Catering for a wedding - what costs?

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courtney2004, Jul 28, 7:12am
I have been honoured with the position to cater for a wedding however they asked me to name the price and here I am wanting to know how much an hour to charge!!!!! Its a pot luck meal so I am needed on a per hour rate to cater (place and remove food and dishes) for 150 people. Its hand washing as no dishwasher I will have 3? others assisting me again what charge to charge them out at?

winnie231, Jul 28, 7:23am
$15-17 p/h for your helpers & $20-23 p/h for yourself. I'm guessing it's cash in hand & you'll get fed as well.

seano7, Jul 28, 8:31am
Hi you need to think how long will those dishes will take. I owne a cafe and say about $75.00 per hour. Because thats a lot of work for a few people. If you sell your self cheap advantages are taken by the client.

scannell2, Jul 28, 8:53am
why not price it out on the whole job basis? then you might not feel like you are getting ripped as you know whats involved and if you are happy with the price go with it. if it were my wedding and the food was being provided and you are just serving and cleaning up i would expect to pay each person at lease $20 per hour, so if three people help you theres $80 an hour for say 3 hours, its not that much when you do it that way. i would say more like $500 for the whole thing, id be happy to pay that, dont under sell yourself it will be stressful and full on

beastie3, Jul 28, 8:58am
I agree totally with this. Hey and don't forget food & drinkies will probably be thrown in for staff as well!!...I would do that if it were my wedding

winnie231, Jul 28, 9:34am
There's no way it would be only 3 hrs work.
You're looking at atleast 6 hrs work with heating the food, serving it, clearing afterwards ... then dessert ... then cake & coffee ... plus all those dishes for 150 people.
My estimate of $65-74 p/h & the others at $75 & $80 p/h are nearly $500 anyway for 6 hrs work.
Be careful with giving a fixed price. If the job takes longer than you thought then your hourly rate goes down.
$500 is good money - but don't underestimate yourself.
Good luck with the job :)

pickles7, Jul 28, 9:56am
Caterers would charge $50.00 a head, and know what food was to be served. $10.00 a head, would be more to the mark. That is if the kitchen is well equipped cope, with what ever turns up.

courtney2004, Jul 28, 10:37am
Its a little country sport club rooms. The family are trying to cut costs and I am greatful to assist! I was thinking about an hourly rate of prehaps $25 for me per hour and others at $17 per hour I might have two lots of different people assisting a clean up team and a setup and serving team and I would carry through with it all. All the food is provided I have to heat and get it out there and the dishes are all to be washed by hand!

deus701, Jul 28, 12:01pm
Tell CPIT u like to offer their students some work experience (unpaid)

antoniab, Jul 28, 7:50pm
Im paying my lil sisters mates to do it - $50 each then they can join in the party after :)

duckmoon, Jul 28, 9:49pm
Where are the dishes coming from...
I have hired dishes - and think we use need to scrap them clean - but not wash them...

At least we don't wash the glasses.

If they are being hired, it will reduced the time required

suzanna, Jul 28, 11:17pm
Duckmoon you are lucky as I do many functions including weddings and a couple of years ago one of our suppliers changed the rules so now all dishes have to be washed not just scraped. I will add that scraping makes a huge difference for the person doing the washing-up pre sterilising as the water lasts much longer between changes.

suzanna, Jul 28, 11:34pm
Just make sure that your 'staff' know what they are dong as if they don't or you aren't clear about what you want it can lead to alot of grief on the day. Even things such as 'keep an eye out for any dishes needing refills' are important but trust me- doesn't happen unless staff are briefed. I'm sure you will do so but take the time to sit and write a task list for all the things that are going to need to be addressed for the function. It may be second nature to you to do certain things a certain way but it's not to others and if they know what is expected and how it's to be executed thenthis goes along way towards a smooth operation. Create a run sheet.Make sure also that you have enough teatowels - I'm serious as you will plough through them. Rubbish bags or waste food containers. I'm sure beibg rural someone will want it for their pigs. Make sure that you know how all the equipment works...eg is the hot water reliant on an urn system being a sportsclub? Things like spare fuses - are they there?Have a first aid kit. Are you plating any food? Garnishes? If the crockery, cutlery is being hired check it/ count it out the day before if possible.Even though you're not responsible for ordering etc you need to know that it's all there. Personally I would have one team for ease of management and so that you don't have people standing around. I know you only asked about staff but just thought I'd share some things I've learnt along the way. Enjoy the experience you'll love it.

davidt4, Jul 29, 12:51am
A few years ago I was doing a catering job at a party.One guest brought along a huge bunch of roses, so I asked one of the teenagehelpers to arrange them in a vase.Later I noticed that the roses were wilting and that the vase had no water in it; when I remonstrated with the helper she replied "If you'd wanted water in it you should have told me!".

suzanna, Jul 29, 12:57am
Love it!

rarogal, Jul 29, 3:34am
My caterer charges $35/head all up and gave me a choice of menus. That included her helpers, she had plenty of them and was at the venue at 9am. She has lists posted for her staff with instructions on what is to be done and inspects every lasts dish before it leaves the kitchen.

courtney2004, Jul 29, 7:12am
I have been honoured with the position to cater for a wedding however they asked me to name the price and here I am wanting to know how much an hour to charge! Its a pot luck meal so I am needed on a per hour rate to cater (place and remove food and dishes) for 150 people. Its hand washing as no dishwasher I will have 3! others assisting me again what charge to charge them out at!

winnie231, Jul 29, 7:23am
$15-17 p/h for your helpers & $20-23 p/h for yourself. I'm guessing it's cash in hand & you'll get fed as well.

scannell2, Jul 29, 8:53am
why not price it out on the whole job basis! then you might not feel like you are getting ripped as you know whats involved and if you are happy with the price go with it. if it were my wedding and the food was being provided and you are just serving and cleaning up i would expect to pay each person at lease $20 per hour, so if three people help you theres $80 an hour for say 3 hours, its not that much when you do it that way. i would say more like $500 for the whole thing, id be happy to pay that, dont under sell yourself it will be stressful and full on

beastie3, Jul 29, 8:58am
I agree totally with this. Hey and don't forget food & drinkies will probably be thrown in for staff as well!.I would do that if it were my wedding

winnie231, Jul 29, 9:34am
There's no way it would be only 3 hrs work.
You're looking at atleast 6 hrs work with heating the food, serving it, clearing afterwards . then dessert . then cake & coffee . plus all those dishes for 150 people.
My estimate of $65-74 p/h & the others at $75 & $80 p/h are nearly $500 anyway for 6 hrs work.
Be careful with giving a fixed price. If the job takes longer than you thought then your hourly rate goes down.
$500 is good money - but don't underestimate yourself.
Good luck with the job :)

pickles7, Jul 29, 9:56am
Caterers would charge $50.00 a head, and know what food was to be served. $10.00 a head, would be more to the mark. That is if the kitchen is well equipped to cope, with what ever turns up.

duckmoon, Jul 29, 9:49pm
Where are the dishes coming from.
I have hired dishes - and think we use need to scrap them clean - but not wash them.

At least we don't wash the glasses.

If they are being hired, it will reduced the time required

suzanna, Jul 29, 11:34pm
Just make sure that your 'staff' know what they are dong as if they don't or you aren't clear about what you want it can lead to alot of grief on the day. Even things such as 'keep an eye out for any dishes needing refills' are important but trust me- doesn't happen unless staff are briefed. I'm sure you will do so but take the time to sit and write a task list for all the things that are going to need to be addressed for the function. It may be second nature to you to do certain things a certain way but it's not to others and if they know what is expected and how it's to be executed thenthis goes along way towards a smooth operation. Create a run sheet.Make sure also that you have enough teatowels - I'm serious as you will plough through them. Rubbish bags or waste food containers. I'm sure beibg rural someone will want it for their pigs. Make sure that you know how all the equipment works.eg is the hot water reliant on an urn system being a sportsclub! Things like spare fuses - are they there!Have a first aid kit. Are you plating any food! Garnishes! If the crockery, cutlery is being hired check it/ count it out the day before if possible.Even though you're not responsible for ordering etc you need to know that it's all there. Personally I would have one team for ease of management and so that you don't have people standing around. I know you only asked about staff but just thought I'd share some things I've learnt along the way. Enjoy the experience you'll love it.

davidt4, Jul 30, 12:51am
A few years ago I was doing a catering job at a party.One guest brought along a huge bunch of roses, so I asked one of the teenagehelpers to arrange them in a vase.Later I noticed that the roses were wilting and that the vase had no water in it; when I remonstrated with the helper she replied "If you'd wanted water in it you should have told me!".