Cypress Event
Center winner of the 2009 & 2010 Bride’s
Choice Awards™!
Cypress, TX 77443
Wedding reception math: How to know
how much you need of everything
(ARA) - Acting as your own planner can help save money
on your wedding reception. From ordering wedding napkins
and favors to deciding how much cake and drinks to have
on hand, you can keep a handle on costs by self-managing
as many reception-related tasks as possible.
But how do you know how much to buy? Buy too little of
any important item and you could run out, leaving guests
hungry, thirsty and disappointed. Buy too much and
you'll waste money and be faced with the challenge of
getting rid of leftovers.
The reception experts at My Wedding Reception Ideas.com,
offer these tips for calculating how much you'll need of
key reception items:
Beverages
With all the dancing and celebrating they'll be doing,
your guests are sure to work up a thirst. It's important
to calculate the right amount of beverages to buy so you
don't run out. A good rule of thumb is to plan for one
drink per person, per hour. You may need more or less
depending upon the make-up of your crowd. Lots of kids?
You'll probably need less alcohol and more soft drinks.
Plenty of adults who love a good party? You may need to
adjust the amount of alcohol accordingly. Here are some
averages to give you a starting point:
* Beer - Three to four beers per person.
* Champagne - Two glasses per person (mostly for the
toasts).
* Wine - Three quarters of a bottle per person. One
bottle of wine or champagne yields about six to seven
glasses.
* Soft drinks - Three to four servings per person. A
2-liter bottle holds seven to nine drink servings.
It's always good to err on the side of caution and order
more than you think you will need - about a third more
is standard. Check with your distributor before you
order; some will allow you to return unopened bottles.
Food
If you'll serve cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before the
reception, limit this time to an hour or 90 minutes -
you don't want guests filling up before the main event.
Estimate three hors d'oeuvres per person, per hour -
roughly five per person for the entire time. If your
reception will be a cocktail/hors d'oeuvres event
without a sit-down dinner, increase your calculations to
12 pieces per guest. If you're serving a sit-down
dinner, one plate per person per course should be your
starting point. You may choose to ask the
kitchen/caterer to have some extras on hand in case
anyone requests seconds or some last-minute guests
arrive.
For the wedding cake, simply tell your baker how many
guests will attend and they can recommend the size cake
you'll need. It's good to estimate more servings than
invited guests as some may want seconds or bring
last-minute additions to the party. If you'll serve
desserts other than cake, estimate one to two servings
per guest.
Napkins
Personalized
Napkins or plain, linen or three-ply, wedding
napkins are a wedding reception must-have item. It's
hard to imagine going overboard and having too many
napkins, but it could happen - and if it does you may
find yourself using those napkins at your first
anniversary celebration. To ensure your napkin buying is
on target with your needs, follow these guidelines:
* Two to three cocktail napkins per guest for the bar
area.
* One cocktail-sized napkin per guest for the cake
table.
* One and a half dinner or luncheon napkins per guest at
the meal table if you won't be using linen napkins. For
example, if you'll have 100 guests, plan for 150 dinner
napkins.
Finally, favors
This one may seem obvious - one favor per guest. In
reality, however, you need to allow for breakage (What
if someone drops a box of favors on the way into the
reception hall and several shatter?) and guests who may
ask to take an extra favor home for a relative or friend
who wasn't able to attend. Increasing your favor
purchase by just 10 percent won't cost that much more,
but could allow you to send guests home with an extra
favor or two.
Theme Parties N More is a
wedding & event planning company located in Cypress, TX.
We are also a wedding & event
florist. Our party & wedding planners have put this
website together to provide our visitors with
ideas for
planning their events, this includes links to products
that can help you to make your event extra special. In
accordance with the
FTC Guidelines we are disclosing
that some of the
vendors that we link you to, pay us a commission
when you purchase products from them, but some of the
vendors do not provide us with any compensation.
