Wedding reception quantities for 100 guests

Seating: tables, chairs and linens

Sixty-inch rounds are the standard rental table. Lifetime, the table maker, seats eight around one comfortably; rental companies go up to ten. For a plated dinner with full place settings, use eight: 13 tables for 100 guests, plus a head or sweetheart table. At ten a table — fine for a buffet — it is ten. Chairs: about 105 with 5% spare. Linens: one 120 in round cloth per 60 in table for floor length. The full breakdown is in how many tables for 100 guests and what size tablecloth for a 60 inch round table.

The tent and the dance floor

Bright Event Rentals’ room-planning chart allows 10 to 12 sq ft per guest at round tables, a dance floor sized for 40% of guests at 12 sq ft per couple, 60 sq ft per buffet table and 100 sq ft per bar. For 100 guests with two buffet tables and a bar, that comes to about 1,720 sq ft — a 30 × 60 or 40 × 60 ft tent. (Bright’s all-in tent minimum of 20 sq ft per guest, which already includes the extras, also lands on a 40 × 60.) See what size tent for 100 guests. The dance floor itself is about 240 sq ft: a 16 × 16 ft floor of 4 × 4 ft panels, in how big a dance floor for 100 guests. String lights along the tent ridge are counted in how many string lights for a 20x40 tent.

Cocktail hour

With dinner following, four or five bite-sized appetizers per guest carry a one-hour cocktail hour — about 440 pieces for 100 with 10% extra, in four to six kinds. If the cocktail hour runs long or the meal is late, add a piece per guest for each extra half hour. Details in how many appetizers per person for a cocktail hour. A cheese and charcuterie display covers a lot of that: Wisconsin Cheese suggests about an ounce of each cheese and two ounces of cured meat per person when the board is the main nibble.

Dinner

For a buffet with two mains, three sides, rolls and dessert, the food per person calculator plans about 4 oz of each main per guest — roughly 27½ lb of each main, cooked, and 27½ lb of each side with 10% extra, about 1½ lb of food per guest in all. That is at the top of Iowa State Extension’s 1 to 1½ lb per guest range, appropriate for an evening that runs five or six hours. The course-by-course list is in how much food for 100 people. Caterers will quote per head; this tells you whether a quote is generous or thin.

Cake

Wedding cakes are cut in wedding slices, about 1 × 2 in and 4 in tall, by Wilton’s chart. A three-tier cake of 6, 8 and 10 in rounds gives 74; 6, 10 and 14 in gives 128. Some couples serve a smaller display cake and a kitchen sheet cake: a single-layer 12 × 18 in half sheet adds about 49 wedding slices. See how many servings in a 2 tier cake and the cake serving chart. Cupcakes instead? Plan about one and a half per guest.

Drinks, toast and ice

• Soft drinks and water: about five drinks per guest over a four-hour reception, half again in summer heat — see the party drinks calculator.
• Champagne toast: at a 4 oz pour, about six toasts per bottle; with 90 of 100 guests taking a glass, about 16 bottles. Covered on the alcohol pages: how many bottles of champagne for a toast for 100 guests.
• Ice: Reddy Ice recommends 1 to 2 lb per guest — 100 to 200 lb — plus more for a bar.
• Coffee with dessert: a 100-cup urn makes about 62 eight-ounce cups.

Paper goods and the small stuff

Even with china from the caterer, receptions use paper: cocktail napkins at the bar and the cocktail hour, cups at the water station, small plates for late-night snacks. For appetizers, a meal and dessert, about four napkins per guest — 440 for 100 with 10% extra — is a sensible count; see how many napkins for 100 guests.

A checklist for 100