What is/was your "per person" rate?

[Rock_of_Love]

I''m curious what everyone''s "per person" rate is or was for your reception. I''m sure there is a huge range depending on your budget. But, I''m also curious what it is includes.

In particular, those with a wedding coordinator, did you get a "per person" rate that included decor/rentals/lighting/wait staff/etc.?

I''m asking because I received a quote from my WC that I thought was fairly reasonable, but I wanted to make some changes to the type of *cuisine* being served - not more, less or better food - just the *cuisine* (think italian vs. mexican, or somethin''), and my "per person" rate went up by a LARGE amount. I received three quotes for the cuisine I want, one was in the ball park to the original amount and two had a HUGE increase, which, to me, seemed rather high. So, I''m just kinda curious if it is actually reasonable for what I''m trying to achieve, or if it is way off base.

I''ll share specifics later, but I just want to hear what you all are doing...

Advice/Feedback please!!

 

[sba771]

I think this depends on your area and what kind of wedding you are having. We didn''t officially get a per person, but if I were to calculate it is way over 200 a head if you include things like staff/rentals/food/open bar etc...but if I were getting married where my FI lives it would be even more, if I got married where my father lives it would be a fraction of the cost. It is very objective and it is going to be different for everyone.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Yeah - that is true...I figured it would vary quite a bit. Kind of a broad question, huh!

I guess I will just need to clarifly with my WC why it increased so much. I just really have no idea how much things cost or can cost for weddings in general.

 

[elrohwen]

Let''s see. Our base pp rate, for a Friday evening with a 65 person minimum (it was less with a 100 person min, but we didn''t want to invite that many) is $84. Now this is incredibly cheap for the NY/CT region and all of the other places we looked at were $95-$120+. We''re also adding $7pp for the "premium" entrees that we wanted (they basically had two menu tiers and all 3 entrees we chose were on the higher tier).

Also included in our rate is:
- 2 floral alter decorations
- simple dozen rose centerpieces
- open bar (we''re paying more for some specific alcohol we wanted, though they did offer a nice range of wines that didn''t change the pricing)
- all chairs, set up, linens, etc
- day of coordination for the wedding (the owner pretty much does everything you need)
- cake (we ended up paying $125 extra to have cheesecake, but if we had a normal cake it would''ve been free)

I think that''s about it. There are a couple other little extras like some chocolate covered strawberries and some kind of tabled hours d''ouevres in addition to the passed ones.

I think we got a really good deal for the price and it was one of the reasons we went with our venue.

 

[FrekeChild]

Entire wedding cost = $500+ per person
"Reception" cost = $25ish per person

Huge price discrepancy, but I suppose that''s what happens with small destination weddings. And one reason we chose the venue we did is because everyone could find something to eat there, and I love the irony of sitting in a (upscale) burger joint in my evening gown.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

for dinner, 26 pp for adults and 12 pp for kids
i guess we lucked out on that aspect by living in north dakota lol

 

[Bjedifish]

My per head cost is $195 a head with 225 people guaranteed. That price includes, our one wedding at a time venue, 6 hour event with open premium bar, ridiculous cocktail hour stations (sushi made to order, raw bar etc.) and specialty drink stations: i.e. martini and mojito bars, cocktail hour music, sit down 5 course dinner with 3 choices of entree for every guest, wedding cake (by our design and taste), 3 ice sculptures (one we design), one waiter per table, linens, cocktail hour flowers and entry way flowers, Viennese hour with 5 stations, personal bridal attendant for the entire day. I think this that’s about it, but I probably forgot something…of course our band/DJ and lighting package is another $11,800. Yikes.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

This really helps!! Keep ''em coming!

So, mine started out at...$136pp for seated dinner (4 apps plus two courses) or $105pp for cocktail style (8 apps)...which includes food (no alcohol) plus the following:
- reception set-up based on design: lounge furniture, high/low tables, various seating areas
- linens, tables, chairs, glassware, silverware, all dinnerware and favors and/or placecards
- end of night station (taco, hotdog, etc.)
- waiters / bartenders with all taxes/tips for all service providers
- unlimited bottled water, sodas, juice, and ice
- assistance with determining liquor quantities/purchasing/inventory and serving (corkage)

Then, I decided I wanted something in between the above two styles - more cocktails style with heavier food stations - and the price is $122pp.

I was unhappy with the cuisine of the catering options presented, so I asked for some quotes in the cuisine I wanted (think gourmet mexican), and now the price is up to $170pp...and that is WITHOUT the cost of alcohol!!! Granted, there are some additional food options that were included that I think I can eliminate (they added a dessert bar).

So, Laura - when I see what you are getting for $195pp, it kinda makes me wonder. I feel like I was fine at $122pp based on what I was getting...but I feel like $170pp is way high for what is being provided.

And, BTW, my wedding is in Mexico!

What do you guys think??

 

[LadyBlue]

How many guests are you having. I think 170pp is pretty high, unless you are reserving a big area for a few guests or is a very expensive and luxurious place. I think you should tried to get a price between 130-150.

 

[musey]

Ours ended up being ~$120pp with tax and gratuity (advertised was $95pp). This included venue (both ceremony and reception), tables/chairs, dinner, cocktail hour food, bar, day-of coordinator, valet. It was one of the best deals we found in our area (LA). I'm still amazed that it was that inexpensive.

Our venue has raised prices to I think $105 before tax and gratuity, last I checked.

 

[pjean]

We''re paying $85 per person, plus drinks. It''s at a restaurant, so there''s no venue fee or rentals involved. For what we''re having, in Las Vegas, that''s not a bad price, but my FI still just about stroked out when he realized what the per person rate was. (For some reason, I can show him the budget and he''s fine, but expressing it per person seems like a lot to him. Sigh...)

 

[Bjedifish]

Rock of Love- My wedding is at Florentine Gardens in River Vale, NJ. I was actually surprised at the price being as low as it was (however we did negotiate our price down from 220pp and got all the extras thrown in). I looked at a bunch of places in NYC, since that is my home town, but they wanted like 225 head or more for WAY less than what florentine is giving us. I think that $170 pp is outrageous for no alcohol!! Where in Mexico will your wedding be? Is this a super fancy place? My best friends brother had a destination wedding and they got a great price, but it was mainly because it was not a real touristy place.

 

[charbie]

i about hit the floor when i saw the cost where you all are at! i''m in ohio, and doing our wedding at a gorgeous downtown location, but not spending nearly that much!!!

we have 3 apps, buffet w/ 3 entree options, 3 sides, salad, gormet rolls for $26/pp.
that includes pretty much everything- linens, tableware, lighting, etc.

beverages are $6/pp and then we supply the alcohol.

champagne toast is $.50/pp, again we supply the alcohol.

when all is said and done, we are about $50/pp including favors, cake, alcohol.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Date: 9/19/2009 11:59:08 PM
Author: gaby06
How many guests are you having. I think 170pp is pretty high, unless you are reserving a big area for a few guests or is a very expensive and luxurious place. I think you should tried to get a price between 130-150.

So, the quote is for 60 people at a venue that I am renting independently. It is a private villa and I have to pay a $1000 rental fee, in addition to what I am paying per night for lodging (I''m renting it for 4 nights). It is a very luxurious place, but maybe the fees are a bit higher since they have to bring in the tables/chairs/etc vs having them on-site.

But, yeah, getting a feel from you guys I think I do need to be more around $130-$150 for what I''m getting...more towards the $130 range, I would think.

 

[Rock_of_Love]

Date: 9/20/2009 12:11:39 PM
Author: Bjedifish
Rock of Love- My wedding is at Florentine Gardens in River Vale, NJ. I was actually surprised at the price being as low as it was (however we did negotiate our price down from 220pp and got all the extras thrown in). I looked at a bunch of places in NYC, since that is my home town, but they wanted like 225 head or more for WAY less than what florentine is giving us. I think that $170 pp is outrageous for no alcohol!! Where in Mexico will your wedding be? Is this a super fancy place? My best friends brother had a destination wedding and they got a great price, but it was mainly because it was not a real touristy place.

Laura - I think you did great for what you are getting. Your wedding will be spectacular!!

After all the feedback, I''m definitely realilzing that $170 pp is too high for what I would be getting...especially with NO alcohol!

The wedding is in Puerto Vallarta, so definitely a more touristy spot.

 

[cindygenit]

For 65 guests (fairly small wedding), we are paying 118 AUD/person for pre-dinner drinks and canapes, sit down 3 course meal (choice of main), DJ, set up of the reception and ceremony venue, and 6 hr unlimited drinks at the reception.

Cake cutting set is also included and there is no fee for cake cutting etc.

Great price IMO.

The venue is right in the heart of the city too! Convenient location.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Date: 9/19/2009 10:41:26 AM
Author: Rock_of_Love
I guess I will just need to clarifly with my WC why it increased so much. I just really have no idea how much things cost or can cost for weddings in general.

Haha, I don't think anyone really knows why things cost as much as they do for weddings, other than that people are willing to pay that much. But I think they should be able to give you a reason for the increase if not the specific amount.

Including alcohol/drinks, taxes, tips, flowers/centerpieces, and cake (not DJ or photog), it came to 60$/pp. (The food alone, without the cake, was only 28/pp) It was also at a restaurant (private party room) so no fees or decoration or rentals. And I thought it was a great price for a personalized 9 course dinner with table service. The reception was 6 hours, so it's really like 10$/hr per person for an awesome dinner and party, hehe.

It was in upstate new york, and an upscale but genuine Chinese restaurant, hence the low prices.

 

[Octavia]

It's hard for me to say, since my venue isn't all-inclusive and we have different costs for different pieces. The food-only cost is $54 pp. When linen/tabletop rentals, service equipment, servers, bartenders, tax, gratuity, alcohol, cake, and venue rental fee are added in, it looks like about $150 pp. However, the exact breakdown remains to be seen because our original catering quote was for 140 and it looks like we'll have about 115 -- so service and rentals could be a bit cheaper. I'm DIY-ing centerpieces for about $15 each. The caterer also comes with a DOC-type person, who will make sure everything is set up properly and runs smoothly, which saved me having to hire someone. I don't think we got a great "deal," but we were willing to pay for what we wanted, and it's not too far out of line with all-inclusives in our area.

 

[Lynnie]

I got married in April...
Our venue was $68pp (tax and gratuity included). We got:
Champaigne toast for all guests
4 kinds of passed hor-d''orves (I know I butchered that word... sorry!)
Antipasti station
Sit down meal
5 hours of open bar
Valet parking
A flambe dessert station (bananas foster)
The cake was included, too, but we upgraded it (for an extra $100)
I also had 2 personal attendants that the venue provided

We got married on a Saturday, and had 115 people. I live in Philly, and the reception was held at a place in my neighborhood. Center City venues can run $150+ pp.

Like Charbie, I almost hit the floor, too, at what a lot of you are paying! I know a lot of it has to do with location... $200pp would have been waaayyy over budget for us.
It''s really interesting to see how much prices vary...

 

[princessplease]

I thought what I was paying was a lot, but when I see the other costs, I''m shocked!!! I know prices are location dependent, but WOW, Laura!!!!!! Is that before tax or after??

Our cost is $69.95 pp before tax, and after tax and gratuity, it works out to $88.83 pp.

This price includes:
-5 butlered h''our derves
-Tuscano table (Italian meats, cheeses, pastas, dips, breads, etc)
-For dinner, buffet style food of one chicken, one pasta, one beef, one seafood, one vegetable, one potato and two cold salads
-Dessert station consisting of: mousses, cheesecakes, carrot cake, flambe station, eclairs, cream puffs, chocolate covered strawberries, fruit tarts, cannollis, fresh fruits, crepes, cookies, coffee/tea, and of course, a wedding cake (which we can pay the difference on if we want a fondant cake, more flavors, etc)
-Champagne toast
-Full open bar, top shelf, with all garnishes
-Bridal suite
-Access to the outside of the reception hall
-Fully dressed tables, with centerpieces and choice of colored cloth napkins

 

[purselover]

Mine is a bit pricey for where it is (semi-upstate NY) but I think very cheap since we were originally looking in Westchester/NYC. It is $90 pp 100 person minimum, it includes:

Honeymoon suite
5 free rooms for guests
Day of personal assistant
private bridal suite with bartender/server, champagne, cocktails, appetizers
premium open bar entire cocktail hour and reception

cocktail hour
4 butlered cold appetizers/4 hot butlered appetizers
a selections of veggies, dips, fruit, breads, cheeses, spreads
3 stations of my choice, a carving, pasta, southwestern station etc
We are adding a premium martini bar with a mixologist for $5 a person

reception
champagne toast
2 starters of my choice
1 chicken, red meat, vegetarian, and fish choice chosen by guests that day
cake of my choice with a chocolate covered strawberry, and coordinating tart and mousse
coffee, espresso, cappucino, cordials, tea etc
a to go station at the end of the reception with coffee, tea, cocoa, cookies etc, for guests to take as they leave
We are having the mixologist again for the whole reception for $10 a guest
We will probably add an additional dessert for $5.95-$25 a person

 

[meresal]

$100.55/adult (incl. tax and gratuity), half for children under 12, free for children under 5

Included 4 hour full open bar and the food (3 hot stations and 4 cold), and the larger dance floor. Then a salad station that has the salads in mini martini glasses. It also included basic linens, but we upgraded to ones that were $20/table. So that was extra, but we didn't lump it in with the pp cost. Also had free parking in the building garage... HUGE plus for us since we were in downtown area on a Saturday night.

 

[NuggetBrain]

We are paying about $70 per person for 130 people. This includes the manor house rental, wedding cupcakes, dinner, late night snack of mini burgers with all the fixings, linens including chair covers and sashes, set up and take down, charger plates, full open bar for 6 hours, all staff, wedding coordinator, and taxes and fees.

 

[cammy85]

Entire wedding ~150/pp
Reception total (open bar, passed appetizers, sit down dinner, tables, linens, waitstaff, venue coordinator, chargers, etc - we also added chair covers at an additional cost of $4/pp - 5 hours) ~85/pp

 

[princessplease]

.

 

[Erinleigh]

Our venue is $160 pp for 220 people (150 person minimum).
It includes:
the entire venue from ceremony-reception (including set-up fees and staff wages (not including dj/florist etc.)
appetizers, 4 course meal, a late-night sweet table and a midnight pub-food table
open bar all night, wine with dinner

Our wedding is in Ontario in the GTA, so this was very reasonable compared to other venues we had looked at!

 

[stephbolt]

Right now we are $68 pp (plus 20% service charge and 6% sales tax)

For this we get: crudite/cheese/cracker station during cocktail hour, champagne toast, plated salad, buffet with 2 entree + carving station, and open bar for 4 hours.

I''m in western Maryland.

 

[laughwithme]

We are paying $56 pp and that includes 4-hour open bar, buffet with three meats (including live carver,) veggies, bread, salad, etc. It also includes a champagne toast for the bridal party, all linens and very nice dinnerware/stemware. Best of all, that price includes tax and service charge - which would otherwise add another 28% to our entire bill!! We are paying an extra $3.50 pp for an appetizer package during the cocktail hour on the terrace. We will also pay for a 5th hour of the open bar, and that final cost is TBD @ end of night.

Kids are a bit cheaper, since they can''t drink alcohol, and they run $14-$21 depending on age.

We are getting married in KS and this price was pretty mainstream. In my area, there are options ranging from catered BBQ buffet on paper plates for $12pp, all the way up to $150+ pp at the fancy hotel ballrooms downtown. We set out to find a good mix of location/scenery/price per person, and this place fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Lekde]

We are having about 130people and are paying $133/pp. This price includes tax & grat, kid and vendors eat free, and a full 5 hour open bar and champ toast. The wedding and reception are being held in DUMBO, Brooklyn, NY.

Yes, for our area (NYC area), we got a fabulous deal at a fabulous place!

 

[Kellybell]

Ugh..I hesitate to write this, but I think our venue was around $300 per person (but we had a very small wedding - only 60 people.) That included unlimted open bar, raw bar, vegetable/cheese display, passed apps, dinner, wedding cake, champagne toast, chocolate covered strawberries, linens, silverware, tax, tip, wedding coordinator, etc. We also held our reception at a resort on the ocean in the Northeast, so we were definitely paying for location. It was a lot of money, but we had a wonderful time and I didn''t have to worry about a thing (which to me was worth the money.)