£2000 to feed 20 people

[colectivity]

Having a very inexpensive wedding we're trying to budget for in a Scottish castle that doesn't do food. I have been quoted £2000 for a 3 course meal for 20 people with no alcohol and a grazing table. This is from a big private catering company.

Their prices originally look quite reasonable but then they added 3 staff, petrol, surcharge, VAT and it went from £26 pp to £200.

It has to be on this site in Perthshire. What would you do? We're quite happy with one main course but want it to be a sit down.

I would expect a 3 course meal to be £100pp at a wedding without the logistics of somehow getting it to a Scottish Castle.

That's in a busy City where there will be lots of competition. I'm guessing where you are, being more remote, means there won't be the competition to drive prices down, plus the labour costs will increase considerably if they have to bring staff in from elsewhere - you need to pay for travel time alongside everything else.

Not sure what you want us to say really.
If the venue is non-negotiable, then it isn't going to be "an inexpensive wedding".

Do you need the grazing table? They always look grim once they've been picked over and are a nightmare for anyone with allergies/intolerances

Hog roast or food vans may be a better cost option

I got married last year and that is in line with the quotes I got. £26pp is what we paid for the drinks package!

I'm sure you'll be able to find something that's more suitable @colectivity

I disagree that £100 per person is "reasonable"

Fingask has a list of caterers on their site that could be a better fit for you, purely as an example.

Ultimately, don't feel pressured, hopefully you have some time to arrange an alternative.

I got married in 2007… from memory the sit down meal was around £50pp and the buffet around £18? And that was in hotel restaurant. So £100pp for outside caterers nearly 20 years later seems very reasonable!

That’s really cheap. I paid a lot more than that for our 20 people wedding. There is nothing worse than going to a wedding and they scrimped on the food and you are starving.

Is it a cold starter and pudding. That would reduce their production costs. Will they serve drinks for you as part of the cosrs?
Have you tried the food? Is it good.

OP, you might want to consider posting in the Scotsnet section, for suggestions/recommendations.

Is this cutlery crockery and clean uP As well?

We got married August 2024 at a golf club and they did the catering and it was £89 per head, however that was for a 3 course sit down meal, half a bottle of wine per person, canapés and a drink between the wedding & meal and evening buffet.

Alcohol will be an extra £900 but is provided by the venue so separate charge

How on earth would it be realistic to expect a posh 3-course sit down dinner AND grazing board for £26 per head?!

I mean you can barely get 3 courses worth of food from frigging McDonald's for that now 😂

It sounds like you are spending all the money ( or being given) a fabulous venue but now want to scrimp on the food? It's a bit " fur coat and no knickers ". Pick something that will look fabulous in the photos but the food will be sub standard. Either ditch the sit down and have a buffet or have a sit down and ditch the grazing table. Agree with others, it looks good for the first ten minutes and then becomes an unhygienic mess of sweaty cheeses and picked over meats. £100 per head is extremely reasonable.

We paid £40 a head for 3 courses plus £10 for an evening buffet and that was really cheap compared to every other quote. I cater events and I’d be looking at £40 approx for a deluxe buffet and over £100 for the 3 courses

@Ganthanga we paid for the venue (including accommodation) and spent £7k on it. It is a small castle. PIL agreed to give us £15k for the wedding. SO we paid this is full as there was a discount for doing so before a certain date. PIL then pulled out of paying. Really really shitty thing to do. So now we're in a panic. Not only do we have to pay the £7k ourselves but also have to pull together a wedding with money we didn't plan to spend. We had budgeted for a £15k wedding expecting to receive that.

One thing I really wanted was a sit down meal. I may have to sacrifice that but if I could pick one thing for the wedding that would be it. To spend over a grand anyway on a buffet when I really don't want it feels depressing.

Can you state where about you are in Perthshire? Do they have access to kitchens crockery etc? I was just thinking maybe we could find a restaurant closely that might cater for you?

OP - I'd really recommend shopping around. You could start by asking the venue if they have preferred caterers and contacting all of them. Or someone has posted a list of Fingask's caterers above which you could work through. And try to negotiate too - explain you're on a budget, tell them what's important to you and ask them what the best price they can do is. Good luck!

Are the PIL now uninvited? What a shit thing to do. Did you get wedding insurance? Not sure it'd be covered, but consider changing the venue to local council ceremony and a nice pub. No point spending even more money that you don't have.

@Anotherdayanotherscan I do have access to kitchen and crockery for a fee and i'm 20m outside of perth centre

The caterer I quoted was on the list sent above of approved caterers

no PIL still coming

Oh, that’ is shit @colectivity , what a shame

I think I might be inclined to sacrifice the £7k and just do registry office and a meal rather than having a stressful wedding that’s not what you want

Don't stop at the first quote - get 5 quotes from different caterers and then negotiate! If it really is unaffordable then you'll have nothing to lose and can either decide to downgrade the catering to a buffet or walk away and go elsewhere. If you give the venue enough notice they may also be willing to refund part of the £7000 if they can get another booking too? (That's an eye watering venue fee by the way!). You need to start negotiating to make the most out of a difficult situation, rather than accepting things at face value.

Cant you cancel it?

Setting up to serve a meal in a castle costs pretty much the same if you are feeding 20 or 100
so you will have a lot of fixed costs that need to be split between not many people.

Can you look into food trucks instead??

Food truck?