Caterers and deposits

How much deposit they require really depends on the caterer.

And depending on the area you live and time of year of the wedding it might be the sooner the better. Some people book there's a year in advance.

I’ve seen up to 50% required. Ours was actually $1k. We booked over a yr out, they can only take on so much in a day.

Booked our caterer 9 months out; they wanted 20% deposit

Our venue is also our caterer. We booked about 17 months out. They required a 2k deposit. Places in my area book fast, especially for August which is heading into prime wedding season in my location. If you have a caterer in mind, and the money for the deposit, book them!

We booked ours a couple months ago for October. They required 50% of the total for your estimated guest count and final 2 weeks before.

My venue was also our caterer and they required a deposit of $2500 with the final payment paid one month before the wedding.

I booked our caterer eleven months in advance, and she only required a $250 deposit because of the low number of guests (80-100). We're getting married in October, which is a popular time in the south, so I booked as soon as I knew the date.

We're doing tastings and consultations at the end of the month, so we will be booking around the beginning of April after we make a decision.

I've been told anywhere from $0-500 and our guest list is approximately 50 people, although I don't think that's factoring into the amount of the deposit/retainer fees. The place that's $0 til after the wedding takes place is the preferred vendor of our venue and means a 10% discount but they don't do a tasting so I'm not sure about that one.