How to calculate the amount of food and alcohol for all the guests: festive flyhacks

A perfect holiday will bring many positive impressions and wonderful memories, but preparing for a feast requires careful planning. It's important to feed your guests tasty and satisfying meals, but you may have questions about the amount of food and alcohol you need.

Experts have calculated the optimal amount of food and drinks for a banquet. Of course, it's worth preparing some extra food to avoid getting into an awkward situation. Read the OBOZ.UA article on how to organize a holiday and calculate the amount of food and alcohol in advance.

How to calculate the holiday menu

First of all, you need to pay attention to the age of the guests, eating habits, and some other personal nuances. For example, if relatives or friends with children are coming to the party, you should arrange a separate table for the kids and increase the number of fruits or desserts.

If the party will be attended by the elderly, make sure to have dietary food that is easy to chew.

It's worth finding out in advance if there will be vegans and people who are fasting - if so, add vegetable dishes to the menu.

Simple math will help you calculate the weight equivalent of food per person. Calculate how many people are coming to the party and add 2-3 extra servings in case of unexpected guests or increased appetite. In general, the food intake depends on the duration of the feast:

• 2 hours - 200-400 g
• 4 hours - about 600 g
• 6 hours - 900-1200 g
• more than 6 hours - from 1.3 kg.

Food allowance per dish

Appetizers

According to the rules of etiquette, cold and hot appetizers are the first to be served and are constantly replenished during the banquet. These can be slices, pickles, meat or vegetable appetizers, sandwiches, seafood. Appetizers are prepared at the rate of 350-400 g per guest.

Salads

Experts advise to include at least three types of salads on the menu if you are planning a feast for more than 12 people. Salads should be prepared at the rate of 300 g per guest. Be sure to have light vegetable salads.

Hot dishes

The norm for serving hot dishes is 300-400 g per person, including garnish. It is worth offering several types of hot dishes, including meat and fish options.

A sweet table

You will have to take care not only of a large cake, but also of small cakes and fruits. To calculate the optimal weight of the cake, take the norm of 120-150 g per person. The norm for fruit slices is 250 g for adults and 350 g for children.

How to calculate alcohol and drinks

Experts note that a banquet for 30 people will require about 60 liters of mineral water, carbonated drinks, and juices.

Alcohol standards are as follows:

• vodka, whiskey, cognac - 0.5 liters per person;
• wine - 0.75 liters.

This rate is very conditional, so pay attention to this when calculating.

You can also buy several bottles called "welcome-drink". This will be a kind of welcome gesture at the beginning of the celebration. The norm is 150 grams per person. For the welcome-drink, choose dry or sparkling wines.

Keep in mind that there may be people at the party who do not drink alcohol. Make sure you have an alternative, such as grape juice or non-alcoholic wine.

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