Free wedding tool · 20 seconds
Free Party Food Calculator
Work out how much food, dessert, soft drinks, ice, and plates to buy for any party, then print the shopping list.
Catering for 48 at your birthday party
176 pieces
Guests serve themselves, which reliably means larger portions than a plated meal. Children count as about half an adult for food, but the same as an adult for cups and plates.
| Buy | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appetisers | 176 pieces | Served before the meal, 4 pieces a head |
| Mains | 11 kg | Cooked weight. Buy about 30% more raw for anything with bone or shrinkage |
| Sides and salad | 8 kg | Across 3 to 4 different sides |
| Dessert | 53 portions | More than one each — people take a second small piece |
| Soft drinks and water | 192 servings | One on arrival, then roughly one every 80 minutes |
| Ice | 72 lb | Chilling and serving together — the most commonly forgotten item |
| Plates | 106 | Guests start a fresh plate when they go back |
| Cups and glasses | 120 | Everybody loses track of theirs at least once |
| Napkins | 144 | Cheap, and running out is worse than over-buying |
Alcohol is its own calculation — beer, wine and spirits split by what your crowd actually drinks is in the drinks calculator.
Your guests
Everything above updates as you change these.
At a glance
The numbers a caterer or a shop will ask for.
Total guests
48
Adult equivalents
44
Hours
4
Ice
72 lb
Why it helps
- Quantities you can hand to a shop or a caterer
- Counts children properly — half an adult for food, a whole one for cups
- Includes the ice, plates, and napkins everybody forgets
While everyone eats
The table is the best-lit, busiest place in the room.
OnceRoll collects the photos your guests take around it, without anybody installing an app.
Keep planning
Tools that go with this one
Related reading
More on planning this part
Frequently asked questions
Party Food Calculator questions
How much food do I need for 50 guests?
It depends far more on whether there is a real meal than on the headcount. Set your guest numbers and food style above and the calculator works it out, including the appetiser count.
How do children change the numbers?
A child eats roughly half what an adult does, but goes through just as many cups and plates. The calculator splits those two things rather than treating a child as half a guest throughout.
What about alcohol?
That is a separate calculation, because it depends on how long the bar is open and what your crowd drinks. Use the drinks calculator for beer, wine, and spirits.