Catering/food budget of 3-3.5k including fees

3500 for 100 people is basically <$25/pp before tax and service fees. That's very, very cheap and if I found a caterer I liked for that price I would immediately book them. It's definitely possible to do a taco buffet or BBQ for even less than $25/pp, but since you're not interested in those, what type of food do you actually want?

Ours is $43 a person for 100. So $4,300 total just for the food before service charges. Good luck in your search. It is hard to find food within a budget.

For example, even a basic restaurant like Olive Garden... If you took your family to the restaurant and paid for everyone to have a salad, appetizer, meal and desert along with a 2-3 glasses of wine, you'd easily be paying $60-$80 per person. And after a 15% tip and sales tax, it's closer to $100pp. And that's not including any travel & set up that caterers take on.

So a caterer for under $30pp is a huge score IMO!

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The caterer I was leaning towards quoted us $5k, about $40 per person. Fiance and I almost had a heart attack. This is for a salad, 2 meat options, 2 veggie, and 2 starch. Rolls are "included". We could always cut back on one of the sides.

I feel like it's hard to please both side of the family's palette. My side of the family is Asian with majority of the elders pretty stuck to traditional "Asian" food palette and my fiance is American so I was trying to have a little of something so both family would feel like there is something there they could "eat". If that even make sense... lol

View Quoted Comment Girl, I see posts on here and wedding Reddits all the time from brides who went with nontraditional catering i.e. just used a regular restaurant. You could totally find an Asian spot to provide catering and maybe offer something else along with it (but really, what Americans don't like Asian food?? Vietnamese is amazing, Ramen, Korean BBQ, sushi, Thai is my favorite food in the world, or even the Americanized Chinese food is a crowd pleaser).

I think you could save a grip. You just might need to provide your own plates & utensils, and possibly ask a family member to set up the food since it wouldn't come with full service. I found these on Amazon though, and there's plenty more options :

100 desert plates +100 forks for $30 https://www.amazon.com/dp/b07nxs8c68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_9vk4cbk0h0cte

Or 100 heavy weight plastic dinner plates with 100 forks for $35 https://www.amazon.com/dp/b07l2z9tw3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hyk4cb03fvgp7

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Ask if you went with one meat, one starch and one veggie would that cut the price in half

Even doing heavy apps (meal substitute quantity), we're spending around $30 pp. Served buffet style, no booze. If you can find a caterer who can do family style service, you might be able to cut the price some?

Do you want to do buffet you can get it catered by a Chinese place. I do not think you are going to find a fancy plated meal for that cheap. You have to think you are paying for food and service.

View Quoted Comment That could be risky with allergies

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I am a firm believer in giving people choices, but I have been to several weddings that only had chicken as the meat, rice or mashed potatoes as the starch and either green beans or mixed vegetables. I'm sure it's possible but I've never heard of a person being allergic to chicken although they may not eat it. But good luck to you

My caterer is $10,000. That is for cocktail hour food, 3 buffet stations, dessert, 5 hours open bar, set up and clean up. We will be having around 110 guests.

All of the quotes we received for catering were between $4300-$5300 for around 75 people and that was for the least inexpensive meal we could get which was barbecue. We ultimately chose a venue that does in-house catering with more options so we saved some money.

We spent $10,500 on catering/booze for 118 people. That included 5 hours of an open bar, 3 passed appetizers for cocktail hour, a buffet of: 1 salad, rolls, fruit, penne pasta with chicken, a chicken entree, a beef tenderloin carving station, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

I did have a friend who spent like just over $4,000 for catering for 300 people and another $1,100 on booze (spent $2,000 and ended up returning $900 of it after the wedding). The food at her wedding was great and I was shocked at how cheap it was. I think there were 2 appetizers (pinwheels and cheese/crackers) and a buffet of: rolls, 1 salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, Mediterranean pasta, brisket, and a chicken entree. They did 2 types of beer, a red blend, moscato, and champagne, and 2 signature drinks.

It definitely can be done, but I now they searched quite a bit before booking a place. It paid off though!

If you are able to bring in your own caterers, piece it out. That's what we are doing. Get your food from several vendors to bring down the cost. I guess your cost per person depends on where you are holding the event. I could get away with $25 a person where I live if I got creative. We are booking a local grocery store that does catering for part of our food. Their food is actually REALLY good. Nobody would think to call a store to get catering quotes but we checked and were shocked by the quality vs cost. Think outside the box and you can get it done. Good luck.