How to compare wedding catering quotes when the prices don’t tell the whole story

Write one brief and send it to everyone

Include the date, venue, guest count, ceremony and dinner times, and proposed service style. Say if you want drinks, canapés, dessert, or a late snack quoted too. Explain what you already know about kitchen access and what still needs checking.

If you’re considering both a buffet and a plated meal, ask for them as separate options. Otherwise you may end up comparing a staffed plated service with a drop-off buffet and attributing the difference entirely to the food.

Give the same dietary information to each supplier. Ask how they collect final requirements and whether substitutions affect the quote. Let the caterer explain what they can reliably deliver rather than designing a menu around assumptions.

Follow the meal from delivery to cleanup

Read each proposal as a sequence. Someone brings the equipment, prepares the food, serves it, clears the tables, and deals with what remains. Ask who is responsible at each step.

Look for staffing hours, setup time, clearing, washing up, rubbish removal, and the condition in which the kitchen must be returned. If a line is missing, mark it “unconfirmed,” not zero. An empty cell in your spreadsheet is not an inclusion.

Rentals deserve their own pass. Ask about crockery, cutlery, glassware, linens, serving equipment, and delivery or collection. If you’re supplying something yourself, confirm that it suits the caterer’s service plan. Your favourite small plates may not work for the dinner you’ve requested.

Ask for a total at one shared headcount

Choose a working number and ask everyone to price it. Include supplier meals or children’s meals separately where relevant, with the caterer’s own rules beside them. Ask when the final count is due and what happens if it changes afterwards.

Keep fixed costs separate from costs that change per guest. Here is an illustrative calculation, not a market estimate: food at $90 for 80 guests is $7,200. Adding $1,800 in staffing and $1,000 in rentals brings the subtotal to $10,000 before any quoted taxes or other charges. A proposal showing only $90 per person would leave much of that meal out of view.

Use the same currency throughout. This matters especially if you’re gathering ideas on both sides of the Canada–U.S. border.

Have the caterer explain every additional charge

Ask what each service, administrative, delivery, or other charge covers, how it is calculated, and whether gratuity is included or separate. Request an itemized total with applicable taxes shown. Don’t assume a label means the same thing across suppliers, or copy a percentage from a wedding article into your budget.

This is also the time to ask about changes to the menu, overtime, and additional equipment. You’re collecting the supplier’s terms, not trying to predict every possible surprise yourself.

Compare the meal you want, then adjust it

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s wedding budgeting guidance encourages couples to agree on spending priorities and track expenses. Apply that to the dinner: decide what matters before cutting line items. You might protect a generous meal while simplifying courses, or keep table service and remove a separate late snack.

Put the clarified figures into the catering calculator, then check the effect on your overall wedding budget. When you browse caterers, keep the same brief ready. A useful quote should leave you able to describe both what you’ll spend and what will happen at dinner.