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the only price that I see is a bit low is the beef it average out to $3-$4 a lb
Do you have a CVs pharmacy the reason I am asking is because you will save on the plates and plastic cutlery
Box of 50 faux silver forks or spoons or knives for $6.00 (if sale $2.99)
Package of 30 plastic plastics or faux china ones $6.00
Just go aisle through aisle looking for them or else ask an associate for their cutlery or fork aisle.
Those prices look the ones from Partycity. I got ripped up big time as well until I discovered CVS pharmacy sale purchase 150 forks for $18.00
Exactly what meal is being served with this? From that ingredient list I think you are going to be missing a few things.
-what kind of salad are you doing?
-you will need to add in condiments
-Seasonings for all of this food - Herbs can get expensive.
Also I didn't notice any beverages of any sort.
honestly if you are looking to make the argument that catering will be cheaper - it will really depend on what you get. However I do think that it will be worth the money in the end not to have the stress!!!!!!!!!!
Go with a caterer! You're mother won't want to look back on your wedding day and remember slaving away in the kitchen all day/night instead of spending that time with you....and I have a feeling that you won't want that either! Take it all in and let someone else handle the food for once! Mom's night off :)
Exactly what meal is being served with this? From that ingredient list I think you are going to be missing a few things.-what kind of salad are you doing?-you will need to add in condiments-Seasonings for all of this food - Herbs can get expensive.
I honestly have no idea what my mother has in mind. She said "chicken and ham", I said "chicken and beef". No idea on additional details/sides/etc. I figured green beans and potatoes were average choices.
I figured in condiments, seasoning, etc., in the "supporting ingredients $100", probably a low-ball estimate.
Alcohol we're doing seperate.
I've found several potential caterers for $10-15 per person. I personally think catering will be cheaper (and MUCH MUCH less stressful!) than getting everything to do it ourselves.
The beef seems so cheap. What kind of beef dish is this? Is it made from ground beef? Is it steak. I think steak would cost way more!
I think a lot of your prices are way too low. Where I live, the cost of most everything is a lot higher.
Your mom is crazy if she thinks she can cook for that many people and still have enough time left to relax and enjoy your wedding. She is awesome to volunteer, but really, I think she will have to miss your ceremony to make sure everything is set up and ready to go for your reception. She will also be extremely tired and wore out, so even if she was able to see you get married, she probably wouldn't enjoy it as much as if she let someone else do it.
The beef seems so cheap. What kind of beef dish is this?
I think my mom wanted to make salsbury steak, so that would be ground. I just put the absolute lowest price I think we could find it on sale (because I know my mom would watch sales and stock up).
only 20 lbs of potato for over 100 people?
For one, it doesn't seem like you'll have enough food.... so your overall estimate is probably too low. As for catering prices, they can vary VERY widely.
I'm editing my original comment because I think i read the post wrong.
I think your estimates are way to low.
Your other needs to be way more than $100. I would guess your other will be around 300-500.
And you also need to think about pans to do the actual cooking in- does she have a pan that will hold 120 chicken brests? etc
I would also add in apps Cheese & crackers, fruit, veggies & dip, etc
and also veggies for the salad
I don’t mean this to be snarky, but I don’t understand what the prices are for – to show your mom it would be cheaper to hire a caterer who charges $15/pp than to do it yourself, or do you have a caterer in mind who would let you buy the meat/produce, and then just charge you an additional fee to prepare it and so you are trying to estimate the food costs to you? Sorry, I’m just confused as to the purpose a little bit – if you let me know, I’ll think up more constructive comments :)
I think your cost for beef is too low. I rarely buy beef, but at my grocery, I’ve never seen $3/lb for any cut. But I know prices can vary by region, and by sales. To be safe though, I probably wouldn’t create an estimate using the lowest price you’ve seen – I’d use an average price.
How do you plan to prep the potatoes? If mashed, I’ll think you’ll need to factor in the cost of milk/cream and butter (or estimate more than $100 in “other”).
Salisbury steak (I think) usually has gravy served over it – so you will need a way to prep gravy and keep it warm so it doesn’t congeal – not sure if you factored in a chafing dish for that, and a way to keep it warm.
Will the salads just be lettuce and dressing? If so, ok. If not, I think you should up the “other” category to more than $100.
Hope this helps!
Maybe breaking down the "other" catergory into specifics like seasonings, tomatoes, croutons, eggs, gravy, flour, milk, cream, butter, bread, etc. will help you to estimate your pricing better. Right now, since those things are vague and just listed as "other," I think it's easy to just underestimate items, their quantities and prices.
And I agree that you should do the average price. I've definitely been to store sales before and getting things in large quantities often isn't an option because things have been sold out. Perhaps you can take the prices from a store like Sam's Club or BJ's or Costco where the prices don't fluctuate as much and you can get things in bulk.
Go for the catering.
Also how and where is your mom planning to store all of this prior to the wedding? I mean my parents throw tons of parties (we just did an engagement party for a good friend and had almost 200 people in attendance) and the caterer wanted to use some of our refridgerated space (we have 2 huge chest freezers and 2 standing commercial fridges). Most people do not have this type of space unless they are throwing a lot of parties.
Also when does she plan to do the cake?
I am not trying to be overaly critical of your mom's plans but I don't know that this plan has been well thought out.
Another factor to consider is ice!
Not just for your alcoholic drinks but for things like water and sodas or tea (or whatever non alcoholic drink you decide on).
Ice is expensive, heavy, and is one of those things you cannot get until the day of. Who wants to be running between getting their hair done and picking up 100 lbs of ice?
"but I don’t understand what the prices are for – to show your mom it would be cheaper to hire a caterer who charges $15/pp than to do it yourself, or do you have a caterer in mind who would let you buy the meat/produce, and then just charge you an additional fee to prepare it and so you are trying to estimate the food costs to you"
I'm trying to show my mom that it really isn't significantly cheaper (and may even be more expensive!) to do it ourselves. I beleive her goal in thinking we can do the cooking is to save money.
tips: try to find a local caterer who would rent you the chafing pans, that's a lot of money and storage space you'd be putting up for 8 of them.
also, i bought 4 16oz bottles of salad dressing for my 50 person reception and over half of it was leftover. i also got 7 lbs of lettuce greens and way more than half of it was leftover.
if you are really going to plan this out, do your food stuff by weight, that way you can easily get a spreadsheet together and compare prices by oz or lb, not unit.
if you are doing a buffet get at least 2 sets of utensils for every person and 2 of every size plate you are doing (main course, app size, dessert size). people aren't supposed to re-use their plates when they go through a buffet for seconds, and utensils tend to get thrown out, dropped, etc...
if you want to cut costs with your caterer try to find one that would supply only the mains, and would be willing to put their food alongside side dishes that you and your family make the day before. they will not all do this for liability reasons. you could also make your own cold appetizers the night before by making a nice fruit or snack meat and cracker tray.
i'm not sure why you're thinking about this if you are hiring a caterer. even if you have a plan it couldn't be executed well at the drop of a hat. are you expecting your caterer to drop out at the last minute or something?
The wedding I did the food for had 2-3 extra fridges I would add that cost in too!
Another thing you should keep in mind is the “cost” of your mom’s time to prep and cook all of this. I don’t know if she would need to take time off from work or what, but it’s going to take a while to prep all the food, let alone cooking it. Her time is worth something, for sure!
$15/pp seems like an amazing deal to me personally – I would definitely jump at that deal.
Maybe even on top of costs, you could also just say to your mom that this is her daughter’s wedding, and you want to see her that day, and don’t want her to miss a moment, which she will if she tries to cook for 100 people, and is constantly worrying about and checking on the levels of food. Peace of mind on that day for both you and your mom is definitely worth factoring in too.
"i'm not sure why you're thinking about this if you are hiring a caterer."
Because I think my mom needs to see the price comparison. She's jumping into "we'll cook all the food ourselves!" with both feet without really thinking through the cost, details, execution, transportation, etc.
ah, ok, i wrote a whole thread on mine for 50 people. if you haven't read it it's here:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/catered-my-own-wedding-and-you-can-too
also, i agree with gabrielle, $10-$15 a person is a great price if the food is good and the business can provide solid references. and ditto on the fridges, also-ovens. my venue had 2 fully equipped kitchens for us to use. one oven is definitely a limiter for that much food.
I think you're missing a lot of little items, like sternos, napkins, extra storage, foil and plastic wrap, serving utensils (what about beverage napkins, plates/utensils for appetizers and dessert, more cups if guests have more than one drink, etc.)... And I agree that the beef price sounds low (as does the estimate--I usually buy about half a pound per guest), and the "extra" $100 sounds way low, too--all of the extra ingredients really, really add up.
Any time you cook for a ton of people, there are a million things that you forget that wind up costing a large chunk of change. A caterer has most of these things already; for so many reasons, I would definitely go with a caterer!
We did partial DIY food for our wedding with 85 guests. Oh my gosh things add up. And I think for 100-125 ppl some of your quantities are a little low.
We had two fridges at our park venue to store things to keep cold.
We had pans of BBQ prok, BBQ chicken, salt potatoes, macaroni salad, and rolls delivered. We made sangria and lemonade. We prepared cheese and crackers, fresh cut fruit and dip, and veggies and dip for guests to eat the hour before dinner. We purchased the chafing dishes and sternos for the delivered food, as well as salad bowls, tongs, smaller tongs to serve hors'deurves, serving utensils, napkins, plasticware, and many, many more things to prepare and serve our food.
We hired a Day of coordinator and her friend to manage the hors'deurves, buffet, drinks, and dessert table.
You mom cannot cook food for 120-125 people. You DO NOT want to be helping her the night before of the day of your wedding. There are restaurants that offer alternatives toa full on catering package, so I'd look there. Maybe your mom can do some extra things, or things that don't require a lot of prep, but cooking an entire meal for that many people will be a disaster. I don't say that to be mean, just realistic.
"cooking an entire meal for that many people will be a disaster. I don't say that to be mean, just realistic."
Oh no, you're not being mean, I agree 100%! I think she'd be in waaaaay over her head if she tried.
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I've decided I'm hiring a caterer. My sister and grandma are both on my side with this, my mom simply cannot cook for 100-125 people and still relax and enjoy herself! (And she wants me to help cook, to which my fiance has said "no way!")
So when I tell her she's not doing the meal (I'm still letting her do the cake), I also want to have some "backup" to my decision.
I've put together some estimates, are these accurate, too high, or too low? Am I missing anything?
Food:
Chicken Breasts (bag of 30 breasts)
4 @ $20.00 = $80.00
Beef
30 pounds @ $3.00 = $90.00
Potatoes
20 pounds @ $1.00 = $20.00
Green beans
20 pounds @ $1.50 = $30.00
Romaine Lettuce
20 bunches @ $1.50 = $30.00
Salad Dressing
25 bottles @ $2.50 = $62.50
Rolls (bag of 10)
20 @ $2.50 = $50.00
Supporting Ingredients
$100.00
Equipment:
Chafer Dishes
8 @ $50.00 = $400.00
Salad Bowls
4 @ $10.00 = $40.00
Serving Utensils
12 @ $3.00 = $36.00
Tableware:
Plastic Dishes (pack of 20)
7 @ $10.00 = $70.00
Plasticware (40 sets: 2 forks, 1 knife, 1 spoon)
4 @ $25.00 = $100.00
Plastic Tumblers (pack of 20)
14 @ $10.00 = $140.00
Plastic Stemware (pack of 20)
10 @ $10.00 = $100.00