Afternoon tea - cost per head

myconosray

Hello again

I am busy getting quotes from our catering options and have been quoted for £26 per head for a formal sit down afternoon tea. This includes choice of sandwiches, cakes and tea or coffee.

This sounds quite a lot to me - what do you think?

thanks in advance!

schofield8883

i have been quoted 7.50 a head which is sandwiches homemade scones, cakes crisps, salad and tea. so seems a lot for me but depends where your having it etc i supose

myconosray

Wow that is quite a difference - Does that include crockery and service?

Where are you having yours?

wanchai_2

It does sound rather expensive!

BabyBoots

If you had the equivalent (sandwiches, cakes, scones, tea & coffee) in the heart of Covent Garden in London you could pay £16 a head:
http://www.strandrestaurants.co.uk/johnstonbrasserie/afternoon-tea-,menus_viewItem_12-en.html

The price you've quoted would include champagne at the hotel.

Are your caterers having to deliver to a remote location, set up tables etc? This might explain the high cost per head. If not, yes, I think it's high.

schofield8883

mine includes crockery, service, table cloths, cake stands. Are you sure yours arnt gold plated or something lol

myconosray

Thanks Babyboots - that is an interesting comparison
Schofield - I'd hope so for that price! lol

Do you think I can go back and say and ask if they can do it cheaper? They are unlikely to get our business at that price!

johannalf88

Ours is £12.50 per head including crockery etc. So yes, I would say that is high. Ours is south coast, usually an expensive area so I old expect the same price or near enough else where really. Ours is also in a Marquee, not really a remote location, just outside a market town.

Hth.

BabyBoots

myconosray wrote: »

Thanks Babyboots - that is an interesting comparison
Schofield - I'd hope so for that price! lol

Do you think I can go back and say and ask if they can do it cheaper? They are unlikely to get our business at that price!

Why not some other suppliers in your area to quote for you, then you have a direct comparison? When you come to negotiate the cost, you can say, well we are impressed with your [whatever], but a comparable supplier would do the same for [£y]. If pushed you can name the other supplier. They may try to justify the gap, in which case, you can decide if it's worth paying extra for whatever they think sets them apart.

But the short answer is, yes, it's sounds like there's a lot of wiggle room in the price you've been quoted - haggle away!

emmalouise81_2

Ours is £9.95. Started off at £15.95 but we managed to get the cost down by giving them our whole budget and telling them we really couldn't go higher (getting married on a Friday helped here).

This was the cheapest of our quotes. The rest were around £13-17ph.

caeler

I think it depends on the surroundings, I paid £30 per person at Great Fosters in Egham and it was worth every penny. The 'event' lasted 3 hours, we had 2 waiters meeting our every need, stroll around the garden, lots of rounds of sandwiches and it was absolutely fantastic! It would have been slightly cheaper without the champagne!

http://www.greatfosters.co.uk/Downloads/Menus/AfternoonTeaSeptember2011.pdf