Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 4/16/2009

Question
hello, I'm in desperate need of help. My family and I are catering for a 25th wedding anniversary party for 250 guests i want to make 4 kinds of finger sandwiches; Ham & cheese, Turkey & Mayo, Egg salad, and roast beef & mustard.  How many loafs of bread will I need and supplies?? We also have other stuff on our menu; 2 veggies trays, 2 fruit trays, 2 cheese and pickle trays, squares for deserts and a cake, coffee, tea, punch, and bar service.  Is this too much??? I don't want to have a truck full of leftovers? thankyou!!

Answer
You will need about 4-6 finger sandwiches per person and that's about 1 to 1-1/2 regular sandwiches. You will get 16 whole sandwiches from a 1 pound loaf of bread. Each sanwich will require about 4 oz of filling so a pound of meat makes 4 sandwiches or 16 finger sandwiches. You will need a LOT more than 2 veggie trays and 2 fruit trays for 250 people, and if you have a cake, you will not need squares.  For 250 people you will need 5 FULL SHEET cakes, your bakery will know how much that will be. I'm assuming that you know how to price this properly or you are going to lose money on it.
Here's the rule of catering as to how much you will need per person:
7 ounces of cooked meat entree
4 ounces of each side dish up to 3
3 ounces of salad greens
1 4 ounce dessert serving
6-8 appetizer bites per person
16 oz of non-alcoholic beverage
2 oz of chips per person
1 oz of dip per person
Multiply the ounces times the number of guests and then divide by 16 to give you pounds of food and the beverage by 128 to give you the number of gallons of beverage you will need.