Wedding catering prices in Nouakchott: priced per dish, not per guest

The question everyone asks is "how much per guest?" — and it is the wrong question. On Umsiyeti, catering is listed per dish and per platter, not per guest. Not one listing is priced per person. This guide explains how to build your budget from dishes rather than heads.

The price range

Dishes run from 200 to 5,500 MRU each, with the middle half between 1,200 and 3,000 and a median of 1,850. The figures come from 70 listings offered by 8 providers, all in Nouakchott.

That median is a dish price, not a banquet price and not a per-guest price. Do not multiply it by your headcount.

What you buy at each level

• 200 to 800: drinks and small sweets — juices 200, mini cake 350, cup desserts, cheesecake and cake at 800.
• 700 to 1,100: the staple dishes — samboussa platter 700, mahachi platter 700, grills platter 800, chicken platter 800, basmati with meat 1,000, hors d'oeuvre platter 1,100.
• 1,200: specialist desserts — red-fruit, Lotus or mango cheesecake, basbousa, tiramisu.
• 1,500 to 2,000: the larger dishes — seffa platter 1,500, wedding cake 1,500, fruit platter 1,700, seffa with chicken 1,700, dates and dried fruit 1,800, grilled fish 1,900, froi dmir 2,000.
• 2,500 to 3,500: seafood 2,500, mixed salad 3,000, half-lamb grilled on a tray 3,000, Moroccan tagine 3,500, roast chicken with seffa 3,500.
• 4,000 to 5,500: paella platter 4,000, hors d'oeuvre tray 4,500, and stuffed lamb between 4,700 and 5,500 — the most expensive offer and the table centrepiece.

Cake: the bigger it is, the less it costs per head

The mini cake is the only listing that states a headcount explicitly, which gives a rare per-person benchmark:

• Mini cake for 3 at 350 — about 117 MRU per person.
• Mini cake for 6 at 550 — about 92 per person.
• Mini cake for 8 at 750 — about 94 per person.

Moving from 3 to 6 people cuts the per-head cost by roughly a quarter. Order the larger sizes rather than repeating the small ones.

A worked menu example

This is not a recommendation but a straight sum showing the method — a menu for a mid-size reception:

• Stuffed lamb: 5,000
• Seffa with chicken: 1,700
• Samboussa platter: 700
• Mixed salad: 3,000
• Juices: 200
• Wedding cake: 1,500
• Total: 12,100 MRU

Change the dishes and the figure changes. This is the only correct way to estimate catering on the platform.

Frequently asked questions

• How much is catering per guest? There is no per-guest price. Every listing is per dish or platter, so work it out from your menu.
• What is the most expensive dish? Stuffed lamb, between 4,700 and 5,500 MRU.
• How much is the wedding cake? The wedding cake is listed at 1,500 MRU — less than many expect.
• How many providers are available? 8 providers across 70 listings, all in Nouakchott. There are no catering listings in Nouadhibou on the platform yet.

Before you agree

• Ask how many people each dish serves — almost no listing says.
• Fix the number of dishes in writing, not "food for the guests".
• Ask about delivery and serving: included, or separate items?
• Agree the arrival time; hot dishes do not wait.

Compare the offers

Browse wedding services in Nouakchott to compare caterers, or read wedding decoration prices and how much a wedding costs in Mauritania to build your full budget.