Wedding Catering: Financial Considerations of Event Planning

When it comes to putting on a wedding, catering is one of the most important considerations. Not only can it make or break the reception, but it can capture a significant portion of your spending budget. If you are lucky enough to have a benefactor with deep pockets, this may not be much of a concern. If you're like most people, however, money will have to be a consideration as you're planning out the event. Here are some things to think about as you go about putting together your reception.

Source

Obviously, this is the first thing to consider when planning for catering. Where is the money coming from? It is tradition for the bride's parents to cover the costs of the wedding, but this isn't always practical or feasible. If the couple themselves is covering the costs, the budget may be tighter than it otherwise would be. It's never a good idea to go into debt, especially for a one time thing like a wedding reception. If you can't afford to put on the party of your dreams, don't try to force it by doing something you're still going to be paying off in a decade.

Head Count

In order to properly plan your catering budget, you need to know how many people you're going to be feeding. This is one of many good reasons to send your invitations out early and demand RSVP. Make it clear that guests will not be welcome if they do not announce their intention to attend. Most companies will price their services with the amount of guests in mind. If you don't have a clear indication of how many will be there, you'll have little way of knowing how much everything is going to cost.

Type

There are a few types of catering, entirely aside from the type of food that will be served. If you want a reception where waiters serve the food to the tables, you may have to pay quite a bit more than if you have a buffet line set up. On the other hand, many people see a buffet line as not classy enough for their event. If you can, try to match the wedding and the reception. In other words, a really extravagant, elegant wedding is going to match up strangely with a very informal reception and vice versa.

Leave Room

While it's important to try and nail down the costs of the catering as specifically as possible, it is essential that you leave room for unexpected charges. If you're serving alcohol, you can never underestimate how much people will drink. Make sure you leave room in your budget for the overrun.