost down.

View Quoted Comment We were quoted $1400 for 250 for pizza and salads. I’m sure it’d be less than $1000 for 70!

You can try local schools that have a culinary program, they're usually very affordable and they appreciate the experience for the students.

$1000 for 70 people isn’t that much. Less than $15 per person.
You might try ordering catering from a restaurant as opposed to a catering company.
I think BBQ tends to be pretty cheap.

View Quoted Comment I live in Charleston too! The budget struggle has been real!

That’s actually a great price when you break it down per person. We are paying $145 per person. So I’m not sure you’ll be able to find much cheaper than $15/pp, which is basically your breakdown.

Costco, can help if you are doing a causal style or have people who can be reliable to set up/cook/Jeep cold items cold and hot hot...

Food trucks are fun and can be a nice cheaper way to go.

Some churches offer catering services, especially if reception is in the church.

Italian and Greek Resturants fill you up and can be super tasty and inexpensive. As can ribs, but those are much messier.

Do you have free rein on any caterer? If so, look into restaurants that have a catering menu. What makes it expensive with catering companies is not only the food, but the staff, flatware rentals, chaffing dishes, etc. 1,000 divided by 70 comes to less than $15 a person. Not sure if that budget includes drinks/alcohol. Think about going out to a restaurant and having a couple drinks, appetizer, and entree. It would cost a lot more than $15. Not saying it can't be done, you just might need to be creative. I had sticker shock too! Good luck in your search.