How much does catering cost?

Our pp for just the buffet is $50.00.

For food alone, ours was $70pp before service charge and taxes.

How much does it cost you to go out to dinner at a restaurant near you (with tip)?

Near me a prime steakhouse is around $100 with drinks per person, while a barbecue place is around $20 without drinks per person. If you want higher quality food it will cost you more.

Venues that hat do their own catering are generally more expensive because they include staff, tables, chairs, linens, set up, clean up, plates, glasses, utensils, etc.

I believe it is easier to host a wedding at a venue that does its own catering because that’s what they do every day. Sometimes there can be hiccups when a restaurant is catering at a place where they’ve never done an event before.

The place I am looking at is $14 per person for the most delicious Texas BBQ you can imagine

We are paying 80 pp. this includes 3 butler passed apps 2 stationary apps for the cocktail hour. Also a plated meal with a salad and 4 hour open bar

For just food (minus appetizers and dessert but includes bread, salad, main meal, non-alcoholic drinks including tea and coffee) and 10 servers and 4 bartenders, ~$85/person. This cost also includes turn over of ceremony space to reception and all clean up afterwards.

Ours is around $175 pp before drinks. This will vary widely by area and type of service. This is about average in my area for a "typical" catering experience (not something alternative like bbq, tacos, etc.)

Mine cost about $19-22 depending of how many guests

My catering is $180 pp. This includes our ceremony, open premium bar, full cocktail hour with passed hors d'oeuvres and 3 manned stations, 4 course seated dinner, wedding cake, and mini butler passed desserts. In NJ I found this price to be on the high end of average, but my venue is giving me a lot of bang for my buck.

As you can see from previous responses, catering costs vary greatly. There isnt a "typical budget" so average costs will be difficult to estimate. Keep in mind, some couples have a $5k budget while others have an $80k budget. However, most wedding websites and budget calculators put catering costs at about 50% of your budget. This is probably a better way to understand what your costs may/ should be. Start by determining your budget and number of guests, then start reaching out to venues/ caterers. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment THIS! Strictly speaking, my buffet dinner is $37pp. But with everything else I’m getting through my catering company (basically EVERYTHING- tables, linens, bar, STAFF, in addition to actual “extra” food like apps for cocktail hour and desserts) I’m paying my caterer effectively something like 130 per person.
Every caterer seems to display this info differently. Some list average per person all in costs, some list literally just the dinner meal without considering apps or anything, so it’s hard to even compare costs of places without formal quotes .

Anyway, catering costs vary DRAMATICALLY by area, so that’s an important thing to consider in a question like this. Some of the answers on here I couldn’t even get drop off bbq on paper plates for in my area. (Not jealous, I swear. ....okay. A LITTLE jealous!)

I'm in Wichita, Kansas and mine is around $13 per person. That amount includes 3 different appetizers, 3 different salads, 7 different pizzas, and a pasta choice we haven't decided on yet. Also includes tea and water service and plates, napkins, cupz, utensils.

It depends on what is included in "catering." My food cost was about $15pp but that didn't include tables, chairs, linens, liquor, bartenders, the VENUE, Etc. Etc.

Average won't mean anything unless you account for all of these variables. Plus there is a difference between buffet with disposable plate and utensils (as my wedding was) vs china and tableware and servers.

Someone who paid $50pp for catering may have had a better "deal" than me if it included those things. It's nearly impossible to say without getting a line by line budget from each person. For most of the crazy high numbers on here like $150pp it includes ALL of the stuff I listed above.

We're spending roughly $175/pp + tax & service charge & gratuity. I found a lot of venues that do a food/bev minimum came out to a higher per person rate than the route we're going, which is a flat venue fee & then paying per person for food & drinks with no minimum. It breaks down to about $25/pp++ for cocktail hour & desserts, $30/pp++ for a 2 entree dinner buffet, and another $30/pp++ for the bar. But then we also have a (roughly $6000) venue fee that covers permits, insurance, rentals (chiavari chairs, china, glassware, linens), and staffing that comes out to just under $100/pp if all 75 guests show up.

Wow! There are a lot of people on here who found amazing catering deals!!

All the venues I looked at included catering in their wedding packages, but since I was meeting a food and beverage minimum - most of them waived the venue rental fee! I was looking in NC about an hour south of Raleigh and all of the places I was touring quoted me between $100-$150 per person for dinner, open bar, and servers.

If you need help figuring out the average cost of a particular service - check out WeddingWire's New Cost Guides!

WeddingWire Cost Guides

Just select the service you're interested in and put in the zip code of where you're getting married and you'll get information about the price range, average spend, and all of the factors that go into that total cost!

Here's a snippet of the info shared for Catering Costs in DC!

As PPs have said, there is no "average" and there is no "typical" budget. For some, the budget is $8,000. For others, it's $80,000. Also, it depends on where in the country you are getting married, the meal you are serving (brunch costs would differ greatly from dinner costs), the type of service (buffet vs. family style vs. plated), the type and quality of food (a BBQ buffet could be $15/head and a plated dinner in NYC could be $250/head) and what is included in the cost. If your venue provides the catering, your catering cost most likely includes servers, alcohol, all dinnerware, tables, chairs, linens, and sometimes décor, dessert, etc. If you are renting a raw space and bringing in catering, your cost might be for food and service only and you would have to rent plates, silverware, glasses, tables, chairs, etc. Also, a BBQ wedding in Texas could be $20/person and a BBQ wedding in NYC could be $80/person.

To get a real sense of costs, decide what type of wedding you want and figure out a budget. Then contact about 3 places that fit your style and budget and that's how you'll get a true average cost for what you are looking for.

We’re paying $120pp not including alcohol or apps, in Southern California near San Diego, and it was the least expensive quote out of 30 venues. Some of them initially were 90pp but after services and tax come out to 125pp.

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We're gonna be getting married in Charlotte, who did you end up using?

We are gonna be getting married in Charlotte, who did you end up using?

Lauren, can you give some more details on where you're located, what time of year & day of the week you want to get married, and what type of wedding you're planning? Most aspects of wedding planning have an enormous variation in cost. What's a bargain for a Saturday in summer in a HCOL area is a ripoff for an off-season, mid-week reception in the country.

We live in a HCOL area (Sydney) and are getting married on a Saturday in summer. We're paying about $200AUD pp ($145USD) for 4 canapés, 2 shared mains with a side salad, 4 sides, a cheese and fruit platter, a sashimi and oyster platter, 2 jar desserts, a wedding cake, plus 4 wines, 4 beers, a sparkling wine, soft drinks, tea, and coffee for 5 hours. Based on our research of many local venues, we found this to be quite reasonably priced given everything it includes. YMMV.