Nosey Questions...

[shanah_cheyenne]

How much have you guys spent or plan on spending on catering? And for what services exactly? Say in like $500 increments.... $0 to $500, $500-$1000 etc. etc. Or maybe not how much you spent, but what do you feel is typical?? To me, the prices seem outrageous. I catered my sisters wedding and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My hubby and I are thinking about going into the business, but I don't know where to start price-wise. I charged my sister the cost of food 'cause I didn't have the $$ at the time. For almost 200 guest it was just under $500 so that doesn't even include labor! No wonder caterers make so much! We also decorated her reception site and did a fantastic job if I do say so myself. We'd love to do this as a side job for fun... What do you guys think?

I think it depends on what city you're getting married in. Smaller places are less expensive, while big cities (such as Vancouver) are horrendous. My friend got married last summer, and her catering alone was over $2000.

[justnmary]

Nosey question back...are you hoping to solicit business from here? If so please keep it to the classifieds. Thanks

[Julz518]

I agree with Ciarri... it totally depends on where you are getting married, what kind of reception you want, what kind of service you want, how many people you have, etc.

But, for my wedding (outside of Pittsburgh, PA) the catering is $5000 +tax. That's for 250 people, so it's $20 per person. My wedding is a "casual but elegant wedding" at a private 300-acre farm we have rented for the weekend. The catering price includes:
Service: 10 servers for 5 hours, including 2 bartenders
Appetizers: bacon-wrapped scallops, chicken skewers, "fancy" cheese & crackers, mini quiche, and a mediterranean platter
Dinner: Roast beef au jus, chicken cordon bleu, green beans almondine, mashed tatos, salad, artisan breads, whipped butter

I have to supply all the drinks, dinnerware (i.e. plates & silverware), tables/chairs/linens, etc.

I figure, that's about what you pay at a decent family restaurant, and I know all the food served will be fresh, not frozen. If I was going to serve frozen lasagna from Sam's or deli trays or hamburgers or something like that (not that there's anything wrong with that), then I would expect to pay a LOT less.

So, I think people are willing to pay a little less then they would for the same meal at a restaurant (I say less b/c you are buying/preparing a bunch of the same meals in bulk). When pricing, you need to consider how much the food cost, what hourly rate you want to charge for your time, and how long it will take you to shop, prep, cook, transport, serve and clean-up the food.

[s2bmrsfields08]

We originally were going to have everything catered until we talked to our local caterer and found out how expensive it was going to be!! We want a rather long reception bc so much family is coming in from out of town. But don't want to spend alot of money on it since it's not the main focal point of the day. We attended a friend's wedding a couple weeks back and she had her ceremony and reception in a barn. She only served sandwiches, chips, crackers, fruits, and veggies at hers (ofcourse besides the cake). Since we are having in the garage section of our local community center (sounds wierd but it was the biggest place size-wise in our rural area). So we decided to do something similar with our theme and do it all up more western (Texas-themed) decor with a little romantic feel to it. So.. having the cheaper route of sandwiches etc was the best option vs having a caterer......but that's just us. I think by the time we add in beverages, cakes, etc. it will still possibly be about $1,000 depending on how many guests actually RSVP. I guess it all depends on what you're going for. We're having a 5-7 hr reception (just by itself) so having something that wasn't a sit-down formal dining experience was what worked best for us and our guests AND OUR BUDGET (LOL). But, I would just really consider everything you're going for as far as the experience for your guests etc. What kind of memory are you trying to leave for your reception? (On another nite we seperated our sit-down formal dining experience to be for the immediate family and wedding members after the rehearsal...more intimate and easier to not rush).

[Heather]

$17,500 for location that included full sit down dinner, open bar all night, cocktail hour and a half, and a bottle of red and bottle of white on each table. I don't have a breakdown on location cost vs. food/bar cost.

[Julz518]

How many GUESTS did you guys have?

[imstilldreaming]

As I remember, ours was about $1300 for 80 guests I think, for light refreshments (sandwiches, cheese and cracker plates, fruit plates, punch and umm some other stuff I don't remember. ) That also included crystal plates/glasses and table linens.

I was going to do all of the food myself until I started pricing rentals for linens, serving trays, silverware, plates, etc. It would have been twice as much. Although, looking back, I think I would have rather paid more and got what I REALLY wanted (a tea party type reception with lots of different kinds of fun desserts, coffee, and tea selection) than paying less and settling for what they could give me.

[shanah_cheyenne]

Originally Posted by justnmary

Nosey question back...are you hoping to solicit business from here? If so please keep it to the classifieds. Thanks

Nope, just curious. I don't even have a catering business to solicit! I did it once and enjoyed it and was just asking for opinions. I'm looking into it as a possible future side job, and when that time comes I promise I'll use the classifieds. AND if you look... my current business IS in the classifieds.

Thank you all who have posted so far. It's good to have insight from other brides. The catering job at my wedding was incredible, but it was a friend who charged only the cost of food. He did the same spread a few months later for someone that had seen him at my wedding and they paid him $12,000.00!!!! I think ya'll are right. It depends on several different things. I appreciate it!

[Heather]

Originally Posted by Julz518

How many GUESTS did you guys have?

Is this question for me? If so, we had 175 show up, invited almost 200. The number we gave to them was 175.

[shanah_cheyenne]

Originally Posted by s2bmrsfields08

So we decided to do something similar with our theme and do it all up more western (Texas-themed) decor with a little romantic feel to it. So.. having the cheaper route of sandwiches etc was the best option vs having a caterer......but that's just us.

So are you from Texas? I am - born and raised. The lady at the bridal shop I used was always talkative and she used to always tell me about wedding etiquette and TEXAS Wedding ettiquette! She made me laugh... Anyway, I've noticed that weddings I see on TV and weddings I've gone to are soooo different. My wedding was the fanciest I've actually attended, but I just got lucky with bargain shopping and having friends in all the right places. Anyway, anyone from Texas, do you agree that weddings are a little different here? Or do you think all weddings tend to have a different geographical feel to them depending on location?

[RJE080703]

I am also from South Texas and I think your last statement sums it up for all the different regions regarding whats the norm at a wedding.

Different geographic areas have different traditions and feel to them. Also a different level of what is acceptable varies from region to region, for example in certain areas of the country brides wouldnt even dare doing the "dollar dance" and some areas its very common.

Just depends on the region as to what the norm is... but there are still a lot of things that are common everywhere.

[s2bmrsfields08]

Yes, I live in Texas. I've lived in Texas practically my whole life. And my fiance is just about the biggest redneck you'd ever meet! lol We love it here and wouldn't want to be anywhere else!!! But yes things are done a lil differently down here then other places that's definately true!!!