Wedding Catering: How Much Food per Guest?

Hosts fear one thing more than rain or delay: the food running out while guests are still in the queue. Because of that fear, many families order double what is needed, and half the budget goes on food nobody eats. Between embarrassment and waste there is a simple calculation, and this guide explains it.

Start with the real number

Every calculation begins with one figure: how many people will actually eat. That is not the number of invitations.

• Count people, not invitations. One card may mean a family of five.
• Call and confirm. Two weeks ahead, ring those who have not answered, particularly guests travelling from other governorates.
• Children. Roughly, two small children count as one adult. Ask the venue how it charges for them.
• The crew. Photographers, the band, the DJ and drivers eat too. Agree beforehand whether they get separate meals or eat from the buffet.
• Guests who come uninvited. In some governorates and villages this is simply part of a wedding, and you know your own community's habits best. Give it an explicit allowance.

Then add a reserve of about a tenth. Most caterers build their own margin on top of the agreed number, so ask what it is and avoid counting the margin twice.

Buffet, plated or something else?

Open buffet

The most common format in Egyptian halls. Every guest chooses freely, and it copes well with large numbers. It needs more variety and more food per head, because people put more on their plates than they eat. It also needs organising: roughly one serving point per hundred guests, or a double-sided buffet, to keep queues short.

Plated service

Each guest is served at the table. It is calmer and more elegant, and easier to control because portions are known. It needs more waiting staff and an accurately confirmed number, and it gives guests little choice.

Canapés and food stations

Trays of passed starters with stations for grills, pastries or sweets. They suit daytime weddings, marriage contract ceremonies and short receptions. They do not replace dinner if the party falls at dinner time and lasts more than three hours. A hungry guest is not satisfied by canapés.

The traditional cook

At home, village and Upper Egyptian weddings, a cook who slaughters and cooks on site is still the norm, with food served on large trays shared by groups. Here the reckoning is by tray and by the number of animals, and a cook who knows local custom is your first authority.

Rough quantities per person

These are guide figures that caterers use as a starting point for a dinner buffet. They are not fixed rules. Your caterer will adjust them to the menu and to your guests.

• Meat and poultry together: 250 to 350 grams cooked per person. The more protein dishes there are, the less of each you need.
• Rice, pasta and other starches: 150 to 200 grams cooked.
• Cooked vegetables and stuffed vegetables (mahshi): 100 to 150 grams.
• Salads and starters: 100 to 150 grams spread across three to five dishes.
• Bread: one small loaf or two pieces each.
• Dessert: two or three small pieces, plus fruit if offered.
• Drinks: two to three per person for a four-hour party, and at least one small bottle of water, more in summer and outdoors.

Do not multiply these by your guest count and hand the result to the kitchen. Use them to understand the quote in front of you. If the quantity offered is far below these figures, ask why. If it is double, ask as well.

What changes the quantity

• Time of day. People arrive hungry at a party that starts at nine in the evening. An afternoon reception needs less.
• Length. The longer the evening, the more you need a light second round: pastries, sweets or a coffee corner.
• The guests. The share of young people, family habits, and whether many have travelled a long way.
• Number of dishes. Wide variety raises waste, because every guest wants to try everything. Four main dishes done well beat ten that are average.
• Season. In hot weather, appetite for rich food drops and demand for drinks, salads and fruit rises.
• Buffet order. The costliest dishes go at the end of the line, salads and starches at the start. It is an old trick every caterer knows.

The wedding cake

If the cake is only for the cutting and the photographs, its size is a matter of looks. If it will be served, allow one small slice per person, and reduce the number if the buffet has a generous dessert table. Many couples choose a small real cake for cutting and assorted sweets for serving, which is practical and economical.

Questions for the caterer

1. Can we taste the dishes before agreeing?
2. Do you charge per person or by quantity? Is there a minimum number?
3. What margin do you add above the agreed number?
4. Until what date can we change the final count?
5. Does the price include waiting staff, crockery, linen and drinks?
6. How many waiters per number of guests?
7. How is food transported and kept hot or cold until serving? This matters in summer and outdoors.
8. Can you provide dishes for guests with dietary needs, such as diabetics, vegetarians or people with allergies?
9. What happens to leftover food?
10. How much is the deposit, what are the cancellation terms, and is the price fixed until the wedding day?

Per-person prices vary a great deal with the menu, the governorate and the season, and they move with market prices. Ask for more than one written quote, and compare menu, quantity and service, not the number alone.

Leftovers

Agree in advance what happens to the surplus. Some venues pack it for the family. Some families arrange for a charity or food bank in their governorate to collect untouched dishes. Organise this days ahead, with containers and a named person in charge, because at the end of the night no one will be thinking about it.

Common mistakes

• Counting invitations instead of people.
• Ordering double out of fear. A tenth in reserve is usually enough. The rest is waste.
• Many dishes in small quantities. The favourite one is gone in the first fifteen minutes.
• Forgetting water at a summer wedding.
• Serving dinner at midnight. Guests tire, children fall asleep and older relatives leave before they have eaten.
• Agreeing without a tasting. Photographs have no flavour.
• Forgetting the crew's meals.

How Gawazy helps

On Gawazy you can browse caterers, cooks and wedding cake makers in your governorate, look at their menus, their work and customer ratings, then contact them directly to ask for a quote and arrange a tasting. The agreement and payment are between you and the vendor.

• Catering
• Chefs
• Wedding cakes
• All catering services