She set her wedding date, determined the approximate number of guests, booked a banquet hall, and began looking for a caterer. As exciting as it may sound, it can also be quite overwhelming and stressful. It’s not easy to navigate through numerous menu options, compare prices, and service levels. Different catering companies use different pricing structures. Some companies prefer packaged prices, others operate à la carte. As you search for a provider for your wedding reception and review the different options, it is important to compare apples to apples. You need to know what is included in the price and what is not. Keep in mind that the cost of food is only part of your bill. Service charges, rental fees, taxes – all of these additional charges can significantly increase your bottom line. Don’t just look at the dinner price listed on the catering menu, call the caterer, ask about additional fees, ask for a full quote. Consider the following items:
- Crockery and cutlery: are they included in the price of the dinner?
- Glassware (water and wine glasses): It is not unusual for plates, silverware and serving plates to come with dinner (as they are necessary to serve food), but glasses are not included in the price.
- Table Linen and Napkins – Unless you are looking at the packaged price, bedding and napkins will cost extra. Note that the tables come in different sizes: traditional rounds of 8 and jumbo rounds for 10 people. Table linen also comes in several sizes: standard and floor length. The bigger the tablecloth, the more expensive it is. Ask if your caterer can provide bedding and how much it will cost. It may be cheaper to do it yourself, but sometimes it’s not worth the hassle as you will have to deal directly with a rental company.
- Labor charges (waiters, waiters) can be a big expense. For a buffet dinner, you will need approximately 1 server for every 25-30 guests. The caterer will calculate the total time (including travel, installation, service, cleaning, etc.).
- Corkage fee: If you bring your own alcohol, ask the caterer if there is a corkage fee.
- Installation and Cleaning Fees – Most likely, if you are charged by the hour for service personnel, this will include installation and cleaning. But double check it anyway to avoid nasty surprises.
- The tip can range from 10% to 20% of your bill. Most catering services will tip only on the food subtotal.
- Taxes – There’s no getting around it and it can be a lot of money. Please note that you pay taxes on the total amount (including tip)
Let’s look at the example. You are planning a wedding reception for 150 people. You have chosen the buffet dinner ($ 30 per person) that includes food, plates and cutlery. You are planning on a standard 4 hour reception. The banquet hall offers tables and chairs. 150 buffet dinners will require around 5-6 servers for a minimum of 6 hours. You also need table linen. Suppose you will use standard round table linen (90 “) ($ 10 each) and matching napkins ($ 1 each). You probably want to serve wine at the table, so you would have to rent glasses (150 glasses and 150 glasses of water) Is that all? Not at all, you must add tip (15%) and sales tax (10%) We add it all up: Food: $ 30 per person X 150 people = $ 4,500.00 Servers: $ 25 per hour X 36 hours = $ 900.00 Table linen: $ 10 per item X 19 items = $ 190.00 Napkins: $ 1 per item X 150 items = $ 150.00 Glasses: $ 0.5 per item X 300 items = $ 150.00 Free: 15% X $ 4,500.00 (food subtotal) = $ 675.00 Subtotal 1 = $ 6,565.00 Tax: 10% X Subtotal 1 = $ 656.50 Total: Subtotal 1 + Tax = $ 7,221.15
