Food & Liquor Cost

That's really reasonable. In my area you can't get food and booze for less than $120/person.

Sounds great for the buffet! Any city area is pricey. I'm only having beer, wine, and a signature cocktail so I can't comment on the open bar price. Your best bet is to cut your guest list so you can spend that much per guest- food, alcohol, venue might take up half, but 75% is pushing it since there is so much else you have to buy.

$50 for open bar seems high. Have you tried to ask for a break down of fees or negotiated the price? Also, would you consider just beer/wine or beer/wine/signature drink if that affected the budget?

Ours was $175 p.p., in an east coast city, at a fairly all-inclusive hotel. It included the service charge, cake, 4 plated courses, tons of cocktail hour food, a desert bar, linens, and 5 hours of open bar.

It's very difficult to compare. I've been to two weddings, out of our area, that had buffets of only 2 meats, 2 sides, roll and salad; the couples couldn't have paid much for that.

Our venue/food/drink was about 40% of our budget.

Sounds about right. I'm in the 'burbs between Boston and Providence. Meal prices were right around yours. Not sure about the pp cost for open bar. We did a consumption bar and I was incredible surprised at how low the bill was - it came out to about $20/person. We had a smaller wedding with about 80 people.

The struggle is so real on the guest count! I personally only wanted 100 or less people - but my parents are paying and they added a lot of friends and family that I would not have invited if I was not told I had to. I may just have to talk to them and say we need to make some cuts and see how it goes over - they are setting the budget and truly I think what they have offered is very reasonable. I knew this was going to be expensive but I am still having sticker shock!

I would def consider just beer and wine, that makes it 40$ pp. We could do consumption but it makes me kind of nervous not knowing how much it would come out to. Both of our families and friend groups like to drink. I think if we did by consumption for 150 people it might come out to more than the 40pp.

40-50% seems much more reasonable of total budget. I have not tried negotiating yet but I am willing!

That seems like a lot to me for buffet. I looked at caterers in the Orlando area and the affordable ones I found were around 30 PP for a basic buffet (2 meats, 2 sides, a few passed apps, salad, rolls). Maybe the Orlando area is better than I thought...

Yeah, 30-35PP was more what I was hoping for for a buffet. I'm just not sure if I'm crazy to think I can find that around here!

Hi Teresa!

I am from south of Boston and I found a venue that gave us full open bar for 5 hours for $28 pp. We are also offering Filet Mignon and Salmon which got us to $40pp, so $68 a head for everything. Our venue is on Cape Cod. Where are you looking?

If you think about the last time you went out for dinner and ate four courses with drinks....

What did it cost you?

Not 104$ per person! I think the most I have ever spent on dinner was 150$ for two people and that was with a few drinks each, apps, meal and dessert. At a nice place. If I could get 75$ pp I would be over the moon but it seems unrealistic.

KDoubleU that price is awesome! We are looking around the Waltham area but as far up as Portsmouth, NH. I have not looked around the cape much but may have to reconsider!

Welcome to wedding planning. It's not cheap.

@Teresa - You can't get a buffet in our area for less than $75 pp all inclusive. I just saw the bill for the buffet dinner and open bar Christmas party that I went to on the weekend (I'm the bookkeeper, I had to pay the bill), and it was $87 pp. Mind you, it was one of the nice venues in the city and the food was spectacular.

Sounds amazing...I'm at $85 pp for just buffet and drinks.

85$ pp seems reasonable! For alcohol and buffet I am at 104$ pp.

The food price sounds totally reasonable but the alcohol price seems high. Does your venue let you bring in your own booze? My venue lets us bring in our own alcohol so it will end up being less than $20 pp for full open bar. Is the food price for just food or service too? I am also in Massachusetts and got lots of catering quotes before deciding. Pm me if you want specifics

Sounds reasonable. I'm on the north shore ma 20 mins north of Boston and our plated dinner is $95 pp, open bar is I think 40. Look into doing a consumption bar, which allows you to pay per drink. This is good if you have a good portion of guests who don't drink or drink very lightly.

That's very reasonable. My food cost is built into the venue price. It's $130 pp with consumption pricing on alcohol. We are estimating about $6,000-$8,000 bar tab for 150 people.