You’ve curated the perfect *chef’s kiss* menu for your wedding night, whether you’re doing a DIY nacho bar or working with one of our favorite local caterers, but now comes the challenging part: deciding just how much of those yummy eats and sweets you need to actually have catered. First knowing your guests, the type of reception you’re having and the type of dinner to be served is pivotal in getting an accurate catering count. As a general rule of thumb, it is always better to err on the side of ordering more food than ordering less, as you do not want to leave guests unsatisfied with the reception! However, no need to worry, as our easy to follow guide below outlines how to calculate wedding catering based on guest count. Cheers and happy planning!
Appetizers
In general, calculate your appetizer number to be 6 pieces for every 1 guest in attendance. When planning out your wedding timeline, take into consideration how long it will be before guests eat dinner. If you have a long intermission between the ceremony and the reception, you may want to offer more appetizers. If you are asking people to leave and come back later, offering less appetizers is the way to go. Keep in mind that offering appetizers will typically help keep your buffet cost down, since guests will eat roughly 10% less at dinner when appetizers are served. Also, the smaller the appetizer bite, the higher the number can go.
PRO TIP: Try a different appetizer for every 40 that are needed. If you are needing 120 appetizers, have 3 different options for guests to eat!
Entrées
If you are not offering a plated meal where guests RSVP with their entrée choice, calculating for 1.5 servings for every 1 guest will get you a general entrée count. When serving a buffet, keep in mind that one dish may be more popular than the other among your guests (people tend to gravitate to what is most comfortable to them). Remember to take your vegetarian and vegan guests into consideration when planning out your entrée menu, and make sure that number is accounted for, also.Decrease your meat count and increase your veggie count as needed.
PRO TIP: Make sure to include your vendors when calculating your wedding catering. This ensures they get fed and are able to enjoy your reception, too!
Non-alcoholic Drinks
Non-alcoholic drinks will average out to around 2 gallons per 1 guest at your reception. In general, you should plan for 1-2 cups of water per guest and 3-4 non-water drinks (tea, lemonade, soda), estimating to be about 5 drinks per person, or 1 drink per hour. Depending on your location, water or non-water drinks may be more favorable to guests. If you are having an outdoor wedding in the heat, having more water at the reception is ideal.
Alcoholic Drinks
Calculating wedding catering also means estimating how much alcohol you’ll need if you’re planning on serving alcoholic beverages. Planning to have 1.5 drinks per hour per guest is a general idea for how much alcohol to allocate to your guests. Keep in mind that the reception time also affects how much alcohol to serve. If you’re tying the knot in the morning or early afternoon, guests will be less inclined to drink than at a nighttime celebration. Guests will also be more likely to indulge at a weekend wedding than during the week.
If you are opting to do an open bar instead of set signature drinks, the exact ratio to supply of each type of alcohol will depend upon your guests’ preferences, your budget and the season. A standard guideline when determining the right amount of alcohol to serve is 50% wine, 20% beer, and 30% liquor. Additionally, you’ll want to provide plenty of options for each, meaning at least one type of red and one type of white wine, a few different varieties of beer and a handful of liquors and mixers.
Desserts
Offering your guests more desserts than just the cake? If this is what you’re opting for at your reception, a good calculation for additional desserts would be 1.5 cupcakes or 3 cookies for every 1 guest, on top of allocating 1 slice of cake per guest already. The guests who eat more will likely balance out the people who will not eat any, and how and when all desserts are served determines how much will be eaten. If cake is passed out to tables and individuals, it is more likely to be eaten than giving guests the option to come up and grab a slice themselves. Also, if desserts are served immediately following dinner, guests may be too full to eat dessert at that point!
PRO TIP: Additional desserts can double as favors for your wedding guests. Cupcakes and cookies can easily be taken home with guests in monogrammed boxes or bags with the couples names on them!
Now that we have your mouth watering, it’s time to plan out that menu and calculate ALL the bites! Let one of our top local caterers help you curate that dream menu!
FAQs
For local guests, plan for 85% of invitees attending. Don't forget to add spouses and children if they are invited! For out-of-town guests, plan on 55% of them attending. However, if most of them are close family who may go the distance to make it, your estimate could be higher—as high as 85%.
How to calculate portions for catering? ›
It's pretty simple too: We just determine an appropriate size portion of any dish in ounces per person, the we multiply that times the number of guests and divide by 16 (# of oz in a pound) and just like that you get the number of pounds you'll need.
What percentage of guests do you cater for? ›
Avoiding food waste is important, but you also don't want grumpy guests who haven't had enough to eat. If you ask wedding planners and caterers, many will say that you should cater for around 75% of all your guests. Keep in mind that not everyone will be hungry, and many people will just nibble at a buffet.
How to calculate food for 40 guests? ›
Rules to Plan By
Each adult will consume 1 pound of food total; children, about 1/2 pound. The more options you have, the less you need of each; decrease the main course portion sizes by 1 to 2 ounces if served on a buffet. Guests will always eat — and drink — more at night than during the day.
What are 3 ways you can calculate portions? ›
There are several ways you can measure serving size. You can use measuring cups and spoons, a kitchen scale, or a calculator. It can be difficult to measure out your food when you do not have these tools with you. One easy way to estimate serving sizes is to use your hand as a reference.
What is the formula for portion? ›
The Formula for Percent Proportion is Parts /whole = percent/100. This formula can be used to find the percent of a given ratio and to find the missing value of a part or a whole.
How to calculate a catering order? ›
Look up each food you intend to serve's portion size and multiply this by the number of people attending the event to find out how much food you'll need. For example, each person should be served 225 grams (7.9 oz) of meat, 60 grams (2.1 oz) of vegetables, 115 grams (4.1 oz) of potatoes.
What is a good budget for food at a wedding? ›
Food and drink are a major part of the wedding experience (no one wants hangry guests!), so it's no surprise that you'll spend a big amount of your total budget on your wedding catering. The average wedding catering cost in the U.S. is about $4,000 with most couples spending between $1,800 to $7,000.
What is the formula to calculate the food cost per portion? ›
Cost per portion: the cost of each serving. it is the total recipe cost divided by the number of portions. Selling price: based on the food cost percentage allowed by the budget. it is the cost per portion divided by the food cost percentage (in decimal form).
What is the profit margin for wedding catering? ›
Usually ranging from 7% to 8%, operational costs, food quality, client relationships, and cost management can influence the average profit margin.
For excellent service, the minimum service ratio for conventional sit-down meal functions with American-style service with some foods preset is one server for every 20 guests. If you are using rounds of 10, the caterer should schedule one server for every 2 dining tables.
How much food should I have for 100 guests? ›
How Much Food to Serve at a Party
| FOOD | SERVE 25 | SERVE 100 |
|---|
| Meats |
|---|
| Chicken or turkey breast | 8–9 pounds | 32–36 pounds |
| Fish (fillets or steaks) | 7-1/2 pounds | 30 pounds |
| Hamburgers | 6-1/2–9-1/2 pounds | 26–30 pounds |
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Duration of the Event:
Plan for 5-8 pieces per person. Longer Events: If your event extends beyond 2 hours, consider serving 10-12 pieces per person to ensure guests have a steady supply of bites throughout the evening.
How do you calculate the number of guests? ›
The first and the easiest is to simply do a headcount of the people who are invited. For a child's birthday party, for example, you can do a count of her friends, or all of her classmates in general, and extend a broad invitation.
How do you calculate guest capacity? ›
For precise event seating capacity per square foot: allocate 9-10 square feet per person at rectangular tables, 11-12 square feet at round tables, and 6-8 square feet for theater or auditorium style seating. These standards ensure guest comfort, safety, and compliance with space regulations.
How do you estimate number of guests who will attend party? ›
Simply take the number of people invited and multiply it by . 6 to get a really good idea of how many people will actually show up. And don't let your optimism get the best of you, thinking that your event will be different. I've coordinated close to 100 events, and the 60% rule hits the mark almost exactly every time.
What is an example of a guest count? ›
A guest count is a record of the number of customers in a group on the same receipt. For example, at a restaurant, the guest count would represent all of the people sitting at a table who are on the same check. At a mini-golf location, the guest count might include all of the people in a group playing together.
