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June 2021

Is it just me or is this ridiculous......

Dj Tanner, on May 27, 2020 at 2:21 AM Posted in Wedding Reception 0 18
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So my venue has 100 passed hors d’oeuvres at $15.40 per person for my 100 person wedding. So in reality, they expect each person to only select one out of the five passed hors d’oeuvres. Pricewise, for one small scallop wrapped in bacon it’s $15.40..... I know they’re just hors d’oeuvres and they’re not appetizers but do they honestly expect people, especially some of my big manly dude friends who will be at my wedding, to know that they can only pick 1 hor doeuvre per person??!!??!! I guess I’m going to have to go over my budget at this point and order more for cocktail hour, but even if I get 200 hors d’oeuvres, that’s still only two per person. Am I being unreasonable about this? Does this seem crazy? I just don’t want to be embarrassed and have people come up to me telling me that they didn’t even have any of the hors d’oeuvres because a few people ate like five. Is there something I’m missing or not understanding about hors d’oeuvres? Is one small scallops wrapped in bacon really $15.40 as far as average wedding prices go? One grape leave is worth $15.40? Is my can you just exorbitantly expensive or have you all ran into similar issues with the cost of food? I welcome brutal honesty… It’s OK just say it.

18 Comments

Latest activity by Naikesha, on May 28, 2020 at 5:02 AM
  • J
    Master October 2022
    Jana ·
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    That sounds crazy! I understand there's labor costs involved but it's mostly an insane price hike because it's specific to a wedding and they think no one will question it and pay it regardless, and likely won't budge either. Even though the same scallop for a regular party will be at least half that price.
    Best of luck!
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  • Courtney
    Super September 2019
    Courtney ·
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    That seems really high. We had a food package so I don’t know the price of each item but there were 4 passed options and I’m pretty sure it assume everyone would have 4 pieces. I would make sure the assumption is everyone only has one piece because that doesn’t seem reasonable. I’d also ask about adding a stationary app to cocktail hour. You might get more food for the money if it’s not by the item.
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  • D
    June 2021
    Dj Tanner ·
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    Yeah, we plan on having a cheese layout with spreads and cold cuts as well. I’m going to double check with my wedding planner about it though. I hope I’m wrong 🤞
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  • Margaret
    Master October 2020
    Margaret ·
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    That price seems incredibly high. I plan events all the time and at $20 pp I'm getting 3 - 4 different passed hors d’oeuvres, a table with a variety of cheese, crackers and fresh fruits and vegetables dips along with one or two hot appetizers (not passed). Passed hors d’oeuvres should be counted at about 3 - 4 pp (minimum). And the most expensive hors d’oeuvre I've ever passed was about $7 each (it was some sort of seafood - I think crab cakes) and that was at a high-end hotel.

    For the price you're paying, I'd reconsider the passed hors d’oeuvres if it means only 1 per person.

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  • J
    Expert May 2021
    Jaime ·
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    Yeah that seems super high. And to only expect people to eat 1 item? How are they going to control that?

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  • Stacey
    Super May 2021
    Stacey ·
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    You are right; that sounds crazy! Our package includes two passed appetizers, but we want to add 1-2 more and the prices range from $2.50-$4.25/pp depending on what we select (and I would consider our venue very elegant and upscale).

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  • H
    Master July 2019
    Hannah ·
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    Yeah, that's nuts. I'm in an expensive part of the country (NJ), and my pp price was $120 for a package from the venue. This included the wedding venue, full open bar, a cocktail hour with 8 different passed hor dourves (and it was not 1 per person), a carving table, crudites, cheese display, and 2 other hot dishes, and a 3 course plated dinner chosen tableside (prime rib, chicken, or salmon). One individual hor dourve being $15.40 per person seems insane.
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  • C
    Savvy September 2020
    Carolyn ·
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    This is crazy. My wedding is in a HCOL area at a nice restaurant, and the hors d’oeuvres are all under $5 per piece.
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  • Pirate & 60s Bride
    Legend March 2017
    Pirate & 60s Bride ·
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    That’s crazy high. The meat & cheese spread with fruit could be enough. Even that per person was pricey so at our wedding we had 15 guests but ordered enough for 10 guests knowing some are light snackers or would eat anything. Worked out great.
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  • RaylaSan
    Expert February 2021
    RaylaSan ·
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    That's a rip-off the caterer that we hired has hor-dourves going around for $2.50 per person with a serving size of 2 hor-dourves for each person. Would it be possible for you to look into hiring another caterer?
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  • Katharine
    Expert July 2021
    Katharine ·
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    You might want to have another conversation with your caterer. I'm thinking there was a miscommunication somewhere because that definitely doesn't sound right. I had a similar moment with my venue until I asked for more explanation. Turns out a single serving is several pieces (exact # depends on the appetizer in question), not just one piece in most cases.


    I'm guessing they're charging you the $15 for 100 servings of all of the 5 types of hors d’oeuvres, which sounds more reasonable. Though at least for my venue, because of the number of pieces per serving, they recommended slightly fewer servings of each app than guests. Probably on the assumption that not all guests will eat every app (I chose a variety of apps for a variety of dietary restrictions among my guests).

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  • D
    June 2021
    Dj Tanner ·
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    Yeah I’m in RI and I feel like We have some of the highest prices in the country LOL just my luck. But I’m definitely going to double check all of this with my wedding planner. It can’t just be me because everyone that has replied to me so far has said that is insane so I must be mistaken somehow. I’m praying that I’m wrong. I come from a very large Greek Italian American abs Arminian American family. I can’t even imagine what my dad would say if this is the case! LOL who knows I might end up getting a few good laughs out of it if I turn out to be right
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  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
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    Wow that seems kind of high. when i was planning my wedding i saw it was $5 a person. but even then THAT really adds up let alone over $15 a person

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  • W
    VIP September 2020
    Willow ·
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    That sounds crazy high. The most my caterer charges is about $6 per person for a premium hor'doeuvre. And that's per person, not per serving. I am sure they're accounting for people eating multiples
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  • Rebelle Fleur
    Master July 2021
    Rebelle Fleur ·
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    I think you should contact your wedding planner. Maybe it was worded incorrectly and the price given is the pp price for all the not just one. Unless the scallops are dipped in gold that price is absurd.
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  • D
    June 2021
    Dj Tanner ·
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    Lol I agree. The more and more I hear from people and them telling me what they’re spending on hors d’oeuvres, I think I’m just having a ditz moment and it’s got to be five individual items per person. My vendor has such an amazing reputation so I must be messing this up somehow. I sent my wedding planner and email so once she gets back to me I’ll know for sure…I’m feeling a lot more confident that I’m totally messing the math up on this lol, five per person at $15.40 seems more realistic. That would make it 500 individual passed hors d’oeuvres. I think I’m just stressing out and not using my brain.
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  • Rebecca
    Master August 2019
    Rebecca ·
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    I don't quite remember what our hors d’oeuvres were, but we were in NYC, and they were included in our pph, which was $150, for everything.

    So... yeah, that seems a little high.

    Is it that price per *type* or per *piece*?

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  • Naikesha
    Super September 2020
    Naikesha ·
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    That doesn't make sense.

    That's actually ludicrous and expensive. passed hors' douerves aren't even that expensive are you sure you didn't miss understand them because guest are expected 3-4 each and the price shouldn't be that high. I live in NY which is pricey and even that's too much. You can but 100 pack from Costco/BJs for $20-30

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