Professional catering gives hosts time to focus on their guests instead of food preparation, service, and cleanup. However, it can be tricky to know what to serve and how much to order. Here are a few basic tips for planning catering for a crowd.

Planning Food Quantities for a Catered Event

1. Attendance

Whether you’re planning a party or a work conference, send out RSVPs and ask guests to respond by a certain date. Count the responses so that you know what to expect. When calculating the number of guests that will likely come to your party, add a 2% buffer to account for people who may not RSVP until right before the event. Since catering is often sold on a price-per-head basis, having an accurate count of RSVPs and an idea of the number of potential extra guests can be helpful.

2. Type of Occasion

The amount of food you serve will vary significantly based on the kind of event you’re planning. If you’re hosting a cocktail party where no dinner will be served, plan on at least 10 to 15 pieces of hors d'oeuvres per person. On the other hand, if you’re planning to serve appetizers before a meal, order three to five pieces per person.

If you’re providing a full meal, use these guidelines to help you know how much to order for each guest:

• Meat, Fish, or Poultry: Six ounces
• Potatoes: Five ounces
• Vegetables: Four ounces
• Green Salad: One ounce
• Bread: One to two rolls or slices of bread
• Pasta: Four ounces without a main dish

3. Length of Event

The longer the event, the more food you’ll need to order. Make sure you get everyone enough food for the meals that you’ll host at the party. This includes cocktail hour, dinner, and dessert. For all-day events, plan to serve appetizers between meals so that your guests won’t be hungry.

If you need a caterer to handle the food for your event, turn to Plantation Grindz in Kahului, HI. This Filipino-Hawaiian fusion restaurant is known for its excellent catering services, offering fresh and delicious dishes, like loco moco, mochiko chicken, and macaroons. View their menu online, or call (808) 873-3663 to speak with someone from their catering team. Read customer reviews on Yelp, or connect with the team on Facebook for the latest updates.