Food is EXPENSIVE! There, I got that off my chest. Catering is going to be the highest-costing part of our wedding. I've accepted that. But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying to find ways to make it cheaper ;)
My Dad wants us to go with a caterer so that we don't have to worry about preparing, serving, and cleaning everything up. Since we are having the wedding at a local park, we are responsible for all clean-up. A caterer will do all that for you, for a price. I like the simplicity of it. But is the convenience really worth it? The prices I've found for caterers range from $9.50-$11.50 per person, which is the basic buffet. So we would be looking at around $1700 for the lower end.
The other option I've been tossing around is either preparing our own food (with help from various family members), or buying trays of food from Gordon's or somewhere similar. I haven't actually gone out to price this option, but I'm thinking I will investigate to at least see how much it could possibly save us. The problem with this option is that I don't want to inconvenience anyone by asking them to prepare food, or help serve it or clean it up at the reception. I want everyone to be able to enjoy themselves.
How much are you willing to pay for convenience? And if you are already married, how important was the food at your reception?
Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti
I found the food important, but in the end, not at first. I'd go for convenience as everyone needs a good meal - it's a long day
ReplyDeleteI hear ya!
ReplyDeleteWhen we were debating between locations--one with in-house F&B and the other we'd bring in our own caterer--the charges for off-site catering plus rentals put that lovely venue out of our budget in a major way.
Still, we're foodies, so we knew going in that we'd be willing to spend a good chunk of our budget on a nice, relaxing meal.