How do you estimate food for a party?

[Marisa6826]

I'm planning on throwing a combination house warming/40th birthday party for Jonathan.

I scoped out Costco yesterday, and I think I can get the vast majority of the food there.

I'm planning:

Hotdogs and Hamburgers
Chicken Apple Sausage
Fried Chicken (not from Costco - still mulling over whether or not to get)
Potato/Macaroni Salads
Crudite
Salsa and Chips with Guacamole
Fruit Salad
Cookies
Ice Cream Cake (Carvel or Haagen Daz)
Beer (pony kegs or bottles)
Soda
Water
possibly a margarita station (since we NEVER use the smoothie maker he got as a birthday present three years ago ;) )

So how do you estimate food? It's a 3pm party, and it will probably be a late lunch/early dinner thing for most people coming.

I'm sending out about 40-50 invites, and the invites will apply to entire families, but we don't more than half will show.

-m

[C99]

I guess -- and always err on the side of having leftovers. If I don't have leftovers, I didn't have enough. W/ a specific thing like hamburgers/hotdogs/chicken, you can probably estimate 1 item per person, since it's also at 3 p.m. Does CostCo have guides for their stuff? i.e., 1 sheet cake will serve 50 people, etc.

Sorry, that's probably not particularly helpful....

[mary b]

Hi Marisa, I agree with Caroline. I always err on the side of leftovers. I alsways make sure the majority of the menu is something we will want to eat and can save/freeze.

One item that you didn't mention on your list is a veggie tray. I LOVE Costco's trays. THey have aspeargus and I just think they are so much nicer than regular store veggie trays. ( I know you have tons of yummy choices already, just wanted to mention that)

I also LOVE their cakes. THey should be able to tell you suggested sizes. I usually estimate lower on the cake.

Have a great party.

Mary
mom to NOelle and Lindsey

[lmariana]

Sounds like fun! I love planning parties and having people over. I have 28 relatives in town and have them all over at once, yearly...it's a beautiful chaos! So, my rule of thumb is to keep it simple! A good entree and a good dessert is all that anyone will care about anyhow. :)

Unless I asked people to RSVP, I usually account for a 50-60% turnout. Since there are families invited, I would bump it up to 65-75% to account for the kids.

Not that you're asking for menu tips, but...
Kids will gravitate more towards the hotdogs, cokes and cookies, adults to the meat and booze, so definitely have more than enough of this to go around. Looks like you are well covered with the entrees and may be able to cut out one of the meats like the sausage or the chicken.
Maybe a couple bags of chips would be a good idea for the non-potato salad eating kids and adults?
If you are making the fruit salad yourself, I would put it down as a lower priority because it can be very time-consuming for you, and in my experience, it's hardly missed.
Maybe you can have a kids station with some crayons and coloring books, picnic blankets, yard games, etc?

Other than that, buy everything pre-made that you can, have plenty of utensils, plates and napkins, and enjoy!


Mariana
www.heinzandmariana.com
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003

[C99]

crudite = veggie tray. :)

[Marisa6826]

I'm famous for having waaaaay too much food (you should have seen Easter!), so that's why I was asking how to estimate.

We're not sure how many kids are coming. We're extending the invite to our neighbours to kind of thank them for putting up with all the work we had done on the house. The neighbourhood kids are all substantially older than Sophie, and since we're on a dead end, they tend to run around and do stuff on their own. The neighbours on either side of us have swingsets/play areas in their yards, so I assume that's what the older kids will do.

As far as Sophie goes, I'm going to try and hire my old sitter for the day so Jonathan and I can enjoy ourselves without worrying about Sophie.

I was planning on buying some fruit salad trays from Costco. All cut up and they look quite nice.

I figured I'd do the chicken and/or chicken sausage for those people that don't eat meat.

I'm trying really hard to not make anything myself. The mesclun salad with the pears and raisins and goatcheese shouldn't take me long at all. My SIL had it with a vidalia onion dressing and Jonathan just loved it.

I looked at the Costco cakes, but Jonathan wants an icecream cake - especially since it's going to be hot. I know it's a bigger hassle and probably more expensive, but I personally prefer ice cream too.

I'm waiting on a head count so that I can order tables and chairs from the rentacenter place. I think they will even deliver them for me.

I'm just worried that it's going to rain that day. UGH.

-m