See a letter from Ellen about the donation campaign. Your help matters!

Cook Talk

wedding reception
Kari
06/04/13
Hello! I have a wedding reception coming up, and want to be sure I have enough food and not buy too much! There will be 120 people. I have the following questions:

Appetizers:

Fruit – 240oz
Dip – 50oz

Veggies – 240oz
Veggie Dip – 28 oz

Crackers – 240oz
Cheese – 240oz

Main Course

Build your own Sandwiches, with various meats, breads – enough for 1 per person, 4oz meat
Lettuce for sandwich – 5 heads
Tomato – 15 tomatoes, sliced
Onion – 10 onions sliced

Baked Beans – 234 oz

Potato Salad – 13.5 pounds

Macaroni salad– 13.5 pounds

Ambrosia salad - 13.5 pounds

Broccoli salad– 13.5 pounds

Greek Pasta Salad– 13.5 pounds

Potato Chips – 130 oz

Doritos – 130 oz

Chip dip – 45oz

Dessert
130 cupcakes
80 cookies
75 bite sized fruit pastries
Chocolate covered pretzels
Drinks
30 2 liters of pop
24 bottles of wine
3 kegs of beer
150 bottles of water

Thank you a million for any help you can give!

ellen
06/04/13
You are definitely headed in the right direction. Here are some tweaks and suggestions.

Appetizers:

Fruit – 240oz OK
Dip – 50oz 8 ounces per 5-6

Veggies – 240oz OK
Veggie Dip – 28 oz If thin, 1 cup per 8

Crackers – 240oz- 8-10 pounds plenty
Cheese – 240oz- plenty, could cut back to 1 pound per 10

Main Course

Build your own Sandwiches, with various meats, breads – enough for 1 per person, 4oz meat- maybe not enough, people tend to pile on, see the sandwich page
Have sliced cheeses, 1 ounce per person.
Have egg salad or another meatless filling for the non-meat eaters
Lettuce for sandwich – 5 heads- I do 1 ounce per person
Tomato – 15 tomatoes, sliced- I do 6 pounds per 100
Onion – 10 onions sliced- OK
You need at least 4 inches of baguette or 1 1/2 rolls per person- 1 pound bread/rolls per 5-6

Baked Beans – 234 oz- you need about 4 ballons

Potato Salad – 13.5 pounds- I allow 4 gallons per 100- and it weighs about 8 pounds per gallon- people take at least 4 ounces per serving

Macaroni salad– 13.5 pounds-
Greek Pasta Salad– 13.5 pounds
You want a total of at least 8 pounds dry pasta plus fixings, you decide on the divide- at least 4 gallons total

Ambrosia salad - 13.5 pounds- you need 4 gallons

Broccoli salad– 13.5 pounds- 20

Potato Chips – 130 oz
Doritos – 130 oz
You need a total of 1 pound per 10-12

Chip dip – 45oz- way short. 1 cup (8 ounces) per 6-8 minimum

Dessert
130 cupcakes-good
80 cookies- have at least 1 per person of each type, have small ones, 2 inches or less
75 bite sized fruit pastries- probably some left
Chocolate covered pretzels- 8 pounds?

Drinks
These look very high to me, here are my suggestions

30 2 liters of pop- 20 plenty with the other drinks: about 1/2 regular caffeinated, 1/4 sugar-free caffeinated, balance mixed fruit and sugar-free non-caffeinated

24 bottles of wine- OK

3 kegs of beer- 1 full keg (15 gallon) is 200 servings, and beer drinkers only drink about 4. 1 is likely enough, 1 1/2 at the max

150 bottles of water- if outside, go 200

Suggest you add 6 gallons of iced tea, some unsweetened.

Suggest you add dinner level coffee, see the beverage planning page.

kari
06/04/13
thank you!!! You took a lot of stress off my shoulders!
ellen
06/04/13
You are welcome. If it saves you time, trouble, or money, consider a donation, maybe a dime or quarter per person, to support this site.
Re:
Name:
E-Mail: (optional)
 
Message
Body