Cook Talk

Wedding Dinner for 400
Brenda
03/22/16
Trying to determine quantities for a wedding dinner for 400. (Have lots of good kitchen helpers) Menu is:
BEVERAGES-- Lemonade, Water, Coffee, Hot Tea;
RELISH TRAYS ON TABLES-- Baby Carrots, Black Olives, Dill Pickles;
SMALL SNACKS PRE-DINNER-- Tortilla Chips, Salsa, Goldfish Crackers, Pretzels, Cheese Cubes-Cheddar, Pepper Jack & Colby Jack;
DINNER BUFFET --
Baked Potato Bar: Potatoes, Butter, Sour Cream, Chili, Bacon Crumbles, Nacho Cheese Sauce, Salsa, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Ranch Dressing;
Sweet 'n Sour Meatballs;
Spiral Sliced Ham;
Salad: Spring Greens, Feta Cheese, Craisins, Walnuts & Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing;
DESSERT -- Sheet Cakes, Ice Cream
I've read a lot of information on your site. It is very helpful. Not at all sure on meat quantities when with the baked potato bar. Also not at all sure on the ingredient quantities for the salad.
THANK YOU!!
ellen
03/23/16
Hi, Brenda,

First, a caution. This level service is a huge amount of work, I would look at a manager, 5 in the kitchen and 20 out front to set up, serve and clean up this party. Those people will not be at the wedding, they will be prepping the party. Also it requires 6 serving lines, or 3 double sided serving lines in addition to the dessert area, the beverage area, and the appetizer area.

In addition, I would put the bread baskets, the salad tables cleared.plates and the relish trays all on the tables before the people come, so they will have something to do while they wait their turn in line.

Plan ahead for trash cans and bussing stations to keep the serving tables and the dinner tables cleared as needed.

BEVERAGES--
Lemonade, 8 gallons per 100 (I would set this up with the appetizers)
Water, pint per person
Coffee, use reception level on the beverage planning page
Hot Tea; covered with the coffee
I would add iced tea, 8 gallons per 100 and cut back the lemonade to 6 gallons per 100. 1/4 tea unsweetened.
www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/bevmisc100.html
RELISH TRAYS ON TABLES-- Baby Carrots, Black Olives, Dill Pickles;
Please expand choices! See the classic relish tray at the top of the veggie tray page:
www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/appesalad.html
SMALL SNACKS PRE-DINNER--
Tortilla Chips, Salsa, 8 pounds chips per 100, 1 pint salsa/dip per pound
Goldfish Crackers, 6 pounds per 100
Pretzels, 4 pounds per 100
Cheese Cubes-Cheddar, Pepper Jack & Colby Jack; I would do cheddar, plain jack, and one other: 8 pounds per 100 plus 6 pounds crackers per 100
DINNER BUFFET --
Baked Potato Bar: Potatoes, Butter, Sour Cream, Chili, Bacon Crumbles, Nacho Cheese Sauce, Salsa, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Ranch Dressing;
Use the baked potato bar page for these quantities
www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/plan/potabar1.html
Sweet 'n Sour Meatballs; 15 pounds per 100
Spiral Sliced Ham; 1 pound boneless per 4
Need good rolls, 12 pounds per 100
Salad:
Spring Greens, 8 pounds per 100
Feta Cheese, 5 pounds per 100
Craisins, 2 pounds per 100
Walnuts, 1- 1 1/2 pounds per 100
Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing; 1 gallon per 100
DESSERT -- Sheet Cakes, each full sheet serves 60
Ice Cream, 5 gallons per 100

Does this help? I am doing a fundraising campaign to remodel the kitchen and provide the changes you readers have asked for- please click the masthead at the top of this page to go to www.ellensbigpots.com and make a donation (fyi, a pro event like this will have a consult fee of $.25 to $.50 per guest for non-donors, so I can provide better help and more features!). Thank you.

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