Catering Question

[Kristin]

How much did all of you pay per person for the food at the reception? I have been speaking to several caterers in teh area and they all want between $50-60 per person for a plated meal. This seems a bit high to me especially for 150-200 people.
I was thinking of possibly doing a buffet but even that is $#35-40 per person and I am a bit afraid of the chaos that would create. Anyone have any ideas how I can cut the costs on the food?

[Winter_Bride]

I've been to weddings of that size (150-200), and didn't find the buffet to be chaotic at all :shrug2: You just need to make sure the MC is in charge when it comes to who goes up when.

Unfortunately, the price for plated seems to be on par with what we were looking at. We found a cater that ONLY did buffets and it was $20/person, but they're a smaller company. Otherwise the majority was in the $30-40 range.

The best thing I could recommend would be as you're doing - phone around to MANY different companies, and get quotes. Also make sure that with each quote you find out what's included - what dishes? china/linens? Cake cutting? corkage (for alcohol)? And find out what's extra. It will give you a better basis to compare each company. You could also talk to local halls in the area and see who they recommend using - a lot of times they'll have a "parnership" with a certain company. Have you checked with your own reception hall? It might not be any cheaper, but at least you'll get a recommendation!

[Rebecca]

I got married in a very small town so the prices do not even compare to larger cities but we were able to have a buffet with 2 meats, 3 veggies, rolls and beverages (tea and lemonade) with china and silverware for 11.00 a person from a local restaurant! The only thing I can think of is to contact a favorite restaurant and see if they do anything? It might be cheeper to rent the china/silver and just pay the restaurant for the food? Anotherwords, think outside the box!

[PurpleFlower]

I have always gone to buffet weddings and they have always turned great just make sure the DJ knows!

[mrrr]

I have been to large buffet weddings too and they always seem to work out fine.

We're small town too, so we'd never see prices like that (haha, when I started checking around $17/head was high!). We actually went through Fazoli's and we're paying $5.50/head.

[Deidre98]

Ours is about $60 per person with everything included (hors d'ouerves, salad, dinner, etc)

[SueMartin]

congratulations on setting a date.. as for the prices, shop around and see who will give you the best deal.

[Angela]

One of our local restaurants has a gorgeous room in the back that they use for receptions, etc. We had ours there, and paid about $20 per person....with taxes, gratuity, etc., it was about $27/person.

[PurpleFlower]

oh I forgot to tell you how much ours is... $13-14 a person. but that was because of what we chose for our buffet!

[LadyLaurel]

I have been to large buffet weddings too and they always seem to work out fine.

We're small town too, so we'd never see prices like that (haha, when I started checking around $17/head was high!). We actually went through Fazoli's and we're paying $5.50/head.

Oh YUM, Fazoli's!!! I might have to look into that for our rehersal dinner.


We are going with Sonny's Bar-B-Q for our wedding, since we are doing more of a "Beach Party" wedding. Each person will get a choice of 2 meats (can choose from 7 options, but I don't think I am going to give all those options), 3 sides (we are going to pick the sides), bread and tea/lemonade for about $10pp. That is if they come and cater/serve it. We could have them just drop it off for $9.50pp and we could pick it up for like $9pp. Deffinately worth the extra for them to come out setup, serve and clean up. They even package up the leftovers for you to take home. Which we are going to take with us on our honeymoon, since we are renting a cabin up in the mountains.

[Raychel]

$25pp

[laurak83]

For the food, ours is $19 pp, $3 pp for appetizers. With all the linen/china/glassware, bartender, servers, it's going to be $55 pp.

[lalalola]

Ours is $15.50/person for buffet style, one meat, 2 veggies, 3 sides, 4 salads, 3 desserts and all the fixings (buns, coffee, tea, etc)

[Sk8ermaiden]

I have never seen chaos at a wedding buffet. Most people do have a sense of decorum.

That said, my buffet and open bar that is costing us in total $60 per person. I think the buffet is $40 per person.