Catering Quotation Format
Catering quotation format with per-head pricing, staffing, equipment hire, deposit terms and a filled sample for a 120-guest wedding, with the math shown.
A couple planning a 120-guest wedding usually asks three caterers for prices, and the quote that wins is often the one that is easiest to understand. A clear catering quotation format separates food, staff, equipment and delivery, shows the per-head price, and states the deposit and final-numbers deadline up front. This guide walks through each section and gives you a filled-in sample with the arithmetic shown.
What a catering quotation should cover
A catering quote is an offer to provide food, drink and service for a specific event at a stated price. Unlike a restaurant bill, it is written weeks or months before the event, when guest numbers and menus may still change. That is why the format matters: it has to be clear enough to compare against other quotes and flexible enough to update as details are confirmed.
If you later convert the quote into a bill, our catering invoice template follows the same structure, so the numbers carry across without retyping.
Sections in a catering quotation format
1. Header and quote details
- Your business name, logo, address, phone, email and tax registration number if registered.
- Quotation number, date issued and valid-until date.
- Client name, phone and email.
2. Event details
- Event type, date and timings (arrival, service start, finish).
- Venue name and address, kitchen facilities available and access times.
- Estimated guest numbers, including children and dietary requirements.
- Service style: plated, buffet, family style, canapés only or food stations.
3. Menu and per-head price
List each course with dishes, then the price per guest. Note vegetarian, vegan, halal or allergy-free options and whether they cost extra.
4. Staffing
Show the number of staff, roles, hours and hourly rate. Clients understand staffing costs much better when they can see "6 servers x 8 hours".
5. Equipment and hire
Crockery, cutlery, glassware, linen, chafing dishes, tables and any marquee kitchen equipment.
6. Delivery, set-up and clear-down
7. Totals, tax and payment schedule
8. Terms
Final numbers deadline, minimum guest number, cancellation and refund terms, damage to hired items, overtime rates and food safety notes. Our guide to quotation terms and conditions has sample clauses you can adapt.
Catering quotation sample: 120-guest wedding
| Quotation no. | CQ-2026-087 |
|---|---|
| Date / valid until | 12 November 2026 / 12 December 2026 |
| Client | Hannah Lewis and Tom Grant |
| Event | Wedding reception, Saturday 13 June 2027, 14:00 to 22:00 |
| Venue | Oakfield Barn (prep kitchen available from 10:00) |
| Guests | 120 adults (estimate), 8 vegetarian, 2 gluten-free |
| Service | Canapé reception, then three-course plated wedding breakfast |
| Item | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three-course plated menu (starter, main, dessert, tea and coffee) | 120 guests | 38.00 | 4,560.00 |
| Canapés, 4 pieces per guest | 480 pieces | 1.75 | 840.00 |
| Servers, 8 hours each | 6 x 8 h | 20.00 | 960.00 |
| Event manager, 8 hours | 8 h | 35.00 | 280.00 |
| Crockery, cutlery and glassware hire | 120 settings | 4.50 | 540.00 |
| Delivery, set-up and clear-down | 1 | 150.00 | 150.00 |
| Subtotal | 7,330.00 | ||
| VAT at 20% | 1,466.00 | ||
| Total | 8,796.00 | ||
Payment schedule: 25% deposit (2,199.00) to secure the date; balance of 6,597.00 due 14 days before the event, adjusted for final numbers.
Effective cost per guest: 8,796.00 / 120 = 73.30 including VAT. Showing this figure helps couples compare your quote against a competitor's "per head" price that may exclude staff or hire.
How to calculate your per-head price
Take the main menu above. Suppose ingredients for one plated three-course meal cost 11.40. If you aim for food cost to be 30% of the menu price, divide the cost by 0.30: 11.40 / 0.30 = 38.00. The remaining 26.60 per head covers kitchen prep labour, packaging, gas, insurance, overheads and profit. Staff working at the event, hire items and delivery are priced on their own lines.
Not every caterer uses the same target, and premium menus may run lower food cost percentages. The point is to know your number. Our guides to cost-plus pricing and markup vs margin explain how to check that the final price actually leaves a profit.
How to prepare a catering quote, step by step
- Take the enquiry properly. Get the date, venue, timings, guest count, service style, dietary needs and budget range before you price anything. A short enquiry form saves a lot of back-and-forth.
- Check the venue. Is there a kitchen, power, water and parking for your van? If not, add equipment such as a mobile oven or generator, and allow more set-up time.
- Cost the menu. Price each dish per portion from your recipes, then apply your food cost target to set the per-head price.
- Plan the staff. Work out the ratio you need. Plated service usually needs more servers per guest than a buffet. Multiply staff by hours, including set-up and clear-down, not just service time.
- List hire and consumables. Plates, cutlery, glassware, linen, napkins, serving equipment and any disposables.
- Add delivery and travel. Mileage, tolls, parking and any overnight stay for distant events.
- Apply tax and set the payment schedule. Deposit, balance date and how final-number changes are billed.
- Write the terms and send. Include menu options so the client can trade up or down without asking for a new quote each time.
Offering menu tiers
Many caterers include two or three menu tiers on one quotation, for example a buffet at 29.00, a plated menu at 38.00 and a premium plated menu at 46.00 per head. For 120 guests the food lines become 3,480.00, 4,560.00 and 5,520.00. The client chooses without another round of emails, and you avoid being compared on your cheapest option alone. Keep staff and hire lines separate so the client can see that a buffet needs fewer servers.
Guest numbers, deposits and cancellation
Most disputes in catering come from changing numbers. Put these rules on the quote, not just in a later contract:
- Final numbers: confirmed in writing 14 days before the event; you charge for the confirmed number even if fewer attend.
- Minimum numbers: for example, a minimum charge for 80 guests on Saturdays in peak season.
- Deposit: how much, when it is due and whether it is refundable. Our guide to deposit invoices shows how to bill it and deduct it from the final invoice.
- Cancellation scale: for example, deposit retained if cancelled more than 60 days ahead, 50% of total within 60 days, 100% within 14 days.
- Validity: menu prices held for 30 days; after booking, prices fixed unless the menu or numbers change.
Tax on catering quotes
Show tax clearly so the client is not surprised. In the UK, HMRC's VAT Notice 709/1 on catering states that food and drink supplied as part of a catering contract is standard-rated, and it lists third-party catering for events such as weddings, parties and conferences as catering. In the US, sales tax on catered food and service charges depends on the state, so check your state's rules. This is general information, not tax advice.
Catering quotation format in Excel, Word or PDF
Many caterers keep a master quote in Excel so the per-head maths updates automatically: one cell for guest numbers, and every per-head line multiplies by it. Change 120 to 105 and the menu, canapé and hire lines recalculate at once. Word suits caterers who send more narrative menus with dish descriptions. Whichever you use to draft, send the client a PDF so the figures cannot be edited and the layout holds on a phone.
Variations by event type
| Event | What changes on the quote |
|---|---|
| Corporate lunch | Per-head buffet price, delivery window, disposable or reusable packaging, PO number |
| Wedding | Canapés, plated courses, evening food, cake cutting, long staffing hours, large deposit |
| Private party at home | Chef hire, kitchen use, small staff team, travel |
| Conference (multi-day) | Day delegate rate, breaks, dietary tracking per day |
| Drop-off platters | Price per platter, delivery fee, collection of platters |
If you also coordinate venues, decor or entertainment, our event management quotation format shows how to quote a full event package.
Common mistakes on catering quotes
- One lump sum. Clients cannot see what changes if they cut 20 guests, so they negotiate the whole number down.
- No final numbers deadline. You end up buying for one number and billing for another.
- Forgetting staff overtime. Weddings often run late. State the overtime rate per staff member per hour.
- Leaving out hire breakage. Say who pays for lost or broken items.
- No validity date. Food prices move; see our note on the quotation validity period.
- Tax shown inconsistently. Decide whether prices include or exclude tax and say so.
Planning to start or grow a catering company? Our guide on how to start a catering business covers licences, costs and deposit policies in more depth.
When you are ready to send a quote, build it in our free invoice generator: set the title to Quotation, add each menu, staff and hire line, apply tax and download a PDF to email to the client. It takes a few minutes and needs no sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
How do you write a catering quotation?
Start with the event details: date, venue, guest count and service style. Then list the menu with a per-head price, followed by separate lines for staff, equipment hire, delivery and any extras such as a bar or cake cutting. Add tax, the total, the deposit needed to hold the date, the final guest number deadline, cancellation terms and how long the quote is valid.
How do caterers price per person?
Most caterers calculate the food cost per head for the chosen menu, then multiply it by a factor that covers kitchen labour, overheads and profit. Food is often around a quarter to a third of the per-head price, though this varies widely by menu and region. Staffing, hire equipment and travel are usually priced separately so the client can see what changes when guest numbers or service style change.
What deposit should a caterer ask for?
A deposit of 25% to 50% to secure the date is common, with the balance due one to two weeks before the event. The deposit should be large enough to cover your costs if the client cancels late, because you will have turned away other bookings. State whether it is refundable, and on what terms, in the quotation and the booking agreement.
When should the final guest count be confirmed?
Ask for final numbers 7 to 14 days before the event, which gives time to order ingredients and confirm staff. Your quotation should say that you will charge for the confirmed number even if fewer guests attend, and that increases after the deadline are subject to availability. This protects you from buying food for 150 and being paid for 120.
Is VAT charged on event catering in the UK?
Yes. HMRC guidance says that food and drink supplied as part of a catering contract is standard-rated, and this includes third-party catering for events such as weddings, parties and conferences. If you are VAT-registered, add VAT at the standard rate and show it on the quote. Rules differ elsewhere, so check local sales tax rules if you are outside the UK.
Should a catering quote include service charge or gratuity?
If you charge one, show it as a separate, clearly labelled line with the percentage and what it covers, such as staff costs. Hidden or vague service charges cause disputes at final invoice. Some caterers build staffing into the per-head price instead. Whichever approach you use, make sure the quote and final invoice treat it the same way.
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Guides on invoicing, cash flow and small-business finance from Invoice Creator, operated by Next Software Development Company. Content is reviewed for accuracy against the fields our own invoice generator produces.
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