I've offered/been asked to cater for a friend's 50th wedding anniversary this weekend. For approx. 30-35 people. They gave me $400 to buy the food. I wrote a comprehensive list from the menu that they decided upon themselves (pretty easy, ham, chk nibbles, salads etc etc). I went to the supermarket today and got all I could. It cost $350 which left me shaking as I still need to get Potatoes, vegetables, fruits for dessert, and chk nibbles. I never intended to "Make Money" out of this as I'm doing a favour for a friend, but don't want to end up out of pocket myself. Pretty sure I'll go over budget by around $50. But how to address the issue? Surely it's not unreasonable to ask for more?
bottynoodle,
Jan 19, 9:58pm
I'm sure if you show them the receipts they would be happy to extend the budget.After all there is all your time and effort involved in this under taking and if they are reasonable people will stump up with another$200.00 .Go for it and speak to them about it.
niffer13,
Jan 19, 9:58pm
No tell your friend what you have bought so far. Price out the rest of the ingredients & ask for the balance. A good friend will understand.
valentino,
Jan 19, 10:02pm
Yep, if they decided on what's what then they should foot the bill plus an extra. If they good enough they will pay the bill and will reward your efforts later. As niffer13 noted, go for it, don't muck about, time is a factor as well.
Cheers and all the best.
soph001,
Jan 19, 10:49pm
Thanks for the reassurance. I did some calcs and it'll only be about $50 over so that's an ok amount to ask extra for.
lilyfield,
Jan 19, 11:00pm
and do not forget the power
lilyfield,
Jan 19, 11:03pm
btw I have done a 6 course Christmas midwinter dinner last July for 15 $ pp, including wine. Lots of ham left over. But everything cooked from sratch no shortcuts at all.
sampa,
Jan 19, 11:21pm
soph001 they're obviously good friends for you to make this generous off too, lucky them to have you volunteer to do all the work involved. The way to think of this is - what would happen if the situation was reversed? If, for example, you ran under budget by $50 I presume you'd tell them and hand over the extra money or at least offer it to them. Unfortunately we have no control over the cost of goods at any certain moment and you will be slightly over budget which I doubt (hope) that they would expect or want you to pay the difference for.
If you're not up front with them now it's more than likely to come out further down the track causing them embarrassment that you didn't ask and you to feel taken advantage of. Not worth it for $50. just tell them and get it sorted before the big night so that everyone can have a great time (you too hopefully. :)
huia991,
Jan 20, 12:05am
Chicken Nibbles on special at Mad Butcher this week if that helps?
soph001,
Jan 20, 12:23am
:) Yep Mad Butcher is on the list. At least I know the produce is cheap and excellent quality coming from a farm shop. I have to go round to pick up some stuff from their place today or tomorrow so I'll defo bring it up.
pericles,
Jan 20, 12:33am
$11 per head is not that much to work with
buzzy110,
Jan 20, 12:38am
I think if I was doing what you are doing I would have asked my friends to do all of the shopping themselves, thus sparing me the embarassment of having to go back and ask for extra money. I would also ask them to make a one off payment to cover 'unseen' costs like electricity and fuel (or mileage), dishwashing liquid, cleaning cloths, refrigeration, etc.
Have they worked out who is going to be providing all the glasses, cutlery, table cloths, serviettes, crockery, etc?
soph001,
Jan 20, 8:14am
Yes all that extra stuff is sorted, they've hired an old folks hall with full facilities. I'm doing it because it's a nice thing to do for someone, and it always comes back around. It's such a good feeling to do something for someone else. Thanks for your replies :)
duckmoon,
Jan 20, 9:19am
address with your friend. if they are truely a friend, then even if they can't pay you the extra $50 immediately, they will pay for it.
please note: that $400 for 35 people is only just more than $10 per head, which isn't much.
autumnwinds,
May 3, 1:46am
I really think that anything under $15 per head is doing it really cheap.
Be honest with your friends - you can't be expected to carry this extra cost yourself.
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