Wedding Catering Cost Calculator
Pick a service style, enter your guest count, and see the true total: food, service charge, tax, and the tip you'll actually hand the staff, plus the all-in cost per guest.
Do I tip my…
Pick a vendor for the instant answer.
Yes — tip your catering staff/waiters 15–20%, end of reception (give to catering manager to distribute).
Check your contract first — a gratuity is often already included. If it says "service charge" instead of "gratuity," tip the staff separately.
Full catering staff/waiters guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Yes — tip your bartenders $50–$100 per bartender, end of reception.
Check your contract first — a gratuity is often already included. If it says "service charge" instead of "gratuity," tip the staff separately.
Yes — tip your wedding planner 15–20% or $100–$500, final meeting or wedding day.
Tip even if they own the business — this is one of the categories where owners expect it.
Yes — tip your day-of coordinator 15–20% or $200–$500, end of wedding day.
Tip even if they own the business — this is one of the categories where owners expect it.
Full day-of coordinator guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Usually — tip your photographer 5–15% or $50–$200, end of reception or with final gallery delivery.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Usually — tip your videographer 5–15% or $50–$200, end of reception.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Usually — tip your dj 10–15% or $50–$150, end of reception.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Usually — tip your band/musicians $25–$50 per musician, end of reception (give to bandleader to distribute).
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Yes — tip your hair stylist 15–25%, after services (morning of wedding).
Tip even if they own the business — this is one of the categories where owners expect it.
Yes — tip your makeup artist 15–25%, after services (morning of wedding).
Tip even if they own the business — this is one of the categories where owners expect it.
Usually — tip your florist $50–$200 total, delivery day or wedding day.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Yes — tip your officiant (religious) $100–$500 donation, before or after ceremony.
If the owner is the one serving you, a tip is optional rather than expected.
Full officiant (religious) guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Usually — tip your officiant (secular) $50–$100 total, after ceremony.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Full officiant (secular) guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Yes — tip your limo/shuttle drivers 15–20% or $50–$100, end of each ride.
Check your contract first — a gratuity is often already included. If it says "service charge" instead of "gratuity," tip the staff separately.
Full limo/shuttle drivers guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Yes — tip your valet $1–$5 per car, when car is retrieved.
Check your contract first — a gratuity is often already included. If it says "service charge" instead of "gratuity," tip the staff separately.
Usually — tip your cake baker $50–$100 total, delivery.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Usually — tip your photo booth attendant $50–$100 total, end of reception.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Full photo booth attendant guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Yes — tip your delivery personnel $10–$50 per person, upon delivery.
If the owner is the one serving you, a tip is optional rather than expected.
Full delivery personnel guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Usually — tip your ceremony musicians $15–$50 per musician, after ceremony.
If they own the business, a tip is appreciated but not expected.
Full ceremony musicians guide → · Calculate the exact amount
Yes — tip your coat check $1–$2 per guest, when retrieving coats.
Check your contract first — a gratuity is often already included. If it says "service charge" instead of "gratuity," tip the staff separately.
Estimate your catering cost
Between 1 and 1,000. Defaults to 100.
Prefilled from the style you pick. Type your quote to override.
Most caterers charge 18 to 22 percent. Default 20.
Applied to the food only. Leave blank to skip.
Leave blank and we staff it from your guest count.
How the three service styles price out
Catering is quoted per guest, and the number swings hard on how the food is served. A buffet, where guests serve themselves from stations, runs about $40 to $80 per person. That's the lightest-staffed, lowest-cost option (Zola, Urban Cowboy). A plated dinner, with seated, served courses, is the typical wedding choice at about $70 to $150 per person, and it's the calculator's default. The Knot pegs the all-style national average near $80 a head, so the $110 default sits a bit above that because plated indexes high (The Knot).
The third option, premium, is our own tier, not an industry category. We define it as a multi-course plated dinner with upgraded ingredients and tighter service, priced $150 to $300 per person. That band starts where sourced plated pricing tops out and ends at the "$300 or more" ceiling from our wedding caterer cost guide. If your caterer quotes something else, type the real number into the price-per-guest field and the whole stack recalculates.
A worked example: 120 plated guests
Say you're planning a plated dinner for 120 guests at the $110 default. The food alone is $13,200. Add a 20 percent service charge and that's another $2,640. At one server per 11 guests you'll have about 11 servers, so the staff tip runs $220 to $550, plus $50 to $100 for the banquet captain. With no sales tax entered, the true total lands between roughly $16,110 and $16,490, or about $134 to $137 per guest all in. That's the number worth comparing between caterers, not the $110 menu price.
The service charge is not a tip
This trips up almost everyone. A service charge is a mandatory fee the caterer or venue adds, usually 18 to 22 percent of the food and beverage bill, and it's the company's revenue. It may cover overhead, management, or equipment, and it might never reach the servers carrying plates to your guests. So unless the contract explicitly calls it a gratuity that goes to staff, you tip the team separately. Flip the "already goes to staff" toggle in the calculator and the gratuity lines zero out, since you're covered.
Already have a caterer's quote in hand? Our catering service charge calculator works the other direction: enter a bill you already have and it decodes what the service charge is really covering. And if the gratuity-versus-service-charge language on your contract is murky, our service charge vs. gratuity guide spells out which word means your money reaches the staff.
What about sales tax?
By default the calculator taxes the food only, which matches the simplest invoices. Real bills can be less tidy. Several states treat a mandatory service charge as part of the taxable sale, so tax gets applied to that line too. New York says a non-gratuity service charge is always subject to sales tax, and California's caterers guide folds mandatory service charges into the taxable amount. If you're in a state that taxes the charge, your out-the-door number runs a little higher than the base-only estimate here. When you're comparing quotes, ask each caterer how they handle tax so you're comparing like with like.
These are national averages
Treat the output as a well-informed starting point, not a quote. Catering prices move a lot by region: the same plated dinner costs far more in a coastal metro than three states inland. Our costs and tipping norms by state and by city pages show how far the numbers shift once you zoom in on where you're actually marrying. Plug your caterer's real per-guest figure into the calculator and it'll hold the rest of the math together.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does wedding catering cost per guest?
It depends on the service style. A buffet runs about 40 to 80 dollars per guest, a plated dinner about 70 to 150 dollars, and a premium multi-course menu 150 to 300 dollars. Those are food-only figures. Once you stack the service charge, tax, and the tip you hand the staff, the all-in cost per guest climbs well above the headline menu price, which is exactly what this calculator adds up for you.
Is the catering service charge a tip?
Usually not. A service charge is a mandatory fee, typically 18 to 22 percent of the food and beverage bill, and it's business revenue for the caterer or venue. Unless your contract says the charge is a gratuity distributed to staff, plan to tip the servers separately. That's why the calculator shows the service charge and the staff gratuity as two different lines.
How much should I tip the catering staff?
When the service charge stays with the company, budget 20 to 50 dollars per server, plus 50 to 100 dollars for the banquet captain who runs the floor. Give one envelope to the captain at the end of the night and ask them to split it. As a cross-check, that total usually lands near the alternative rule of 15 to 20 percent of the food and drink bill.
Does sales tax apply to the service charge too?
It can. Our default taxes only the base food bill, which matches most simple invoices. But several states treat a mandatory service charge as part of the taxable sale. New York and California both tax mandatory service charges, so your real invoice may show tax on that line too. When you compare quotes, ask each caterer how they calculate tax so you're comparing the same thing.
How many servers will I need?
The calculator staffs a plated dinner at about one server per 11 guests, a buffet at one per 22, and a premium service at one per 10. So 120 plated guests need roughly 11 servers. You can type your own server count if the caterer has already quoted one, and the gratuity line updates to match.
What counts as the premium tier?
Premium is our own label, not an industry-standard category. We define it as a multi-course plated dinner with upgraded ingredients and tighter service, priced 150 to 300 dollars per guest. That band starts where sourced plated pricing tops out and ends at the 300-dollar-plus ceiling from our own caterer cost guide. Treat it as the high end of plated rather than a separate market rate.
Now turn that gratuity into exact cash
You've got the catering total and a staff-tip range. Our full wedding tip calculator turns it into exact per-vendor amounts, a cash denomination breakdown, and a printable envelope checklist for the whole day.
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Last updated: May 2026