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Cook Talk

Wedding for 150
Krystall
03/12/18
I am planning a wedding for May 5 for 150 guests (97 RSVP'd yes & 67 maybes plus 20-30 church members that haven't responded). I have studied various posts and each page for the different categories of foods that I've from your website. I wanted to make sure that I am on the right track. The menu is as follows.

Mosticcoli 27 lbs dry pasta with 6 1/2-7 gallons of traditional meat sauce
Green beans 33 lbs
Corn 33 lbs
Cole slaw 3 1/2-4 gallons
Raw veggie tray broccoli 8 lbs cauliflower 8 lbs cucumbers 4 lbs grape tomatoes 4 lbs baby carrots 6 lbs
Ranch dip 1 gallon (seems to much)
Fruit tray pineapple 3 fresh strawberries 6 lbs red and green grapes 6 lbs
Creamy sweet dip 1 gallon (seems to much)
Rolls 330 & butter 1-1 1/2 lbs
Country Time lemonade 14 gallons
Water
Butter mints
Wedding cake & Cupcakes

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

ellen
03/13/18
Hi, Krystal,

You did great to use the site as a DIY guide, as I hoped people would.

With 97 yes, 67 maybes, plus 20-30 no word, you are over 150- with the wedding party added, 200 would be a safer estimate, or at least 180. So I am going to proceed at 180.

This needs 3 serving lines for everyone to be served in less than an hour. 4 people in the kitchen and about 10 out front to set up, serve and clean up, and the people setting up cannot be at the wedding.

Mostaccioli
27 lbs dry pasta with 6 1/2-7 gallons of traditional meat sauce
1 pound per 6 people as a baked dish f you are serving buffet style with seconds, so 30 pounds at least. Sauce amount OK, BUT at least one pan with meatless sauce, to serve any non meat or non pork eaters- label it clearly on one of the serving lines.
1 pound sausage or burger, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, per pound of pasta. Some fresh garlic and onion doesn't hurt if using jar sauce.
Remember if made ahead and refrigerated that these large pans can take up to 2 hours to heat, more if multiple pans in the oven. And check your oven space; this is a LOT of pans.

Green beans 33 lbs
Corn 33 lbs
For 180, go closer to 40 pounds each, and do consider swapping one for either a squash mix or for a roasted Italian style veg, which can be made ahead and served room temp.

Cole slaw 3 1/2-4 gallons
These is an unusual choice with this menu. Consider green salad per the plan for 100 menus, maybe with 3 gallons of the antipasto veggies from this site added on the side

Raw veggie tray = good, get some parsley or kale to trim the trays
broccoli 8 lbs
cauliflower 8 lbs
cucumbers 4 lbs
grape tomatoes 4 lbs
baby carrots 6 lbs
Ranch dip 1 gallon (seems to much)- 1 gallon is 4 quarts @ 64 tablespoons per quart=256 tablespoons. That works out to less than 2 tablespoons per person

Fruit tray- short, aim for at least 20-24 pounds fruit bites
pineapple 3 -OK
fresh strawberries 6 lbs
red and green grapes 6 lbs
Add more here
Creamy sweet dip 1 gallon (seems to much), not if you increase he fruit as recommended

Rolls 330 & butter 1-1 1/2 lbs- 20 pounds, consider cuts of baguette or foccacia; 3-4 pounds butter

Country Time lemonade 14 gallons, amount OK, please consider switch to frozen lemonade concentrate, MUCH tastier
Water, pint per person, consider doing a couple of the fancy waters with sliced citrus or cuke and mint. They are so pretty and
tasty.

Butter mints, 6 pounds per 100

Wedding cake & Cupcakes- if you do just one flavor cupcakes, 1 per person counting everyone, then the wedding cake for the wedding party creates the extras. Useful to consult your local wedding cake specialist!

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Saroj sikdar
04/21/18
Tarka dhal
Palak paneer
Tomato chat
Mini onion bhaji
Thank you
ellen
04/21/18
Dear Saroj, not sure what you are asking here? If you want calculations, please post your recipes. Here are amounts:

Tarka dhal- 1 pound dry lentils per 6 people
Palak paneer- 1 pound spinach and 1 cup paneer for each 3 people
Tomato chat- 1 tomato per person
Mini onion bhaji - 3-4 per person (1/2 medium onion per person)

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