The tentative menu: cold hors d'oeuvres, shrimp platters, a variety of cheeses, crackers and crusty breads. For beverages: a non-alcoholic punch, and of course, wine.

Help in figuring quantities, and any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Would it be acceptable to serve only one white and one red wine?

It was suggested to me to serve mini cheesecakes & tea/coffee towards the end.

Thanking you in advance.

For this mid-afternoon, 2 hour party, you want to allow 10-12 "bites" per person; a bite is one skewer, rollup, piece, etc, or 1 ounce of spread plus cracker/bread, or 1/4 cup dip plus cracker/chips. This is in addition to the shrimp, which is a raving favorite and figured separately.

I would do some fruits, at least grapes (2-3 ounces per person)and some strawberries (2 per person), and some dried fruits (apricots, figs, pears, dates). Very delicious with wine and cheese, and pretty.

I probably would NOT do cheesecakes with a wine and cheese party. There are many lovely small cookies that would go better with this menu- butters, chocolate dipped, nuts, etc. I would, however, do one dinner service of coffee. See the beverage planning table for help on amounts.

I allow a total of 20 pounds of cheese, including rolls, logs, and regular cheese per each 100. You may have some left. Cubes and slices get eaten the fastest. If you leave some in chunks, it slows people down, but you have to allow additional table space for people to gather and cut.

There are some spread suggestions in the cold champagne lunch article.