EEP! How much did YOU spend on your food?? (Second Edition)

[xiuying]

FI and I received our food proposal from our vendor on Wednesday. This is a place (in Maryland) that we''re absolutely set on, and we can get outside catering if we want, but this particular contract deals with the catering provided by the site itself.


We are expecting 100 guests, and will be feeding them at dinner, with a buffet. We planned on having a few appetizers, the cake, and the alcohol (open bar, but not many drinkers.) Since the food we chose wasn''t extravegant, we thought we''d end up paying roughly $50 per person, or $5000 for all food.


Our proposal (which includes service, all food and beverages) is $7000! That equates to $70 a head! A buffet, cake and some alcohol equals $70 per person??? *sighs* I''m trying to figure out if this is normal, or if FI and I are being ripped off. We''re also concerned because the proposal LEFT OFF some of the food we''d asked for and PUT ON other things... all small things, but it''s definitely raising some red flags in my mind.


At this point, FI and I have sat down and reviewed the list. We''ve been able to take a few things off here and there, but not much. We''re wondering how much of this is reasonable and how much we should counter with.


Some examples....


Cake: $399
.......($4 per person I can understand for a very fancy cake, which I don''t want...)
Service Charge: $1800
.......(This is for five hours, which breaks down to $360 per hour. How much staff do they plan on having?)
Wine Service: $199
.......(This is to open the wine at the tables... NOT the wine itself, which is another $400...)


So please tell me, is this reasonable, or should I start getting worried?

 

[Sabine]

We''re doing sit down, I think buffet was around $40 per person. Ours actually depends on which choice of entree the guests pick, but our braised short ribs are $27 per person, and our rosemary roasted chicken is #34 per person. This does not include the service charge, the alcohol, the cake, or any hor d''eouvres.

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

I voted over $100 p/p. We are having cocktail hour, 5 course sit down dinner, top shelf open bar and venetian hour for $125 which is actually on the lower end for where we live (northeast USA).

The fastest (although definetly not the easiest) way to cut down on costs is reduce the guest list.

 

[mimzy]

our buffet is $41 per person and it includes 3 entrees, premium bar and a dessert table, but not cake. (i guess i should also mention that there were no other rental fees or anything, it''s just a straight per person charge)

 

[Independent Gal]

For canapes + 3 courses with coffee + nibblies after dinner + alcohol = $150 per person for us.

But we're serving the best food in town.

Without any alcohol included, it's about $90-100 per person.

This includes the service charge (i.e., tip) and the taxes.

 

[misysu2]

We''re not quite there yet with food prices, but our two cakes are going to be a total of $200.

 

[enbcfsobe]

i responded to your first version but it got eaten. this depends a lot on location and style/quality of food. we didn''t find anywhere in our city (and we weren''t looking at the Ritz Carlton, etc.) that was under $90 for dinner on a weekend, and many of those didn''t include cake, basic alcohol, linens or service (not to mention tax). ours will probably come out close to $150 pp total, and that is only accounting for upgrades to add an additional entree choice. catering is by far the largest part of our budget, and i''ve had to limit spending elsewhere to make it work.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Ouch! This all sounds so expensive. I''m still trying to find a place that will let me bring in outside people. My FSIL is a pastry chef so she can make the cake and we want to be able to buy the alcohol (and we have our own bartender). I also wanted to just bring in food from a really good resturant here. It would be cheaper to do it that way but we can''t find anyone who will let us do this.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

We are in Denver which isn't too expensive and I know the base cost of a cake in our area is $3.50 a head for 100 people when it is simple.
even where we are, $70 per person sounds extremely reasonable and only $400 for wine is amazing. I was told to expect to spend closer to $1,000 on the alcohol, just wines, for my 100 person wedding (many don't even drink!).

I think you are probably getting a fairly good deal, but talk to other caterers in your area to get other price quotes and see if you do better.

If you really need to cut the costs, consider a sit down dinner, they are often cheaper.
Also consider food items that are easy to make ie, no beef wellington, which will further bring down the price, but probably only a little.

 

[karasue91]

Ours looks like its a little over $55/per person. But that''s mostly because they allow corkage for the alcohol. So instead of paying the ridiculous markup we get to bring in our own liquor/wine/beer. This was our #1 priority when looking for a venue!!

 

[Gypsy]

Let's see.

Entree 32 a person.
Salad 11 a person
Appetizer 12 a person
Cheese and antipasto display: 9 a person
Cake cutting fee: 1.50 a person (negotiated down from 3.00 a person)
Cake to be ordered, but will be around 7-9 a person.

So um. JUST FOR FOOD: about 73 a person. NOT INCLUDING SERVICE FEES or 19%.

Alcohol package is 30 a person (includes beer wine and champagne TOAST, plus soft drinks) for four hours plus the service of the same.

Extra champagne for full length of event $250 flat fee.

PLUS a 19% gratuity on top the alcohol too.
*Passes Out*

And ours is a "budget" location.

Oh and that doesn't include the 2000 site fee for the ceremony and reception.

 

[staceybelle]

We''re paying $48/head for a buffet, unlimited beer, wine & Champagne, tax, room charge, and gratuity. But I live in an area of the country with a very low cost of living compared to the rest of the country, and our venue, though beautiful, has some 80s-oil-wealth undertones. (It''s a Petroleum Club.) We''re thinking about playing mostly 80s music to continue the theme. My mom thinks it''s goofy, but it fits our personalities.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I feel that $70 pp including all food, beverages AND cake is pretty reasonable. Our breakdown was:


Food - Tradtional clam bake (+ coffee and lemonade) - $60 pp
Alcohol - $30 pp
Cake - $6 pp

We were married at a private residence, so we bought our own alcohol and could choose from any caterer to keep costs down.

 

[LegacyGirl]

That''s it I''m running away....

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

our reception hall charges per head and this includes the location, all of the food and beverages, table centerpieces, and cake. we are doing a buffet and decided to do a limited bar of beer, wine, mimosas, and bloody marys instead of a full open bar. after taxes and gratuity it came to $67 per head which is really a bargain for where i live. this all came about as a result of booking very early, haggling, choosing a sunday, lol, having a buffet, and having had other parties at the same venue before. if i were to book my very same wedding on a saturday night with a full bar and sit down dinner it would have easily cost over $100 per head. the little details really add up with a caterer.

 

[musey]

Well, ok... our situation is a little different, and I don''t know if this will help you at all, but:

Our ceremony and reception are in the same location, and everything (food, bar, venue rental, tables/chairs, valet) is lumped into a per person price... which is ~$120.

 

[FrekeChild]

When I charge for a cake, my prices start out a 2.50 per person, and go up per slice depending on what else they want done to it. I charged $250 for a family friend for a cake for 70 people. And I took a loss for labor. I think the cake is a good deal. What I have heard is that really fancy cakes in NYC and LA can cost more like $15+ per slice.

BTW for reference I''m in New Mexico

 

[Haven]

We have a caterer and our cost for food (apps, hors, buffet, light dessert spread & coffee service) and staff is a little over $100 pp. This does not include the cake and alcohol, both of which we will provide.

 

[anchor31]

Ours is 45,25$ per person for unlimited cocktails, 4-courses meal with wine, limited open bar (beer and wine). The rentals and cake are not included, but I''m getting them for not much, so it''s still under 50$ per person.

 

[Gwyn]

We are paying $75 for the food only (per person) open bar by consumption and cake not included. so...prolly over 100 per person

 

[sunnygirl]

Ours is $39/pp for food (passed hors d'oeuvres, buffet, dessert table), $10/pp for open top shelf bar, $19/pp for rentals (linens, chiviari chairs, etc), $9/pp for labor, 250 for bartenders, 200 for cleaning fee.

So total = 77/person + 250 + 200 + tax/gratuities

I think thats a pretty good deal! And I think yours is a good deal too!