Take out catering?

@jennifer thanks! Hearing that you enjoyed the food that way makes it seem more possible

OP: If you search under the vendor tab here for servers there are a few catering places that seem to offer just "Event Services" like clean up and set up. I'm not sure of prices but maybe start there? If you google "waitstaff santa Barbara, ca" some of the results look promising too.

Are there options for food truck in your area? Or station set up (which doesn't require anyone to be there- can be cheaper)?

Sigh. It's hard to explain why cobbling a celebration together with "food from here" and "staff from there" is so stressful. But it is.

Your food will be dropped off in pans. You'll have four people who have never seen it before, have no idea what to do with it, nor how to orchestrate your day. There will be no one in charge.

If you decide to go this route, hire a good, A GREAT, DOC. Because you need one.

If you want to guarantee that you have zero fun at your own wedding, take charge of the catering. I did it. It sucked.

I see you're based in SoCal. I'm based in LA, had my wedding in Palm Springs. I used Fork In the Road catering and they were wonderful. They're based in Long Beach, there was a travel fee but it was worth it as I still saved a bunch of money using them over other companies. Food was fantastic, everyone complimented us on it. For a 46 person wedding here's what we served:

Cocktail hour:

- cheese & charcuterie station

- winter squash rice balls

- ahi tuna poke bites

- pulled pork silders

Buffet dinner:

- bread rolls and butter

- citrus arugula salad

- roasted veggies

- mashed potatoes

- smoked chimichurri chicken

- dijon salmon

Anyways it's a lot of info but what I'm saying is ALL THIS came out to about $3.5K and included their staff, travel fee, taxes/fees, etc and bartender (we provided the alcohol ourselves). I'd highly recommend them. http://www.forkintheroadcatering.com

Update: I looked up serving staff like someone recommended and after some no can do's, I found a staffing company who has dealt with my venue before, and has worked with the restaurant I have in mind. They're setting my centerpieces (I'm making them myself) and dinner tables, full bar service, coffee and appetizer stations for cocktail hour, setting up and monitoring buffet area, keeping food at right temp, as well as doing clean up. Quote: $1300. Added bonus, I really like the owner of this company, super charismatic, friendly, heard me out and made recommendations for changes without making me feel like I'm being absurd.

This keeps me within budget for catering.

That's great!!! ^^^ glad you figured it all out.

Are there any area you can cut cost so that you can have a good caterer? This is a very important area (for me is #1) cheaping out can impact the entire wedding vibe.

Great job on finding the help you need!!!

I'm so happy for you, that sounds like a GREAT use of funds and you get to have the amazing food you want!

Make sure the company staff is serve safe certified

Are you including alcohol in your food budget or is that something you're calculating separately?

@alyssa they are! And insured and licensed.

@kathia G. No, that is a separate cost. I plan on purchasing all the alcohol at Costco.

You need to have runners, people who replenish. You need to have people who clear plates and make sure there’s enough plates at the stations. You need to have bartenders. You need to have someone who breaks down all the equipment at the end of the night. What do you think you’re paying for?

I am ordering BBQ (wedding is in Kansas in a barn, only seems fitting) from Joe's and they offer full service, meaning they send 2 people with the food to set-up/tear down and swap out hot dishes when they run out for about $15pp. We are just doing the drop-off option for $11pp and hiring 2 servers for $20 an hour. We did the math and it saves about $200 to hire servers than do the full service once taxes and gratuity are added in

@Stephanie exactly, that’s what I’m figuring out too, with caterers your paying labor costs at per person rates, regardless of how many servers and staff you get

We're doing buffet. A local restaurant is cooking the food and we are renting chafer dishes to keep it warm. The venue offered staffing services to either serve food or maintain the buffet (for a cost, but much more affordable than having caterers plate and serve).

Glad you were able to work it out!

It is rated 5 stars by Google rating standards however it's not considered a five star restaurant. A five star restaurant is rated using Michelin stars which are very hard to get . Restaurant s such as those owned by Gordon Ramsey or the such would earn these. This restaurant according to Google hasn't gotten one. I'm not saying it's not very good food, but agreeing it's not worth the price. My venue is catering my event with a sit down buffet at $43 per person. Set up and such is in the venue cost not food cost. Alcholol is billed separately and we chose full house liquor at $29 a person as that was the one thing I promise FH