Help - catering just put me way over my budget!

Do you have a favorite moderately priced restaurant? You might talk to them about catering. Often restaurants for whom weddings aren't a big part of the business will have more reasonable rates than wedding caterers.

What are you serving? What does that include?

What about maybe using one of you and your FH's favorite restaurants to cater. To cut budget that's what I'm highly considering. Some restaurants even can come and set up and provide dinnerware and serving utensils?

Linda,

Did you give them your catering budget when you discussed your vision? Our caterer was able to reduce things little by little for us. Different linens and table settings could reduce the price as much, if not more than changing the menu. Best of luck!

Fifty guests for 1800.00 isn't a crazy amount; just over 30.00 per head, and if that includes staffing and rentals/disposables, that is a great deal. I don't know where you are, but in my area, (NJ), you can barely go out to dinner for that much. A catered backyard party, wedding or not, would start at around 50ish, without staff and tableware, tables, chairs or liquor.

It's one thing to have a budget, and I totally respect that, but your budget has to originate somewhere; it can't just be a number. If you can't go out to a reasonable dinner in your area for 25.00 a person, then it's kind of unlikely to think that you can cater a wedding for that kind of fee. How did you arrive at that number? Did you do any research first? Is it possible to change your plans to be at a less expensive restaurant in your area?

You can negotiate. Remember they want your business just as much as you want theirs. So go back in there and tell them what you wanna pay, then meet in the middle.

You'd be surprised on how much stuff you can negotiate for a wedding.

if you can't, look at the menu and start chopping things off that you really don't care about or need.

You also might want to think about a small local restaurant with good food to do it too.

God speed date twin!! lol

Depends on your area. Most wedding food isn't fancy. I can get grilled chicken, veggies, and salad for under $10 at some places. The food at the country club we are having the reception at starts at $19 per person and goes up to $25. Buffet starts at $27. A place 5 miles from the club is an actual wedding hall and their per plate starts at $35 per person and $45 for the buffet. They charge that because it's a wedding. They get away with it because brides are willing to pay it without questioning it.

You aren't really paying for the food. I use to work in a catering hall. They get their food for way less than they charge you for. They would make a profit if they charged $1 for a piece of chicken or beef. Trust me. I've seen the shipping invoices. So maybe you can call a place like Mad Mex or Olive Garden and see what their prices are. Sometimes when you order in bulk, the price goes down.

It's not more expensive because it's a wedding; it's more expensive because the average wedding, unlike your average dinner or birthday party, is five hours of cocktails, four courses (in some cases), wedding cake and dessert. It IS fancy. It can only be done once, and the expectations of everyone from the bride and groom to the last plus one guest, is different. There is much more involved in a wedding; trust me, I was a caterer for years.

And guess what, Miss Tattoo; people in business make a living by buying thing for less than they charge. They also pay insurance, staffing, workmans comp, gas, electric and taxes. I was often the last person paid (if I got paid at all, as an owner). The average catering hall or caterer is not getting rich by overcharging you. Yes, they want your business as much as you want them. But they have a business to run, and this notion that all wedding vendors cheat their couples is insulting and, for the most part, fictitious.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

*Celia - I live in a very small town just SE of Atlanta so restaurant prices are low here.

*Future Mrs. Covington - I was just looking for a buffet, nothing fancy. The buffet would only have salad, one entree and no dessert. Both caterers knew that.

*Amy - I did give them my budget. The $1800 price was a discount.

*2d Bride, Miss Tattoo, Nat and Bradley - thanks for the restaurant suggestion. I will check with some in the area and then look at renting chafing dishes, etc.

Appreciate all the help - will keep you posted.

Well this is what we ended up doing (and I'm 30 mins south of the Seattle area, take that as you will):

We found this amazing Italian resturaunt that does catering. For 100 people, we had 2 salads, rolls, 3 different types of pasta noodles, and 3 sauces. They delivered the food to our reception area. Total cost about $800.

My mom found this other company where its a lady and another helper and they keep the food in the hot dishes (my mom bought those), kept it full, and kept drinks full. My mom paid for this and didnt tell me how much they charged, but my mom was very satisfied (and she can be cheap lol).

I definitely would suggest shopping around and definitely look into resturaunts. We provided all our own linens, dishes, etc. So we just paid for the prep and delivery. =] Good luck!

I agree with checking local restaurants. We have a very small budget (3000 for 100 people) and that is what we did. We ended up find a really great place with TONS of options for only about $8 per person. (2 choices of meat, salad, dinner rolls, and choice of any two sides which were anything from fruit to loaded baked potatoes) Plus it's a really good place that everyone we have talked to so far loves. It did take us quite a while to find the place. We ended up looking at nearby small towns which is where we found them.

As mentioned above look into area restaurants. That's what I'm doing and I'm only paying $25.00 pp for salad, 2 entrees ,drinks and a 4 hour unlimted hosted bar with all the servers,bartenders and the fixins .

I honestly don't think that price is that bad at all especially for that amount of people. Since food is such a big part of the wedding, can you adjust the remaining part of your budget at all? If not, then I would echo what other people have said with regard to asking a restaurant to cater. For instance, Buccas Italian Restaurant and Champps Restaurant cater and they have meals starting at $12 per person.

Best of luck to you.

2000$ for food when your whole budget is 6000$ doesnt seem like a lot of money. We are spending almost 3000$ for our meal and its for 25-30 guests.Its my FH very favorite place to eat and to us it is 100% worth the money we are spending - its truly 5star quality food and being foodies thats what mattes to us and what we want to share with our friends and family.

The last two weddings I attended, the food cost priority was low on the list and honestly it sucked. I think its a matter of what matters most to you. To us, the food was a top priority to us, second was our photographer and honestly there wasnt much else that we cared about. So for us it was easy. I think if you really look at what matters most to you, re-working your budget wont be hard. Not suggesting you should have food be "more" important or anything....just suggesting you make a list with your wedding priorities, and see where catering ranks. It might help create a easier vision of where your budget will be spent.

Hey! I too am from atlanta, well, i live in alpharetta actually, but close enough, if you want i can pass you my ''notes'', from catering and you can see how you like, i have gotten it down to 9 dollars per person

This post is from 2011

I did just realize lmao sorry