Is the catering the biggest expense in a wedding?

I was told catering accounts for 30% of the wedding budget (not including the bar tab). And rightly so. Food and drinks are at the center of hosting correctly.

Catering, alcohol, and potentially the venue are the biggest. For instance my venue was 4k (6k on saturday), catering was around 7k, and alcohol was ~1k. My alcohol was cheaper than most because we only did beer and wine. My wedding was 75 people

We are paying close to 15k for 200 people that includes the venue & tax. I am in northern ca

Our food is going to be about $4000 for about 225 people. This doesn't include alcohol. It is our biggest cost. How much you spend will be determined by where you are and what you get.

In Philly (near my venue) catering was roughly, $100-$150 pp, so roughly $20k-$30k.

Catering was hands down the most expensive part of our wedding.

Depends on the area. Im in Michigan (Metro detroit area). We are paying around $75 a person after taxes and gratuity. Thats for an all inclusive venue which includes an open bar. Its hour biggest expense. The next was photography/videography

I'm in Chicago and my Reception alone was $14,000 including alcohol for 140. Food/beverage is by far the most costly part of the wedding.

Our catering (food, bar, staff, nothing else) is going to be around $9K for 139 and we had kid pricing for the kids, total adults 119. Doing buffet style BBQ so on the lower end but we did upgrade to full open bar (instead of just beer and wine) so would be cheaper if we stuck with just beer and wine. I would guess at least $13K-$15K for 200, at a minimum, for only the food and bar and catering staff. Our venue and chairs and tables are a separate cost.

My answer - it should be.

I saw one breakdown on W/W where the bride said she paid almost $10k for her gown and accessories and also $10k for catering, for a lot of people. I thought WTH?

And yes, I've been to weddings where I thought that catering/hosting the guests was the last things on the couples' minds. We were only offered one passed hors d'oeuvres, at one wedding's cocktail hour we attended, and the supper wasn't much better. We couldn't wait to get out of there, to get something to eat.

P.S. We paid our venue over $39k (before tips) for 225 guests. 4 plus years ago, in a state without sales tax.

@theeOne2Love where are you having your careening and reception .... I'm in Plymouth and we just booked the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester ...

A buffet dinner is costing me $19.45pp in Lancaster county, PA. There were also caterers in the area with plates easily $65+. Just gotta look around and know what type of food you want to have.

Washington, D.C. $7400 for venue and $12,500 for catering (family style, not including alcohol or cake), so about $82/per adult guest. Children and vendor meals were priced at half of that.

The cost of catering is going to be similar to the cost of a restaurant meal. Just as with restaurant meals, you can increase or decrease the price based on the choices you make. (McDonald's costs less than a high end restaurant, and beer and wine cost less than a premium open bar.) So you just have to figure out what is worth it to you.

Our catering cost for food and advance purchase beer and wine, extrapolated out to 200 people would be just over $19k

Yes, typically food / bar / venue rental are the largest part of a wedding budget. 30-50% of the budget.

In Philadelphia PA, it's roughly 100-150pp plus tax and gratuity. In a big city, like Philly and Chi-town, I recommend looking in the outskirts. The original venue we decided on was about 20 mins outside of Philly and we would've saved almost half. SERIOUSLY. Unless you are dead set on doing it in Chicago, I'd highly suggest looking to a smaller area outside of the city.

Catering and alcohol will be about 60% of our total wedding costs. I do have to add our ceremony and reception venue were "free," we only had to meet a food/drink minimum.

Not to hijack your thread, but @ifallforgeeks, where in Lancaster county are you getting married?? I'm 2 days after you in the same area.

ETA we are paying quite a bit pp, but I can honestly say that our food will be awesome and it's one of the things we're looking forward to the most. I'm actually pretty bummed that we will be missing cocktail hour to take pictures, because our hours d'oeuvres will be amazing and I'm jealous of our guests who will be partaking.

We were married in Washington, D.C. and we hosted approx 60 guests on 2k for catering, $400 for booze and $900 for the venue. We came home with a ton of food and sent guests home with food and booze. I almost feel like the photographer was more expensive.

I'm getting married in the Chicago Suburbs.

We are paying about $7,000 for 80 people at our venue (5 course meal, open bar, extra charge for ceremony room).

And keep in mind, that's with a $16 off per person discount since we are getting married in January.