	AllExperts > Weddings
	Search

Volunteer
Answers to thousands of questions

Home · More Weddings Questions · Answer Library

· Encyclopedia ·

Weddings - Hor Douvres Wedding Reception

Expert: Helen Joan Casper - 3/15/2007

Question
I am planning an open house wedding reception in our neck of the woods, since my son is getting married in another state. I am considered an excellent cook and entertainer, but have no knowledge in amounts. Our reception will be from 4 to 9 in the evening. I am guessing that most might stay an hour and a half to two hours??? The invite list is v bit over 500 people (all adults), so I am thinking that on a Friday evening in July, we might get 350-400 people to RSVP. How many appetizers should I plan per person. How many should be hot, how many cold, how many should be desserts? I am thinking of not doing a cake, since they will have done that two weeks earlier.
The decorations and setting are Hawaiian, dress wil be Hawaiian casual. The stations I am thinking of are:

1]Vegies and Several Dips (Ranch, Pesto, Southweatern and a fat free
2]Cheese and Sausages with Crackers, pickles, olives, olive tapenade
3] A few more spreads (spinach dip, a bacon dip, a garlic dip, carl buddig beef ball, heart shaped ham spread) with basketa of breads, crackers, bagel bites pretzels)
4] Seafood (Shrimp cocktail, sauce, lemons, smoked samon, herring - both kinds and my excellent sprimp dip and crackers) Hubby is making a 4' by 18" boat, which will hold ice and drain under the table-to serve this in)
5] Cold appetizers - mexican tortilla pinwheels, grape tomatoes skewered with mini mozzarella balls and a basil leaf, ham wrapped asparagus with dill cream cheese, roast beef with horseradish cream on mini rolls or croissants, pork tenderloin slices with mango salsa, tuna and pineapple salad in wonton cups, three cheese tortellini on a skewer with a parmesan dip
6] Hot Appetizers: Breaded Chicken Chunk (Hong Kong Chicken-from a local cantonese restaurant - son's favorite, only thing I'm not making), bacon-wrapped waterchestnuts, sweet/sour meatballs, coke marinated sirloin chunks (friend will grill as necessary), burgundy mushrooms, mini cheese quesedillas, Italian suasage chunks in marinara
7]Salads (not sure I need these but??? Was thinking of having my servers serve up clear plastic (2-3 ounce) souffle cups with a basket of forks on the table My famous chicken and orzo salad, oriental cole slaw, italian pasta, hawaiian salad
8]Chocolate fountain with a variety of fruits and sweets to dip
9]Dessert Table: mini cheesecakes, lemon squares, macadamia nut cups (like the mini pecan pies we make at Christmas, only will substitute mac nuts, lemon curd cups with raspberries, kolacky (family will expect), tuxedo cheesecakes (individual chocolate and raspberry), heart shaped scones with strawberry whipped cream and strawberries, chocolate mousse cups
10] Wedding Cake - Do I need one? Hoping not.
11}Beverages: Tropical Punch, Iced Tea, Coffee Punch, Raspberry Lemonade, something sugar free _All served from a tiki hut hubby is building.

Okay, believe it or not that's it. I know the experts say I am serving too much of a variety? Is that true? How many items per person for their alleged two hour stay? 2 of everything? 2 of 3/4 of everything offered?
I also read that you should allow 1/4 - 1/2 cup of dips and spread per person. Does that seem right? Do I calculate it like this: 400 peeps x .5 cups = 200 cups divided by 8 dips = 25 cups of each dip/spread = 1 1/2 - 2 gallons each?

Is there any food item(s) that stick out as NOT NEEDED, doesn't go? I think the Italian sausage chunks do, but it is such an easy thing. Cook up and throw in a crockpot, then have my servers transfer as needed to a nice chafing dish.

I know I need to calculate that it might be beastly hot and no one will be that hungry. Everyone knows how aI cook and no one will dare eat supper before coming. They'll know they will be fed well.

Alright. Now that it took nine hours to read, I'll shut up and let you think things through. You are wonderful!
Thanks in advance for all the advise.

Lee

Answer
I apologize for the tardiness of my response as I've been ill.

First, let me commend you on catering a party of 400 people on your own! This is quite a task. =)

What sticks out to me is some very high-maintenance things included on your list- the shrimp boat and the chocolate fountain. Even with the self-draining dish, these can be a lot of work to make sure that everything stays the proper temperature. For this very reason, you might want to scrap the chicken orzo salad as chicken would go bad rather quickly in summer heat unless the chicken is hot in the salad. If the chicken is cold in the salad then it could get to an unsafe temperature. This also worries me about the seafood and the pork. Maybe consider renting an ice maker so you can have a constant supply of ice?

I would not cut out the Italian sausage chunks because it is easy. I would cut out something that you cannot make ahead of time and freeze.

Given the amount of guests, I honestly do not think you're serving too much of a variety. If people expect to be fed well then they will also expect a wide variety of foods. Also, because people are expecting to be fed well, I would stay the average person will eat about 2 platefuls of food. Heat will deter some people but not most- at least not from the cold foods or the beverages. So you should make sure you have more of the colder foods you're serving.

Speaking of cold foods, I suggest having a salad bar over premade salads. Have a huge tub of lettuce kept on ice and the 'fixings' nearby. That saves you a lot of time and it lets people customize. Not to mention the fact that as a cold food, the salad will go fast.

I think your dip measurement sounds fairly correct. Of course, some people will use more and some people won't use any at all. For the rest, estimate about 2 platefuls especially if you know they'll be coming expecting dinner. I would say expect each person will eat about 6 small pieces of meat and about 3-4 of everything. You can also estimate about 1 1/2 cup of salad and 6 veggies per person. The shrimp may go very fast as well, being a light and cold food. If you're using jumbo shrimp, I'd estimate it at 6-8 shrimp per person.

I definitely think you've done your research and are on the right track. I think the only concern with the variety is that making all those different foods would be very, very time consuming. The Italian beef balls that you can cook and freeze in advance are easy but making enough tortilla pinwheels may be quite a task. You may want to consider upping the quantities of some foods and scrapping the more complicated ones to make all together.

I would not have a wedding cake. They've already done the wedding cake previously and you have enough sweets to make up for it.

Once again, I am completely impressed that you're taking on such a huge task. Some catering companies wouldn't even try to take on a 400-500 person catering job! Please remember to ask for help, delegate, and not try to do everything yourself. For instance, consider getting veggie or cheese & cracker plates from a local grocery store rather than cutting all the vegetables yourself.

I wish you the very best of luck! Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

Best wishes,
Helen =)

Add to this Answer Ask a Question