how much food for 140 people at my wedding?

[mothersmilk]

im only feeding the church goers and intend to do buffet style only thing is i havny got a clue how much to do i dont want there to be too little thats awfull but i'd hate to spend out for too much and see it all in bin liners at the end of the night, does anyone have any idea of what to do and how much
many many thanks in advance

Hi, i's a wedding planner and happy to offer some advice.

The rule of thumb is to cater for everyone and aim to have a little left over, leaving everyone full and not wanting more.

Is the buffet going to be served as a main course or just an afternoon snack? if it to take the place of a main meal (say what would normally be guests lunch or evening meal) then you need to ask your caterer or venue to provide enough for each guest - 140 portions to include 3-4 different items (e.g. 2 large sandwiches, some salad, 2-3 pastry items and then some meat say chicken, sausage etc per person)

If it is for a snack and in addition to normal meal times then i would offer a small buffet catering for approx. 75% of your guests.

The trick is to rely on your venue or caterer as they will know what a portion looks like, the quantities will depend on whether you are offering the buffet as a main meal or not.

There is nothing worse than hungry guests and they will be drinking (possibly in the sun) so being undedfed can result in disaster!

Good luck and congratulations ... if you are near to Hampshire let me know and i'm happy to direct you to my website.

x

this is the problem i am doing it all myself well witht the help of mu mum and mil so this is why i dont have a clue it will be the main meal served around 5 o'clock

Crikey that is brave! Can i ask why? Outside caterers and bar b q's can be a good cost effective measure and not as pricey as you think.

I think the problem you will find is heating everything on time for 140 people unless you hire in commercial ovens, and to have a totally cold main meal might be a bit of a feat.

You want to go for 1 x portion per person as it's the main meal, so your best guide is to work out how much you would use for yourself and x 150 portions really (in case you need a spare / one gets dropped etc.

Plus the hire of crockery and cutlery can be expensive so try and get this from the same place as it may help with costs, and check you can return them dirty so no washing up!

Will you have people to serve? and preparing in the morning? you don't want to be chopping veg and cooking chicken in your dress!

Good luck, i'm impressed at your ambition although i'd have to say it does sound madness!

x

I would go for a pig roast - cost around £500

my sister is having a hog roast and an old fashioned ice-cream man for her wedding.

i can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

ooh, and my mum catered two weddings by herself!

it's not that hard. she did:

quiches
pasta salads
salads
rice dishes
whole cooked salmon
two massive joints beef
two massive hams
little veggie samosas & pasties
some other veggie thing i cant remember.

choccy mousses
lemon posset
a few catering size cheese cakes

loads of stuff like that.

which is why dsis is having a hog roast this time

oh, and did the wedding cakes both times too.

i think mum might sectretly be supermum.

thanks bamboobutton that sounds like what i was thinking i wont be doing it on my own mum nan and mil are acomlashed cooks so will be leaning on them quite heavily

mums trick was to make stuff in advance and freeze it, leaving stuff like the rice, meat and pasta dishes until the days before and defosting on the day.

it should be easy if you have 3 ovens and 3 fridge/freezers available with some helpers thrown in to do veg prep.

the biggest PITA was planning the menu.