Party Food & Drink Planner
Work out how much food, drink, ice and tableware to buy for a party from your guest count and party length.
10 guests (10 adults, 0 kids) · Buffet / party food · 4 hours · about 50 drinks in total
Food
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Drinks
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Tableware & extras
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These are planning estimates built from standard catering rules of thumb, not exact science — how much your crowd eats and drinks varies. Round up on the things you can keep (drinks, crisps, ice) and down on the things that spoil. Please serve alcohol responsibly and always put out plenty of water and a proper non-alcoholic option.
How it works
This planner turns a guest count into a shopping list using the rules caterers actually use. Drinks follow the classic two drinks in the first hour, one per hour after that rule, so a four-hour party means five drinks per guest. About 80% of those go to alcohol for the adults who drink, the rest to soft drinks. It then converts drinks into bottles: a 750 ml wine bottle pours five 150 ml glasses, a beer is one 330 ml bottle or can, and a 750 ml spirits bottle makes sixteen 44 ml (1.5 oz) cocktails, each needing about 150 ml of mixer. Water is budgeted at 250 ml per guest per hour and ice at 0.5 kg (about 1 lb) per guest.
Food is scaled per adult by the kind of party: 200 g of boneless main protein plus two sides for a buffet, 180 g for a sit-down dinner, burgers and sausages for a BBQ, and 6 canapés for the first hour plus 3 for every hour after when drinks and nibbles are the whole event. Kids are counted at 60% of an adult portion and the appetite selector scales every food line by 0.8, 1 or 1.25. Everything recalculates as you type, and the whole thing runs in your browser — no accounts, no ads, and your guest list never leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
How many drinks should I plan per person at a party?
The standard catering rule is two drinks in the first hour and one for every hour after that, so a four-hour party works out at five drinks per guest and a three-hour party at four. For a group where everyone drinks, about 80% of that allowance goes to alcohol and the rest to soft drinks, because most people break up the evening with something non-alcoholic. On top of the drinks themselves, budget 250 ml of water per guest per hour and roughly 0.5 kg (1 lb) of ice per guest — half for glasses and half for chilling bottles in a tub. This planner applies all of that automatically and shows the per-person rate next to every line.
How many bottles of wine and beer do I need for 20 guests?
Convert drinks into bottles first. A 750 ml bottle of wine pours five 150 ml glasses, a beer or cider is one 330 ml bottle or can, and a 750 ml bottle of spirits makes sixteen cocktails at a 44 ml (1.5 oz) pour, each needing about 150 ml of mixer. For 20 guests at a four-hour party that is 100 drinks, of which about 80 are alcoholic; with a balanced 50% wine, 30% beer and 20% cocktails split that means 8 bottles of wine, 24 beers and 1 bottle of spirits with 3 litres of mixer. The planner does this maths for whichever mix suits your crowd.
How much food do I need per person for a party?
It depends on whether the food is the event. For a buffet allow about 200 g of boneless main protein per adult plus two sides of 120 g, 60 g of salad and one and a half bread rolls; a sit-down dinner runs slightly lighter at 180 g of main. If you are serving drinks and canapés with no meal, count 6 pieces per person for the first hour and 3 for every hour after, which lands around 12 pieces for a typical three-hour party. Children eat roughly 60% of an adult portion, and this tool scales every line for light, average or hearty appetites.