Wedding buffet for 375
Tom
05/29/11 		Hello again Ellen, as I mentioned in the Quantity of vegetables post, we are having a wedding of 375 with beef sandwiches and chicken as main dishes, we are having potato salad, roasted baby red potatoes, whole kernel corn, a bean dish, a pasta salad, and a fruit salad. I looked in your big pots section under Plan for 100 in under Barbecue and picinic sides and it suggests 1 gallon of side dish per 10 people, now am I understanding this correctly that this is 1 gallon of all total sides per 10 people? So I will need 37.5 gallons in total of the above mentioned sides altogether? Also I didn't see in the charts for serving 100, how many dinner rolls or buns would be required for 100 to eat with the beef entree?
Tom
05/29/11 		We have 475 rolls ordered for our dinner of 375, that seems to little to me.
ellen
05/29/11 		Hi, Tom,
You did not mention in your original post that these were beef sandwiches. If so, you will probably have some beef left also; I would do 140 for sliced, but only 125-130 for sandwiches.

It is very wise to set up a portion of the menu as an appetizer/nibble menu, especially with this big of a party and needing time to set up the dinner. It keeps the guests satisfied while you do pictures etc after the party and dinner is set up. You would need 3 areas with at least 3 appetizers and a punch (2 if one is alcoholic).

Also, if you read my article on wedding dinners, you will see that I recommend you need some serious help; in addition to all the prep before the day, you need about 6-8 kitchen, 20 staff to set up serve and cleanup the party, NOT members of the wedding party.

Also, you need at least 6 serving lines for this many people, and 8 would probably be better. You can do 3 or 4 double sided lines. Separate serving areas for drinks and for cake/dessert.

This is what I would do per 100 for this party and menu:

roasted baby red potatoes, 30 pounds per 100
whole kernel corn, 22 pounds per 100

Buns 1.3 regular or two smaller per person, get good ones
You need sandwich fixings also, see the sandwich page

potato salad, 4 gallons per 100
a bean dish, 3 gallons per 100
a pasta salad, 6 pounds dry per 100 (about 3 gallons)

fruit salad; STRONGLY suggest you change this to fruit trays- they look better, keep better, can be prepped mostly ahead, and the leftovers are more usable- and move to the appetizer tables. See the fruit tray page.

Cheese and cracker trays would be 14 pounds cheese, 6-8 pounds crackers per 100.

Dips/spreads would be 1/4 cup per type per person plus 1 1/2-2 ounces chips or breads

You really need an experienced manager, who is not part of the wedding, to oversee the food the day of. This party is outside the safe limits size-wise, for an inexperienced overseer.

Tom
05/29/11 		Yes, we have some friends who have volunteered to handle the setup of everything, they have experience doing fund raisers and things like that every summer so I think we should be ok as far as that is concerned, they will be there getting everything set up rather than attending the ceremony.