Charleston Business Daily

Is it advisable to hire a food catering for wedding when you are in a tight budget?

A plan to spend 30000pesos for wedding costs, is it okay to hire food catering? or cook at home. There are 100 people will attend. What do you think? I hope you I can hear your wonderful opinions there guys... Thank you very much!

Public Comments

1. It's probably easier to hire out the food. Because you don't want to be running around on your wedding day worrying about food, plus you don't want to put your friends and family to work preparing and serving it. Not only that, but it might be just as much money to go out and buy all the supplies yourself than to buy ready-made food. Go to a local restaurant, supermarket or deli and look at their catering menus. You could probably get something very good and filling like sandwiches, fried chicken, pasta, etc. - for a good price.
2. I think you should hire a caterer. When you have a large amount of people, it's not just about making enough food. It's about keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold (to prevent spoilage) and making sure everyone gets fed within a reasonable amount of time. If you decide to do it yourself, you should do a rehearsal meal to see if you can get everyone fed in a reasonable number of time.
3. MJ, hiring a food caterer is going to cost..I don't know how much is 30000 pesos so I assume you may be getting married in Mexico..if that is the case, everything over there is a whole lot cheaper so then yes, I would hire a caterer...enchiladas, mole, rice and beans, salsa, chips and tea and coffee doesn't cost much...congratulations...
4. it depends... u gotta do your research...do u have someone who can make u the food for free?...will it cost more to buy the ingredients?...can u find a caterer thats within your budget???
5. I think you should hire food catering if you have 100 people. Just not to mention the word "wedding" when you are asking for menu and price quote. Vendors will think you can pay more when they hear the word "wedding".
6. I got lucky and my fiances best man's father is a caterer on the side who only charged us the cost of the meat. He is preparing all the meat and our families are making all the side dishes. Then we are setting it up buffet style. I only paid about $300 (with tip) for 90 people (so roughly $3 a plate) and we will have food left over. Our total wedding cost is right around $8000 which includes the expensive items like my dress, a gazebo, rings, the honeymoon, and the photographer. Without all that its only around $3000. So it can be done really cheap but really nice. Congrats with your upcoming wedding and have fun planning!!! ***Also, a little trick when planning...anywhere you go to get things ask for stuff without mentioning a wedding. For example, I went to the store to buy floating candles for the centerpieces at the reception. I went to the wedding aisle and they were $8 for 1 six pack of floating candles. I needed 13 candles and would have had to spend $24 for everything I needed and I would have had too much. So I went to the regular candle aisle and found the EXACT candle set for $6 for 1 six pack plus they were sold individually. The only difference between the two... one had "Great for wedding receptions" on the package and the other did not. I ended up saving $10. That may not sound like much but when you start to do that with everything...that $10 can turn into thousands. Ginny, the answerer before me is so correct with that. Don't mention the word wedding...use "social gathering" or "family gathering" or "private party".
7. While hiring a caterer is easy and may be the ideal thing to do, you can save a lot money by asking people to bring a covered dish. While catering can be a bit expensive, you hav ethe option of picking from a selection of menu's. OR If you do decide to go with a covered dish for the reception, you can design the covered dish, menu. You can do this by asking your guest to bring certain dishes,for the them of the day. And to keep from people from bring the same menu item have a sign up list sent out via e-mail.
8. Yeah it's so much easier to let someone else deal with the food.Less stress.Maybe you can do a buffet style.best wishes.
9. I'd pursue having somebody cook for you - not a caterer, I mean family members or friends. If you are a member of a church, that would be a good place to ask. Lots of "church ladies" love to cook & see people enjoy their food. I don't think I would ask your wedding guests to bring a dish. They might not want to bring a present in addition to the gift!
10. you could have about 10 of you close family members or friends do like a pot luck has one make lazanga one make some toast, one some salad or you can do burgers and fries that way you keep your cost down and you can have those special to you feel more involved with the wedding
11. Trust me you can't cook for that many people. Don't even try.All you need to do is hire the food prepared not catered by anyone.You pick it up save some dough.I have catered weddings I know.Or seriously have a nice ceremony and have a beautiful reception table with cake coffee and punch. Save a lot of money. We do those kind here all the time.People don't expect to be fed.