Online Tool Store
Party Food Quantity Calculator
Estimate food and drink quantities for a gathering from guest count, event length, and whether it is a meal or canapés.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Fun & Misc
Party Food Quantity Calculator
Frontend preview — no upload or external service.
Quantity estimate
40 guests, 4-hour buffet: about 400 g of food per head, 10-12 canapé pieces each for the first hour, and roughly 2 drinks per person in hour one then 1 per hour after.
How the Party Food Quantity Calculator works
- Enter the guest count and how long people will actually be there, not the invitation window.
- Choose the format — canapés, buffet, or seated — since portions per head differ substantially.
- Add a margin on the items people always eat first, and less on the ones that get picked over.
The method
Quantities scale with guest count and time, with consumption highest in the first hour and tapering afterwards.
drinks ≈ 2 in the first hour + 1 per hour thereafter, per drinking guest
For 40 guests over 4 hours that is roughly 200 drinks, which is where a party budget usually goes wrong.
FAQ
How much food per person for a buffet?
Around 400 g of substantial food for a meal-replacing buffet, less if it follows a meal. Ten to twelve canapé pieces per head covers an evening where no meal is served.
What proportion should be non-alcoholic?
Plan for at least a quarter to a third of drinks to be non-alcoholic, and provide water everywhere. Running out of soft drinks is far more common than running out of wine.
What runs out first?
Bread, ice, and whatever is easiest to eat standing up. Over-order those three and under-order the elaborate items.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | Doing it by hand | A single-purpose app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Splits food and drink | ✓ | Manual | Yes |
| Time-based drink tapering | ✓ | ✗ | Sometimes |
| No account | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Places the order | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Party Food Quantity Calculator plans by the hour rather than per head alone, since drink consumption is front-loaded and food is not.