Event pricing
Catering pricing calculator
Free · no signupYou quote by the head. The number that matters is true cost per head: food plus this event’s own overheads. Price from that, not from the food alone.
Event quote60 guests
Food per head$9.50
Overheads per head$7.00
this event's overheads spread across the guests
True cost per head$16.50
Price per head at 35%$47.14
Whole event quote$2828.57
runs at 35.0% cost
Overheads divided across guests is why small parties need higher per-head prices: the same $420 of staff and travel is $7 a head at 60 guests and $21 a head at 20.
Getting the food number right first
This page assumes you know your food cost per head. If that number is itself a guess, build it from pack prices and yields with the food cost calculator , per-head menus are just recipes with portions set to the guest count.
Common questions
- How do I price catering per person?
- Work out the food cost per head, add this event's own overheads divided by the guest count (staff hours, travel, equipment hire, rentals) and price the total at your target percentage. The per-head food number alone is not the cost; the overheads are what sink under-priced jobs.
- Why do small events need higher per-head prices?
- Because overheads do not shrink with the guest list. $420 of staff and travel is $7 a head across 60 guests and $21 a head across 20. Quoting the same per-head price for both means the small job pays you least for the most awkward work. The calculator makes that visible before you quote.
- What margin do caterers typically work to?
- Total cost (food plus event overheads) commonly lands between 30% and 45% of the quote, varying with market and menu. There is no universal number. The point of the target field is to make yours explicit rather than inherited from a guess.
- Should I quote a total or a per-head price?
- Clients compare per-head; your costs are part fixed, part per-head. Quote per-head with a stated minimum guest count (or a room fee), so a shrinking guest list cannot turn a good job into a loss.