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I hate to tell you... but considering what I've seen that quote is actually pretty reasonable. Everything wedding related is pretty ridiculous. Sorry :(
yes, unfortunately those are pretty on par. We paid almost $3000 for nice (but not super fancy) catering (buffet) + bar + service for our 60 guest wedding.
Yep, it's the service that gets you!!! Is there a way to get the food that you want and provide your own servers? I was able to do this and paid 3 recent college grads $75 each (for a total of $225). They were thrilled to make some extra cash and they did an excellent job!!!
I really don't like the idea of asking your family help out with serving-fallflowers has a great suggestion.
Yeah, I second the suggestion of possibly hiring college students as servers. I don't think it would be a good idea to have any family members working at your wedding.
Unfortunately I have to agree with the pp's. I don't think $50 a head is unreasonable for food, dishes, and service.
I'm not sure what the $7500 quote includes, but are they just doing dinner? Or are you paying for appetizers and dessert/cake cutting service too? I think you only really need the caterers for dinner. If you have family and friends who can help, appetizers and cake are totally doable on your own. Just make the appetizers finger food so you don't need plates (buy or make them). And I don't think anyone will care if you use plastic/paper plates to serve the cake.
Maybe I was a little more shocked because my wedding is on a Sunday in Gainesville (pop 150,000) but I got the SAME quote for 125 people! Like yours, my venue has tables and chairs but its the service that is killing me. They're charging us $50/per server/bartender an hour! I know there is an overhead but I didn't think it was $50 a person overhead!
Some of the changes that I looked at/made were:
- Seeing if we can provide our own napkins. Our vendor was charging 20 cents a napkin so we figured we can buy those for cheaper
- We cut the reception back by an hour which saved about $350 (and will sve money on liquor (that we are providing) as that will be a few less drinks per peson)
- I straight up told my vendor that it was out of our budget but that I LOVE her services and asked her if we could "get creative" - since our wedding is a Sunday wedding I think she was definitely open to working with us on fitting the budget.
hope this helps! Please tell me what you ended up doing!
If you go with buying your own paper goods - I found napkins, plates, cups, etc at BJ's and I was suprised with how nice they were.
I agree on trying to think outside the box. We got several quotes from caterers for 130 guests buffet style that ranged from $5800 to $9000. EEK! Way over our budget. These quotes included the food, the plates, linens and napkins and utensils (all plastic), the tables and chairs, plastic cups, plus the service and gratuity charges and coordination fees. Did not even include the tax! So we got creative.
I called a local rental company and rented china and real silverware, plus wine and champagne glasses, linens, cloth napkins, tables and chairs. This came in at $800 total (WAY less than the catering companies were charging us). Then we went to our local gourmet grocery store and asked them if they do catering... THEY DID!! Our total bill for a buffet and tons of appetizers plus 2 servers and one manager was only $1900!! With all the service charges, gratuities and taxes included.
Please exhaust all your creative juices before slashing the guest list! There are deals out there to be had if you are thinking outside the wedding-racket box. Good luck, I know exactly how you feel with the sticker shock. I cried. I admit it, I cried!
We went the grocery store route for our catering also! Amazing what you can get. We did cocktail style appetizers and it was a mingling reception. We paid $900 and got enough food for 120 people. The trays we had were
I got all paper goods from BJ's as well as coffee, creamer, etc.
Worked out well for us! Because we did all finger foods we didn't need utensils except for forks for the cake.
Hiring servers is a good idea. I know in my neck of the woods it's often a younger siblings friends who serve food. Or maybe some buddies from college. They usually do it for free, because they have to serve food for an hour tops, then they are free to eat and drink the rest of the night!
I don't really have much to add catering-wise, but just WAIT til you get to the flowers. I was nearly brought to tears when I got my first florist proposal. Just prepare yourself for continued sticker shock. Good luck!
That actually seems pretty reasonable. We spent approx. $5000 on our caterer for 75 ppl. in Iowa. The dishes were included in the quote. What about if you used "fakewear" or something instead of silverware and plates? I'm assuming other costs would be more expensive out there than it was here.
Are you guys serious?!?! I can not believe how much that costs! The venue in which we have our reception is going to cater for us (no choice, you have to cater with them because there is no fee for having the reception there) and for service, clean up and food for a 100 people its going to cost us under 2000.00 dollars! More like 1600.00
I must be getting a screaming deal!
That... actually sounds like a pretty good price. I know that ours is going to be substantially more because it's the one of the most important things to us. People always remember how good the food is, and we both LOVE food. That and centerpieces. And photography. Those are our three most important things, and we plan on spending on them accordingly.
We just found a great deal going with a meat market / gourmet shop. They do $30 pp including dishes, service, etc. Try to think outside the traditional caterers.
For 175 people in central FL we are expecting to pay about $6,500 total (food, service, gratuity, etc) for appetizers, dinner, and table wear. So it doesn't sound like the quote is too far off.
One other thing we found with several caterers was that they did not allow us to supplement the food they provided. It was 100% their food. The reason being that they do not want to get in trouble if someone gets sick, etc off of your mom's potato salad (I'm sure they won't but you get the point). Also, they have a repuation to uphold and they do not want guests to think that they made the potato salad that tastes bad (again, not true, just the example here).
What about seeing if you can provide your own appetizers and do platters from the grocery store?
We has 140 guests and paid about what your estimate was, without having to rentany linenes, silverware, dishes. And I got married in the suburbs!
I think unless you're willing to go with plasticware, or purchase your linens, etc second hand you can't get much cheaper.
Sticker shock is a hard think to deal with at first, especially when the money seems like it won't stretch, but I would consider a different game plan for food if you want to keep your guest list (tone down the food--do a simple pasta or just appetizers).
Yeah...hate to say it, but I also agree, particularly for the Bay area that sounds like it would be on the cheaper end of things. I'm sure you could find even cheaper, but it would take some work and I think the majority of caterers there would be even more.
I live in the bay area. 
Does that figure include drinks?
Is changing venues an option or something you'd even be willing to consider? You could do a restaurant reception here which would cost less since they already have the set-up, china, linens, etc.
Also, when you got your quotes from the vendors, did you give them your budget? It seems like many caterers are willing to work with you if you tell them what the max you can spend is. Also, generally a gratuity and service charge are the same thing, so if they're adding both to your quote then I would question that.
Have you considered doing heavy appetizers rather than a buffet? Have you looked into the cost of buying your own linens and tablewear and then later reselling them (or keeping them)?
BTW, Wedgewood does all-inclusive weddings in different parts of the bay area (includes ceremony, DJ, buffet, bar options, etc.) and there are some other locations that do similar things. I would check the Bay Area board if you haven't already.
I suggest avoiding having guests help out, if possible. Also, hiring college students can be risky - they're not always reliable/professional/etc. Though I have seen it work.
As others have said, try to get quotes for just the food & check with separate rental companies for pricing on non-food items.
Also, you could try looking into ethnic foods... I did an event where we had a local mexican restaurant cater for a great deal.... If it's summertime, what about BBQ? There are caterers who will come out with a ginormous BBQ grill and do chicken, steak, shrimp, etc.
Does the quote include alcohol? Sometimes you can lower the cost by purchasing your own alcohol or doing a limited open bar - beer/wine/signature cocktail or 2. (For that same mexican fiesta - we had practically a vat of sangria, a few margarita flavors and a few types of mexican beers).
You could also do a lunch rather than dinner. Or brunch. Or plan for an off-time where people won't expect a full meal & just do a heavy rotation of passed apps with a few stations (i.e. cheese & fruit)
Finally - often, people assume that a buffet is the cheapest way to go - and many times it's not. Caterers have to really guesstimate on how much people are going to eat & go with the over rather than the under. Can't hurt to ask what the cost for a plated dinner would be.
Try Elizabeth Rupp of Tri-Valley Personal Chefs. She's in Livermore, and she will likely be catering our wedding out in Marin (amazingly enough, with no travel charge, even though it's over an hour away). She's been fantastic to work with so far with prompt, detailed responses and nothing but professional. I was ready to give up with finding an affordable caterer, but she's been amazing. No travel fees, cake cutting fees, or anything like that. I gave her a budget, and she came up with 3 proposed menus within 24 hours. We went to a tasting the other day, and the food was really good. It wasn't a foodie's dream come true by any means, but I am on the pickier side when it comes to food quality, and I couldn't complain.
The most amazing thing is that by comparison to everyone else, she's CHEAP! We asked her for the price of the following menu: fresh fruit and cheese/cracker platters for appetizers (which she is willing to deliver to our separate ceremony site for no additional charge), salad, marinated tri-tip with au jus, grilled & sliced chicken breast with a garlic chardonnay sauce, 2 types of vegetarian quiche, pasta, and assorted breads. It will cost us $27.15 per person for 150, which includes tax, service, plates, water glasses/carafes, and silverware. At our tasting, she gave us multiple options, including adding a bartender for $130 (we supply all drinks), and tons of really practical advice. The one thing she doesn't supply are table linens (but for the buffet), but she offers to extend her 10% discount with the company she uses and pick up/drop off for you at no additional charge.
I'm certainly no expert at these things, but my fiance used to work for Hornblower as part of their event staff when he was in college, and he was impressed with her knowledge of how to run an event. I liked that she was really flexible but at the same time, very cognizant of what her company's limitations were and provides explanations of why something isn't doable.
Oh, and perhaps the best part? No deposit! You sign a contract agreeing to pay a $250 cancellation fee, and that's it. Payment isn't even due until a week before the wedding, the same time as the final head count.
Hope this helps! The other way to do it for cheap is ethnic, and the Bay Area is full of possibilities . . .
That quote is probably pretty decent for LA. I paid 4,000 for 100 people but I'm in the middle of nowhere, MN.
You ladies have some fantastic comments!!
We have come up with a few solutions and even found a company that will do it for $5500 which has great reviews. I'm seeing that there are other options now - just at first I thought I was going to faint when I was seeing these prices!!!
@Paz1697, I'm going to contact her!! If you give me your first name I'll let her know you referred me!!
I found the perfect spot for my wedding, and in my price includes chairs,furniture linens, staff, set up break down etc. and if i choose a recomended catere i get a discount. So its all in the location and the style of wedding, mine us rustic antique country vintage, so its at a bed and breakfast that also does weddings, my budget is small so i got creative on a lot of things without cutting anything. Your venue counts for more then a look, so get the most out of it as possible. I'm just getting heavy appatizers thats it, and if your guest care about you, you shouldnt have to give a fancy meal, just get what you can afford.
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Hi Bees,
I think I had my first wedding-related heart attack today!! I have been aggressively trying to gather quotes for catering my summer wedding in the bay area of california. I'm looking to feed 125 people buffet style, nothing too fancy schmancy. Our facility provides table and chairs, but we need to rent plates, flatware, linens and glasses. I've had two quotes now come in around $7500!!! I am SHOCKED... What's surprising is that it's not the food that is expensive, it's the service, the labor, the tax, the gratuity. Yikes. So now of course we're scrambling to figure out how we're going to do this. First thing, though difficult, but is necessary, is to trim the guestlist to 100 or even 75. Does anybody have any suggestions for how to make your food costs drop way way down? I am considering family helping out with food (making, serving) but our venue is a challenge as it's all outdoor, and I kind of want my family to be able to enjoy the wedding.. not have to lug dishes around and worry if the potato salad is low! Ok.. end rant here!!!