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After you say, “I do!” it’s time for the party. Now’s your opportunity to celebrate your marriage and the next phase of your lives together. Kick it up with dancing, great company and, of course, delicious food. However, you may not know about the average cost of wedding food.

Your mind may still be reeling from the dollar signs in your venue rental, but the fare at your reception and surrounding events will also cost you a pretty penny. Food is typically the second biggest wedding expense, next to the venue hire. Fortunately, you have many opportunities to save money and still have the party of your dreams.

Average Cost of Wedding Food

The average cost of wedding food is based mainly on the number of guests on your list. The 2026 Real Weddings Study from The Knot, which surveyed over 10,000 couples, found that the current estimate is $80 per person for catering. For a reception with 100 loved ones, you could spend $8,000 on food alone. 

Common Oversights

Unfortunately, that figure doesn’t represent the whole picture of your wedding food expenses. Couples commonly miss these things when setting their budget:

Rehearsal Dinner

The bride and groom aren’t always the ones who pay for this. However, more couples are taking responsibility for the expense, which can set them back around $1,350, depending on the size of the bridal party and who else you invite.

Breakfast for Bridal Party

Unless you want bridesmaids fainting at the altar, you’ll probably need to feed them something during the day while you get dolled up in hair and makeup. Even a simple breakfast for your ladies will add up. 

Place Settings

Check your catering contract carefully. They may not include items like place settings, expecting the venue to take care of those details. If you’re getting married in an unconventional location or they don’t have this service, you’ll need to shell out extra just to have something to put food on. 

Alcohol

Unless you have your venue provide the catering, your alcohol bill will be a separate expense from the food. However, it’s an essential part of the reception for most brides and grooms but will add a considerable amount to your total for the wedding. 

Dessert

Your wedding cake likely won’t come from the caterer, so you’ll have to consider that expense separately. You must also account for any other dessert items you plan on offering. 

Late-Night Snacks

Late-night snacking is becoming a popular wedding tradition. Those who want to stay up and continue the party well into the night will get hungry again. You don’t need expensive fare, but even a dozen or so pizzas will add up. 

Morning-After Brunch

Instead of whisking right off to the honeymoon, some couples are opting to enjoy brunch with close family and friends the morning after the wedding. If you’re inviting these people, you may also be expected to cover their food costs. 

Cost-Breakdown of Different Menu Options

Your chosen catering style can greatly influence how much you spend on wedding food. Here’s a comparison of the main options you can choose from. 

Plated Dinner

A plated dinner can be beneficial for seamlessly serving meals and providing a more formal dining experience for guests. The cost per person can range from $85 to $200 or more, depending on the overall portion size.

What makes plated dinner catering styles more costly is the staffing required to assemble and serve the meals. Generally, you have to plan on one server per every 15 to 20 guests. 

Family-Style

Instead of having individual plates, family-style catering will involve bringing platters to guests’ tables. There’s a certain warmth in passing around the entrees, sides and mains with your community. Plus, you can scale down the per-person cost to $70-$140 instead. 

Buffet

Buffet service offers a memorable and more casual experience where guests can take what they want from a selection of food. The cost per person ranges from $60 to $130 and is ideal for larger parties. You can hire attendants to help serve various dishes. 

Food Stations

While food stations are similar to a buffet, the themed cuisines can make it a little easier to navigate. It’s a little more expensive at $70 to $150 per person, but the beauty in the presentation can make up for the additional cost. 

How to Save on Food Expenses

These tips and tricks can save you significant money for more important things, like the rest of your wedding expenses, honeymoon funds or a down payment on your first home. 

1. Opt for a Buffet or Family Style

Sit-down meals with plated dinners are the most expensive option for weddings, largely because they require the most serving staff. Your caterer would need to hire enough people to bring the plates of food to each guest and clear away at the end. 

To save some serious cash, you can choose a buffet or family-style meal instead. With these methods, you need far fewer wait staff to run an event, since guests can serve themselves from larger dishes at a separate table or spread them out on their own.   

2. Pick Cheaper Foods

One of the easiest ways to spend less than the average cost of wedding food is to be flexible with your ingredients. Rather than serving elevated fish and beef dishes like prime rib or ahi tuna, turn to well-prepared chicken or pork. You can have a memorable explosion of flavor without spending a small fortune. Another way to get less expensive foods is to ask for in-season produce and locally sourced ingredients when possible.

3. Serve Brunch

The time of day you choose for your reception will also factor into the cost of food for your wedding. Meals served in the evening tend to be larger and heavier than those served earlier in the day — and cost more. A brunch reception with eggs, potatoes, ham, sausage and pancakes would be much easier on your budget. If you’re dead set on an evening meal, simply embrace the breakfast-for-supper theme. 

4. Party Outside Mealtimes

With some forethought and extra planning, you may not even need to serve an official meal to your guests. For example, a 1 or 2 o’clock wedding would allow a 3 o’clock reception, with the party wrapping up between 6 and 7. Now, your loved ones will probably still get peckish if you give them nothing, so have some cold platters ready for snacking. Meat and cheese, fruits and veggies and sandwich fixings are all great options.

5. Serve Platters for Hors D’oeuvres

Those same platters work really well as a substitute for traditional hors d’oeuvres. During cocktail hour, waiters typically carry around trays of small bites for the guests. However, this method increases staffing needs. These tiny delicacies also tend to take more time to make and use premium ingredients. Eliminating passed hors d’oeuvres will help you stay on track with your wedding budget.

6. Scale Back the Cake

The cake and assorted desserts usually aren’t part of a catering package, so you’ll need to purchase those separately from a baker. Traditional tiered wedding cakes are gorgeous to look at but can get outrageously expensive. 

Cut down on costs by reducing the size of your cake. You could have a one-layer cake for your special pictures and then serve the rest of your guests a different dessert or from a sheet cake. You could also opt for a tiered cake where the base layers are foam on the inside and purely for decoration. 

Opt for buttercream over fondant, too. Aside from being more satisfying, it’s typically more affordable due to its simpler materials and assembly. Plus, tiered buttercream-frosted cakes must be stale to handle the decorations and stacking process. Sheet cakes are fresh. 

7. Stick to Wine and Beer

Alcohol is another item commonly forgotten when budgeting. While it’s an integral part of the festivities for most couples, 46% of Americans now abstain from drinking, which should be kept in mind when calculating your budget. 

Since liquor may not fall under the venue contract and is not usually supplied by the caterer, order the alcohol yourself. You can also cut costs by buying wine and beer in bulk at decent rates — your guests will still enjoy themselves when all is said and done. 

8. Cut Down the Guest List

The easiest way to stay under the average cost of wedding food is to cut your guest list. Each person you invite to your wedding is an added expense. When you need to save money, you must prioritize the loved ones you need there versus the people you’d like to have.  

Lower Your Average Cost of Wedding Food

While the national average is currently almost $80 a person just for reception food, you can bring your costs down substantially by using one or more of these tips. While eating in some form is a traditional part of the wedding, it’s not the end-all, be-all. Your guests will be more excited about dancing and socializing to celebrate your union, so take some pressure off yourself and enjoy this time.

Originally Published 05/28/2023 – Updated 10/23/2026