How many adults should I cater for at my birthday party?

[NoMoreDribbling]

Im having a big birthday end of July and expecting 70 adults and 10 kids. I told my friend this and she advised we cater for 60 adults only due to number of drop outs and some people not eating. I know at least 3 won't eat but catering for just 60 seems a bit risky ?

For a 7pm party I wouldn’t cater as much as I’d assume many people will have eaten some food at home, especially the kids. As far as a special kids menu I’d question if it’s worth it for that kind of buffet - mine would have been fed before coming

If I am invited to a catered party starting at 7pm, why would I eat beforehand?

If I have an early lunch I may eat a snack to tidy me over but I would see the invitation as dinner.

Kids - yes if they are small. Most children 6 and older are happy to eat late or again at a party. If you invite children to a party starting at 7pm I would expect them to be awake and participating, most smaller children would be at home in bed I would assume.

I catered for 40 recently but had 6 drop outs, two were because of recent bereavements and the other has a seriously ill DH so all very legit. I did the catering myself so over catered. Plus 4 of my friends turned up with home made cakes and cheesecakes, a couple had said they would but the others just brought along, one is a professional chef so that was an absolute win. Assume you are paying a venue.

Honestly it will depend very much on what the venue classes as a portion and it can vary a lot depending on the venue. I would try and get what they see as portion size for an individual. Plus is it a ton of rugby players? lots of lads?lots of tiny elderly people who have smaller appetites? Only you know your guest list. DH is from a family of giants, mine are the opposite with various miniature women relatives at only 4ft 11. Very different requirements.

How old are the children? If they are all under about 7, then fine. Older ones will go and help themselves to the adult buffet as well.

Just cater for the number of people invited and be done with it.

Why would anyone attending a 7pm birthday party eat beforehand?

OP - order for the number of guests you’ve invited - if they don’t finish everything you can take it home or offer it as leftovers. It’s much better to have too much food than it is to have hungry guests.

If an evening buffet 70-75%, serve earlier the better.
Daytime I’d go around 80%, again earlier the better to avoid people getting hungry. 12 pm start, serve around 2 pm.

What is the food on offer? The matrix we use is like 2 sandwiches pp, 1.5 sausage rolls etc. Obviously depends on your spread.

On that matrix we’ve never had guests go hungry and typically always some left over. If you can try get a pasta to bulk out the offering.

A 7 pm evening event with a buffet isn’t intended to be a replacement for an evening meal, it’s normally used as snack foods as a buffer to soak up alcohol and keep people’s energy levels up. Guests would be expected to have a meal beforehand for a typical 40th birthday party in a hall, obviously different for an evening sit down meal celebration.

That’s utterly not what I experience. A buffet is just a different way to serve a meal at a party.

Unless the invitation says something like snacks will be provided I would expect a buffet to be my dinner.

I'd cater for the invited number in full and be specific in invitations about what is being offered, so that people know whether to expect the buffet equivalent of a three-course meal, or a few nibbles to go with drinks.

Um, that’s certainly never been my experience of a buffet!

Surely not at 7pm? That’s normal dinner time for a grown up. If it was ‘drinks and nibbles’ I’d expect the invite to say as much and not start before 8pm.

The more food seen t-the more people take. It's human nature. Put half out until at least two-thirds of the people have been up to the buffet. Then the rest. Children will always want to have a pick at an adult buffet and even decide that's what they want, especially over 7yo.

If you're expecting 70 adults, then cater for 70 adults. Where is the logic in only catering for 55, as someone suggested? How embarrassing would it be to not have food for 15 people?

If it's a buffet type thing then it's fine to cater for a few less. It's true some won't come or eat much. But ideally I'd rather have a bit leftover than anyone feeling hungry. And it depends on the budget.

But some caterers provide enormous amounts of food. One of the ones we use for work lunches provides easily twice the amount that a big eater would eat. A whole sandwich (so 2 slices of bread or decent sized roll), plus several savoury items, crisps, salad and two decent sized sweet items per person.

What usually happens is everyone goes and takes a decent plateful, then it barely looks like its been touched and a few people take another helping. The leftovers get picked at throughout the afternoon even though people aren't really hungry. Some people take some home and the rest gets shoved in the fridge. The next morning people pick at it some more and then whatever's left (about 20% of what was supplied) usually gets binned as it's looking a bit stale and soggy by then.

OP I'd ask for guidance about what they provide, with pictures if possible, before confirming numbers. Also make sure you ask for plenty of vegetarian options otherwise most caterers supply a very processed pork heavy buffet which leads to complaints if someone who eats meat dares to pick up a cheese sandwich or onion bhaji because unsurprisingly they don't want a ham sandwich, sausage roll, mini sausage, pork pie and pepperoni pizza.