Wedding Catering for under $3000

Hi Kartina,

I would suggest looking at restaurants that caterer. We are having a wedding in MD with the price around $63 per person with apps, salad, rolls, crab cakes, beef medallions, and sides. It's certainly doable.

I don't know about your area but local resturants cater too. Depends on how much you want to spend of course but BBQ places and Italian places all cater in my area St. louis. Call some in your area and see.

60.00 a person around here is pretty good for a group under 100 people. The Maryland/DC area tends to run higher. I don't know what food they are offering you though? What staff and equipment is included in that?

We're having the wedding at a farm outside of Frederick, MD. The company we've talked to is offering the servers, bartenders, linens, and dishes for that price - and it includes a stationary appetizer, two entrees and sides. Alcohol is not included but a bartender is. I do know it's a good price for catering, but we just have such a small budget that I'm wondering if we should do something less traditional. I thought about BBQ also, but I haven't found any good places. I should mentioned we're planning this from Texas, so it makes it that much more difficult!

Katrina,

Out of curiosity what farm are you doing this at?

For all that you are getting, that's a really good price. You could go to 1 entree. You can check the price with BBQ. You have to consider that a restaurant type caterer might not be bringing all the equipment and staff. You would have to find all that on your own.

Hi Katrina- have you tried Absolutely Perfect Catering? They are located in Elkridge MD. I have been to a few weddings in Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford Counties that have used them as their caterer. I am not sure about their prices though.

I had Ruby Tuesday's drop off cater. About $10 per person, woop woop! But no servers I think your price is pretty decent for what you are getting.

That's about what I'm paying, $60/head. Plus my parents' are handling alcohol costs for about $30 a person. It might be hard to find anything for cheaper.

Katrina, is the farm "caterer friendly" -- water, sewer, sinks, refrigeration, etc.?

Fifty guests could fit into a private room at some restaurants. That would save you because they wouldn't have to truck everything out to a farm.

For MD that seems like a decent price. I know Nancy T. mentioned a restaurant reception and while we're doing that Just be careful if you want to stay under a particular budget - some can be pricey. We're paying $78 PP (45 guests) and have a food minimum of $3300 (in Texas). This could have been because we decided on a very upscale restaurant with a private room. Perks are that we can bring in decor, flowers, and a cake.

I found a caterer that was flexible, she let me do my own table cloths, chairs, and beverages. I made peach ice tea, and then ginger ale with strawberry daquari mix (non alcoholic). it went great. we spent 18/person through the caterer. she provided small sandwiches, pasta, salad, water, coffee, tea, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip. saved a lot of money doing that.

To have and to hold - We are having the wedding at Fox Haven Farm and Learning Center. They have a barn on site for the reception, and we also rented out the two houses on the property for the wedding party to stay in. You can see more here - foxhavenlearningcenter.org. It was very affordable and we are supporting the great workshops that they do!

Ashleigh - did you find that it was difficult to manage the timeline of the wedding and the cleanup and everything else that a caterer normally does? I am definitely open to an option like that, but I don't want to be stressed out about logistics!

Girl! If you like BBQ, contact Famous Dave's! Like you, we are having 50 guest....we paid $1250 for:

3 fresh fruit platters (for appetizers while we take photos)

2 trays of salad w/ 3 dressing choices

2 meats (we chose ribs (duh!) and roasted chicken

3 sides (we chose mac 'n cheese, coleslaw and baked beans)

their famous corn muffins! Nom! Nom! Nom!

4 gallons of sweet tea

4 gallons of lemonade

cups

ice

buffet style

Not your "traditional" food but we LOVE BBQ and our day is about what WE want!

ETA: they set up AND take down! They provide the buffet table AND linens! Oh - and they provide all stainless steel chaffing dishes and serving utencils! We could have added the upgraded plastic plates that look like china, plus the silver colored plasticware for an additional $112. Oh - and we're in Fredericksburg, VA

Go to a mom & pop restaurant and do a buffet style from them

We fed 100ppl for $1200

We went to a restaurant and are getting a lot of food for $21 per person!