Why is in house catering so expensive at venues?!

I know a lot of venues without in house catering won't let you book unless you have a professional outside catering company make the food, as they would have the liability if something would go wrong!

What I would take a look at is the guest list. Look into maybe cutting coworkers or kids to save on the per plate cost! Hope this helps

I’ve found to cheaper to find an all inclusive venue. Keep in mind if you go with a venue that you have to bring everything in, you’ll be paying for the venue space and then paying a delegate fee for all the food to be brought in. You’ll also have to pay for all tables, chairs, linens, dishes, servers, bartenders etc etc.
Add up all the costs and see if it really comes up to be cheaper to break it all up. The stress alone of all those extra details not being handled by my venue would be a solid “no” for me from the get go

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Agreed. I found in my research that of course hearing $115 p/p seemed like a lot. However, if $115 covers EVERYTHING plus gratuity and a tip you're perfect. That $5,000 for catering alone doesn't always include beverages, the bartender fee, the service fee, the state tax, linens, plates, chairs, covers, centerpieces etc. That 5,000 just for catering alone is doubled once you add in the extra items that you have to have.

View Quoted Comment Exactly. There are so many extra little things you don’t think about. Like renting linens and hiring bartenders etc etc etc that will ADD UP! My price per person is covering everything from the venue, outdoor ceremony space, to servers and full open bar. We shopped around a lot too and it was a much better deal to be all inclusive.