Northern Virginia Catering – Budget Myths

Bar set up at Lodge at Little Seneca, Boyds MD www.montgomeryparks.org/event_centers/seneca.shtm

Every day brides and grooms to be sit down and HOPEFULLY draft budgets to help them navigate the planning of their  future wedding and wedding receptions.  Understandably this can be a daunting challenge.  There is so much valuable information available, and so much that is not at all helpful.  Let me address some of the common myths about costs associated with planning and paying for a wedding reception in the Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland area.


Myth #1: Kegs are cheaper than buying single beers.  Well, in ounces that is true.  But a keg has a lot of waste.  LOTS of foam in the beginning.  And unless you know you have a healthy contingency of beer drinkers, after your event, there’s no leftovers.  You can’t save it, and you most likely need to turn the keg back to the distributor.  Cases of beer can be returned unopened at some stores (Total Wine), and can be used for at a later date if not.  Plus, most caterers just don’t like the look of it.  It’s a wedding folks, not a frat party.

Myth #2:  Shorten the reception time so we don’t have to rent the space as long.  Some truth here.  But you still need a MINIMUM of 6 hours of rental because that is going to include catering set up and clean up on other end.  Most caterers need 2 hours of set up and hour of clean up.  If you are including a ceremony in this time frame, that is leaving you with a total of approx 3 to 3 1/2 hours of reception.  For a small wedding reception, that is doable. For 150, crazy.
  

 Myth #3: People never really eat the wedding cake, so order smaller size to save money. If that is true, sadly they have never eaten one of Teatime Delicacies, Inc.’s cakes.  People have been known to stand around the cake crumbs at the end of the night scavenging for morsels!

Myth #4:  Limit amount of food to save money. NEVER NEVER listen to that piece of advise.  Guests come to a wedding reception to eat, drink, dance and listen to music among other things.  If you limit your appetizer hour to only one app, all that means is I have to bring 3 times as much of it as I would if you selected 3 different appetizers.  You don’t save anything.  Limiting options can simplify things, but realize we have to just bring more of the items you selected.

Workhouse Art Center in Lorton VA www.workhousearts.org

 Myth #5: Interesting off the grid type venues charge less because they don’t have a lot of exposure.  While THAT might actually be true, the flip side of this is these spaces often have no tables and chairs, no kitchen, not even a space to stage the food prep.  So that means EVERYTHING has to be brought in.  Just be clear with the venues you are checking out – what exactly is included with that pricing?  We just came across a client who booked a lovely venue only to learn it’s an additional $500 to actually USE the kitchen.

Myth #6:  Revisiting the bar, “a lot of our guests don’t drink” so you grossly underestimate how much alcohol to buy, thinking your saving money.  Well, yes, of course you save money when you buy less.  But it’s always better to have too much or too little.  Having to do a beer or wine or alcohol run in the middle of the reception is a major inconvenience for everyone.  People who seldom drink or drink very little often have a change of heart when it’s free.

Ruth’s House Salad as Plated First Course

 Myth #7:  A plated meal is less expensive than a buffet style as there is less food involved.  A plated meal is actually significantly more expensive.  While there may be less food since it is portion controlled, there is more staff to guest ratio, more preset items at the guest seating.  It can be as much as 20% more in price.

NOT A MYTH #1:  Guest Count
There is no bigger way to reduce your expenses.  Limit your guest count.  We get repeated inquiries from clients wanting to do a wedding reception for 250 guests “and we are on a very limited budget”.  We cannot help you out.  There is not way you are going to get out of some serious money if you have this type of guest count.  If there is only one piece of advise we wedding vendors can pass along, it’s limit the guest count if you are really trying to keep costs down.  100 guests is a lovely amount, you will be able to engage in conversation with most everyone.  With 250, it’s impossible.  If you just can’t imagine all of those guests not being part of your special day, consider a small wedding reception after your ceremony, then a blow out knock your socks off party on a different day at a more casual venue.  Northern Virginia, Montgomery County in MD have numerous venues for this type of event.

Teatime Delicacies, Inc. tries to accommodate any range of budget, and we realize catering expenses can come with real sticker shock.  Yet, some things are common sense, and guest count is one of them.
www.teatimeinc.com