Party catering - How Much do they charge!!!

[natasha77 10]

Ok i giving my husband a 40th birthday party, i called around different places for a quote for a buffet for the party the cheapst quote i got was £5.50per head which worked out about £412 for the 75 people coming. the room and DJ was half that amount, so i thought i would investigate i done a pretend shooping list on Asda on what food i would need, added a little more for labour and electric plates and napkins and it only came to about £245

[dibsy 10]

It's far better and cheaper to hire a room and do your own catering...we've done this on numerous occassions....you also know what you're eating is ok....you can buy the big quiches and pork pies from behind the deli counter at Morrisons...although Makro do a good selection but it can work out dearer.

[willman 10]

thats about right. we did it independently as well in the end.

[nick2 10]

You also have to pay for staff (cooks/barman/cleaners/waiters), the heating, lighting, crockery, glasses, linen, electricity etc. etc. etc. and they have to make some profit, or whats the point of being in bussiness ?

 

It's quite funny when people eat out and say "I could have made that for half the price".

[natasha77 10]

you can go to JTF or makro for linen and things, me and my mum are going to do it, and if it works well we are going to try it for friends and family and if it goes down well with them and seem like there's a profit gonna start up ourselfs my mum is a traind cook anyway i think £412 is very expensive for what food i was quoted

[nick2 10]

Good quality linen, cutlery, glasses, crockery for 75 would cost how much ?

 

It's true you can do it much cheaper, if you want paper plates and sausage rolls in a room above a pub, but what you are also paying for is the fact that you're not doing it, someone else is, you're paying for the convenience of just turning up somewhere quite nice, the food is ready, the drinks are there, all you have to do is enjoy it.

 

Don't fool yourself that it is easy, for example what kind of food preperation facilities do you have ? are they up to H&S standard ? what if you give 50 people food poisoning or someone with a nut alergy drops dead ?

[natasha77 10]

yes but the fact is, for the £412 i was being quoted, was for paper plates cutlery. throw away table clothes, etc because i asked about returning plates etc i was told all the things are throw away so you dont need to return anything, 3 people i called all said the same

[nick2 10]

I don't think you'll get a decent buffet for less than £5 a head, most places will charge that as a minimum, even doing it yourself you'd be suprised how expensive catering for 75 people is, making sure they don't go home hungry.

 

Have you tried The Rutland Hotel ?

[Ellybum 10]

There are pro's and con's of catering for a function. For me, the cons far exceeded the pro's, so I opted for paying a catering company to do it for me. The cost per head was £6.50 (2 years ago). We had invited 100 people - it was my daughters 21st birthday - so that took care of £650 just for the food! The room hire was £100, the DJ was £80 and we had an adult bouncy castle which was £150.

 

Because I didnt have to worry about the catering, I was able to socialise with all the friends and family we'd invited. If you can afford it, I'd recommend getting someone in to cater for you. Well worth it

 

ps - the adult bouncy castle was a major success!!

[absynthfairy 10]

If you want to hire a live party band instead of a DJ drop me a PM - could do you a good deal. We play 60's, 70's soul blues and rock - mustang sally, soul man, shake your tailfeather sort of thing....could put together 2 hour long sets for you....

 

Same goes for any other party planners out there! Discount for Forum users...

[cgksheff 44]

If you plan in advance you can get rooms for free as they will make their money on the bar.

[carloslechef 10]

depends on how mutch u wanna pay and what u wanna c for the price u wanna pay love.i usually charge £4.50 a head and extras then the price goes up.out of interest were this party at