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What is the Average Cost per Person for Catering?

When planning a party or event, you have to pay a lot of attention to the food and drinks that your guests are going to indulge in. This is because what your guests are going to consume plays a significant role in the success of your event. Food has the potential to make an event memorable, even when other aspects were not that good. It thus makes a lot of sense to hire a caterer to make your event incredible, instead of doing everything by yourself. When hiring a caterer, one thing that you have to pay attention to is the amount of money you have to pay. One very common way of calculating cost is doing an average cost per person. This helps easily calculate the total cost of catering the event. This article is going to help you decide the cost of catering your event by discussing several things that caterers take into consideration when calculating the average cost per person.

Lowest Cost per Person for Catering

If you are working on a very tight budget, you might not have the funds to hire a large catering crew that will offer many food and drinks options at your event. In such a situation, all that you might be able to do is consider having a food truck at your event. You can pay for the food truck and its owners prepare food in advance. You do not need to do a lot with the food, as you can have them prepare light foods such as sandwiches, burgers, pastries, bites, and salads. These options are great when offered at a brunch. When you decide to go for a food truck, you can expect to pay starting at $15 per person. This average cost per person is great, bearing in mind that it also covers the food truck, operation fees, and any miscellaneous costs.

Medium Cost per Person for Catering

Another option is to have buffet catering. Due to the good experience it offers your guests, buffet catering comes at a much higher cost than when you have a food truck. Buffet catering comes in different options and one of the cheapest one is the drop-off buffet. If you decide to go with thus, the food will be prepared off-site and delivered at the event. If you are looking to save money, you can set up the tables yourself, as all that will be needed after that is for guests to self-serve. Depending on the kind of event and the catering demands you have, the price would start at $22 per person. The higher cost comes about because a more premium experience is offered, as a buffet provides your guests with many options in regards to the foods they would like to take at the event.

A similar option to drop-off buffet is to hire a catering company and ask them to set up tables or stations with distinct food choices at each one. You could have stations offering different foods such as starters, desserts, salads, and meats. Similar to a normal buffet, you can have your guests do a self-service, as your caterer will already have provided the needed silverware, glassware, and linens. The cost for this is similar to that of a drop-off buffet.

High End Service

If you are looking to offer your guests with a high-end service, you can achieve exactly that by asking your caterer to provide more expensive foods and drinks to your guests. Your guests can be served with entrees, starters, main courses, and desserts. In addition to this, you can have your caterer set up the tables, and bring dinner rolls, napkins, silverware, tents, lighting, décor, and tablecloths for your guests. They could also arrange entertainment for your guests, valet and transportation, and even equipment for the event. In such a situation, your starting point should be $25 per person for catering. Such full service catering is ideal for a wedding or corporate dinner party.

The average cost per person that you need to pay for catering depends on the things that you are looking to achieve with your event and your budget. If you do not have many funds to work with, you can choose to hire a food truck. However, if you have some extra finances to spend, you can have a buffet at your event. This way, you will be in a position to give your guests an outstanding experience without spending so much money. Nevertheless, if you want to give the very best experience, consider going for full service catering.

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