The Wedding Reception Budget Squeeze
You are catering a 120-guest wedding reception for a fixed budget of $2,400 (food cost only). The menu is a two-course plated meal: roast chicken with seasonal vegetables, followed by a lemon tart. Your supplier quotes chicken breast at $11.50/kg (allow 180 g raw per guest), seasonal vegetables at $4.20/kg (allow 150 g per guest), and lemon tart components at $1.85 per portion. The client insists on 10% extra portions as a buffer for late RSVPs and staff meals. Two days before the event, the vegetable supplier raises the price to $6.00/kg and the tart components to $2.10 per portion. You cannot change the chicken order, which was placed and paid for last week at the original price.
1. Calculate the original estimated food cost and determine whether the revised costs after the supplier increase still fit the $2,400 budget. Show your working.
Read the worked answer
Original costs (with 10% buffer, so 132 portions):
- Chicken: 132 × 0.180 kg = 23.76 kg × $11.50 = $273.24 (already paid, so fixed)
- Vegetables: 132 × 0.150 kg = 19.8 kg × $4.20 = $83.16
- Tarts: 132 × $1.85 = $244.20
- Original total = $273.24 + $83.16 + $244.20 = $600.60
Revised costs:
- Vegetables: 19.8 kg × $6.00 = $118.80
- Tarts: 132 × $2.10 = $277.20
- Revised total = $273.24 + $118.80 + $277.20 = $669.24
Both figures are far below $2,400, so the budget is not threatened. The judgement point is that the $2,400 budget is generous relative to the per-guest cost of about $5.07, meaning the increase of $68.64 is absorbed easily. A candidate who panics and suggests cutting the menu has misread the scale of the problem.
2. The client now asks to add a vegetarian main for 15 confirmed vegetarian guests at $3.40 per portion (plus 10% buffer). Explain how you would cost this addition and what you would communicate to the client about the remaining budget.
Read the worked answer
Vegetarian portions needed: 15 × 1.10 = 16.5, rounded up to 17 portions.
Cost: 17 × $3.40 = $57.80.
New total = $669.24 + $57.80 = $727.04, leaving $2,400 − $727.04 = $1,672.96 unallocated.
The reasoning to communicate: the food-cost line is still well within budget, but the client should understand that the quoted $2,400 is food cost only and does not cover labour, equipment hire, transport or service. A strong answer distinguishes food cost from total event cost and notes that the buffer of 10% was applied consistently to the new item rather than only to the original menu. Rounding up to whole portions is a practical catering decision because you cannot buy 0.5 of a portion.