Party Quantity Planner
Enter your headcount, how long the event runs and what kind of food you are serving, and get a shopping-planning estimate: main and side portions, snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, ice, plates, cups and napkins. Every figure is derived transparently from guests, hours and meal type — they are planning estimates to shop against, not rules, and real events vary a lot. Round up on the cheap things and adjust from what you know about your own guests.
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Worked example
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Inputs
- Guests
20 - Hours
3 - Meal type
Snacks only / Buffet / Sit-down meal - % of adults drinking alcohol
60 - Children included in the guest count
0
Frequently asked
How accurate is this?
It is an estimate, not a rule. The rates are ordinary planning assumptions — a buffet at 1.25 main portions per adult, children at half a portion, snacks by guest-hour — and your guests are not the average. Treat the output as a starting shopping list you adjust.
How should I read the alcohol figure?
As a purchasing estimate only: roughly how many servings to have available across the event for the number of adults you said are drinking. It is not guidance about how much anyone should drink, and there is no per-person consumption advice here. Account for guests who are not drinking at all, designated drivers, and your local licensing and service rules — set the percentage to 0 if it does not apply.
How are the numbers derived?
Main portions come from adults × the per-style rate with children at half; sides are 1.5 × mains; snacks are guests × hours × the style rate; soft drinks are one per hour for everyone not drinking alcohol and half that for those who are; ice is guests × (1 + 0.25 × hours) pounds; tableware scales with guests and hours plus a 10% margin on plates.
Why are guests and hours capped?
Guests are clamped to 1–2000 and hours to 1–24 so a typo cannot produce a nonsense shopping list. Beyond that scale you want a caterer's numbers, not a web tool's.