Party food quantity calculator
Estimate how much food and drink to plan for a birthday, a cocktail party or a festive meal, based on the number of guests and the length of the event. A handy guide so you never run short, calculated instantly in your browser.
How it works
Planning quantities for a party is a delicate exercise: too little and some guests go home hungry, too much and waste piles up. This tool applies standard per-person ratios, common in event catering, and adjusts them based on the number of guests, the type of event (cocktail party, buffet or sit-down meal) and the planned duration.
Why does duration affect the quantities for a cocktail party and a buffet?
The longer a cocktail party or buffet runs, the more guests nibble and drink over time: a 5-hour evening calls for more than a quick one-hour get-together. The tool applies an adjustment factor proportional to the duration relative to a 3-hour baseline, without changing the sit-down meal quantities, which stay fixed per person.
Do these quantities account for specific diets?
No, these are overall average quantities. If several guests follow a vegetarian, gluten-free or other diet, it's a good idea to adapt some of the main dishes and sides accordingly, without changing the total estimated quantities.
No information about your event is sent to a server: all the calculation stays local, in your browser.