About Tina Addair Expertise I can answer general questions on virtually any cooking related subject. I have reliable knowledge on cooking for large groups, cooking methods and techniques, ingredients, recipes and safety issues. My personal favorites are meat, seafood, poultry, and desserts, but enjoy everything. I do not have extensive knowledge about world cuisine, but can answer general questions relating to this subject.
Experience I have been actively cooking and studying the subject on my own for about 15 years. I worked as both a line and banquet chef for 4 years, and have trained as a pastry chef.
Awards and Honors I received a Customer Satisfaction Award from the hotel I worked at for being personally recognized by patrons for preparing outstanding meals.
Question Hi I'm planning my wedding reception where my finance and I are making everything. We are expecting 107 guests (83 adults and 24 kids) but as many as 120 could come. This is what we want to serve:
rigatoni and meatballs, 1 cold cut meat, potato salad, taco dip with chips, fruit salad, veggie tray (celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers) with ranch dip, bb beans, bread.
How much should we make of each? TIA
Answer Hi Hayley! You're a brave soul! It's hard enough just to plan a wedding, much less prepare food for up to 120 people on top of it. I commend you.
It's always tricky figuring amounts, especially if you don't know exactly how many people are going to attend. You don't want to run out of food, but you don't want to have a ton of food left over, either.
I would go with around 30 pounds of rigatoni and meatballs. You could figure on around 15 pounds of dry pasta and 10 pounds of meat. By the time you add your other ingredients, this should give you around the right amount. If 120 people show up, this would allow for 4 ounces per person. Some people will eat more than this, but some people may not eat any, and they may not even all show. I wouldn't get over 15 pounds of cold cut meat. You should probably have a couple gallons (or around 16 pounds) each of the potato salad, fruit salad and beans. I'd buy about 4 pounds each of the veggies, because you will lose some weight trimming the vegetables. Figure on around 5 pounds each of the taco and ranch dips. As far as the chips go, I'd simply find the largest size bag I could and look on the nutritional information to see how many servings are in a bag, and go by that as to how many bags to buy. You didn't say what type of bread you were planning to serve. If you are having sandwich bread for the cold cut and something such as garlic bread for the pasta, I'd get 3 to 4 loaves of sandwich bread and 4 to 5 loaves of garlic bread. If you're only having one type of bread, I'd get 10-12 loaves. Since bread is relatively inexpensive, it's better to err on the side of caution.
I hope this is helpful to you. If I haven't covered something, or you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
