Why would anyone in their right mind consider catering their own wedding?
Bankhead: It’s kind of a pretty easy answer: money. It can be much, much less expensive to do it yourself. If you consider that the cost of the reception is half or more the total cost of the wedding, you’ve got brides who have to end up choosing between having all the people they want to (attend the wedding) and having a lesser meal, or having a great meal and having to cut down on the guest list. Catering your own reception can typically save about half of what you would pay for a caterer. It all depends on what plan you want and what foods you want. If you want to sub out one of our recipes for prime rib, you’re going to be paying more. How much are professionally catered receptions going for these days anyway? Bankhead: The average cost of a wedding is $20,000, and you’re looking at about $10,000 for a catered reception. What’s the easiest type of reception to self-cater? Bankhead: We offer a number of menu plans. The easiest is what we call “the basic.” It’s really casual: little
