What’s the budget? As one of the largest parts of your wedding, catering costs can totally add up quickly. Don’t know what to expect or what you’re paying for? Most people don’t! As caterers we don’t often share all the teeny tiny details that we pull together for your big day, but here is an insight as to what those costs might entail.
The Food
Obviously, it goes without saying that the price you pay per head covers the costs of all the necessary ingredients to create your chosen feast. Generally, these costs don’t tend to fluctuate too often, but with the cost of living going up, so does the cost of produce, meaning you will expect to see slight rises in menu pricing dependant on your year. If designing a bespoke menu and you would like something specific, this can also incur a supplement charge, I know more money! But really this accounts for things like delivery, sourcing from a secondary supplier or even import fees and we won’t ever charge more than we need to. If you would like more expensive delicacies, then ultimately your price will be higher, for instance a portion of beef may be £96 a head, where as a ribeye steak might set you back £115 a head.
Staffing
One major part of your catering costs that is often overlooked, is staffing. Of course, you have the food ready to go, but who will serve it? This is where our specialist team of staff come in to play, with a lots of team members on the books, we strive to use the best staff possible to make your wedding day run seamlessly. All our staff members have been trained to fit our standard of service and we know that they all do an outstanding job! Sometimes we might even need some extra staff, which we would add on when necessary or requested. We use as many local staff members as possible and on the occasion, we do use agencies, we are hand selecting those best for the job! We have built amazing relationships with all our staff members and agencies, and we truly couldn’t do what we do without them.
Equipment
Another big part of the costs is your table setting equipment. We wouldn’t expect you to eat your chicken off the floor now would we! Absorbed within your pricing comes the hire and use of equipment from our various equipment suppliers, this means items like glassware, crockery, cutlery and even kitchen equipment are ordered and delivered to site for your special day. You may choose to upgrade your equipment through us also, we collaborate with various suppliers who have a fabulous selection of pretty plates and colourful glassware that you can use to jazz up your table settings, which of course, are priced accordingly! Linen is another part built into your quote. As standard you would receive white tablecloths and napkins, but again, we have various different options for you to choose from if you are looking for something funkier! When deciding your menu, we can work out what equipment we will need to prepare your chosen dishes. This ranges from items like ovens, to fryers, hot cupboard, and even stainless-steel trestles! With equipment lots of supplementary costs can appear, but all for good reason! For example, if you desire a marquee, we will need to hire all kitchen equipment, but if you were to choose venue with a fully operating kitchen, then we might not need too. We will always conduct a site visit beforehand, if we haven’t catered in your venue before or if your event is being held in your own property, to fully understand the equipment requirements.
Bar Services
This one isn’t food related, but it’s still super important! If you would like us to provide your bar services, then this comes with a few various different price points. It all depends on the style of bar you would like. We can supply you a fully pre-paid bar package, which means we will take care of all the stock and your guests can have as many drinks as they desire. We can also cater for a dry hire bar package, where you would supply the stock yourselves and we rock up and run the bar for you. Or finally we can do a cash bar, we would supply the stock, but your guests buy each drink themselves.
Obviously, there are lots of different elements that go into the breakdown of wedding costs, things like a rig and de-rig of equipment, a drinks reception charge or even a refundable breakages deposit, and various other minor details. But hopefully this has given you a better understanding in what you are really paying for!
By Meels, Event Manager