Every question, answered honestly
The questions every couple, planner, and office asks us — pricing, the bar, tastings, payments, and what’s included — answered with real numbers. No “inquire for details.”
What it costs, and how paying works
How much does full-service catering cost?
Most full-service weddings and events with us land between $145 and $190 per guest, all-in — scratch-made food, professional staff, bar service, tax, and fees. Where you land in that range comes down to service style (buffet, family-style, or plated), the bar package, and guest count: per-guest rates come down as headcount rises. We publish the whole model, including a fully itemized 100-guest example.
Is there a minimum spend?
Only on Saturdays: Saturday events carry a $5,000 event minimum. Friday, Sunday, and weekday events have no minimum at all — which makes Monday-through-Friday corporate events, holiday parties, and celebrations especially cost-effective.
How do deposits work, and when is the balance due?
A 25% deposit reserves your date, and the balance is due 30 days before the event. An event booked inside 30 days is simply paid in full up front, since the balance would already be due.
What payment methods do you accept?
We invoice through Square, so you can pay by card, check, Zelle, or bank transfer — with a receipt for every payment. Card payments carry a 3.5% processing fee; paying by check, Zelle, or bank transfer avoids it entirely.
What fees should I expect on the estimate?
A 10% service fee is typical (it varies a little by event scope). It covers the administrative side of producing your event — staffing coordination, communication, menu customization, and the planning work from your first inquiry all the way to event day, so everything arrives exactly to order and the day runs smoothly. It is not a gratuity. Beyond that: local sales tax at your venue's rate — about 7.75% in the Santa Ynez Valley — and a 3.5% card fee only if you pay by card. Every line is itemized on your estimate, so you can see exactly where each dollar goes — no surprise charges.
The menu, the bar, and every guest at the table
What service styles do you offer?
Buffet, family-style, and plated. Buffet and family-style dinners are built around a salad, two mains, and three sides; plated is a two-course service with a starter and a choice of mains, always including a vegetarian option. Family-style and plated are the most popular for wine-country weddings — we’ll recommend a style based on your venue, timeline, and the feel you want.
Do you offer tastings?
Yes — a private tasting is part of how we design your menu. You’ll try dishes and refine flavors, portions, and presentation before anything is finalized. Tastings are booked as your date gets closer and the guest count settles, and are billed at $700 — and the tasting fee is waived entirely when you book your date with us before the tasting.
Is alcohol included in the bar price?
No — and that’s a saving, not a catch. You purchase the alcohol yourself at retail (we tell you exactly what and how much to buy), so there’s no caterer markup on bottles. Our bar service runs $14 per guest for beer & wine up to $29 per guest for the full craft-cocktail bar, and covers certified, insured bartenders — about one per 50 guests on a full bar — our floral cocktail program, mixers, ice, setup, and general and liquor liability coverage.
Can you accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies?
Always. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and specific allergies are planned into the menu from the start and clearly labeled at service, so every guest is taken care of — including the ones with severe allergies, which we track and brief the service team on explicitly.
Do you offer kids meals and vendor meals?
Both. A kids menu is $25 per child, and vendor meals — for your photographer, DJ, planner, and other working vendors — are $35 each. Tell us the counts and we’ll fold them into the estimate.
Can you cook cultural and heritage cuisine?
We love to. Chef Golzar’s Persian heritage shows up across our own menus, and we’ve designed Persian, Mediterranean, and other culturally rooted menus for weddings and celebrations — often working directly with the family to get the dishes right. If a cuisine matters to your table, bring it to the tasting conversation.
What’s included, where we travel, and how to start
What’s included — do you handle rentals, staffing, and cleanup?
We can manage the full event: timeline, rentals, professional service staff, and a day-of captain running the floor from load-in to breakdown. Staff is billed hourly — waitstaff at $40/hr and a captain at $50/hr, staffed to your service style (about one server per 25 guests for buffet, per 13 for family-style, per 10 for plated) for event hours plus 4 hours of setup and breakdown. Rentals — tables, chairs, linens, place settings — are coordinated through our rental partner and folded into your estimate, and every inclusion is spelled out in writing.
Where do you travel? What areas do you serve?
We’re based in the Santa Ynez Valley and cater throughout Santa Barbara County — Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta, Solvang, Los Olivos, Buellton, Santa Maria — and across California. We know most of the region’s wedding venues well, and we travel to Napa, Sonoma, the Bay Area, Lake Tahoe, and beyond.
What if my venue doesn’t have a kitchen?
Not a problem — it just changes the plan. At kitchen-equipped venues we cook on site as usual; at estates and ranches without one, we bring a complete field kitchen, so expect the equipment and rentals line to run a little higher than at an in-town venue. We know the kitchens (and the lack of them) at most venues in the region, so the estimate reflects it from the start.
Do you work with wedding and event planners?
Yes — much of our work comes through planners, and we’re built to be easy to work with: fast itemized estimates, a client portal, clear event orders, and a referral program for planners who bring us their couples and clients.
How does the instant estimate work?
Answer a few questions — date, guest count, event style — and you’ll get a detailed, itemized estimate for all three service styles in about two minutes. It runs the exact same pricing engine behind our real client proposals, so the number you see is an honest starting point, not a teaser. Free, and no phone call required.
Didn’t find your question? Reach out directly — or go deeper on what wedding catering costs, the sample menu, and the floral craft bar.
The fastest answer is your own number
The instant estimate runs the exact pricing engine behind our real client proposals — your date, your headcount, your style. About two minutes.
Get an Instant Estimate