Anniversary dinner for 16 guests
A sit-down anniversary dinner for 16: 6 dishes, about 704 g of food a guest (25 lb in all), 28 lines on the shopping list and around 54 drinks. 40% of the cooking can happen before the day.
- Dishes
- 6
- Food
- 25 lb
- Drinks
- 54
- Shopping lines
- 28
Sized by the planning engine
The menu, amounts and kitchen check
- · We set food for 7 PM — change it if your timing is different.
Menu for 16
Starters
- Pai huang gua2.5 batches · 20 servingson the day
Mains
- Tray-roast chicken & lemon3.5 batches · 18 servingson the day
Sides
- Roasted potatoes1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
- Gado-gado1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
Bread
- Grissini, rosemary & sea salt2 batches · 20 servingsday before
Dessert
- Honey cake2.5 batches · 20 servingsday before
About 704 g of food a guest. 40% of the cooking can be done before the day.
Shopping highlights
- Chicken thighs13 lb
- Tempeh1.5 lb
- Citrus for garnish3 ea
- Cucumber4 ea
- Garlic38 clove
- Herb for garnish — mint or rosemary1 bunch
- Lemon7 ea
- Mixed vegetables6 lb
- Potato4 lb
- Rosemary1 bunch
10 of 28 lines. The full list comes with the plan.
Kitchen check
RECOVERY WINDOW — Clear
Recovery window is the busiest part of this starting kitchen.
Checked against a starting kitchen of 1 oven and 4 burners — not yours yet. Seats are not counted here: the planner asks for your real number rather than guessing it.
Drinks and cost
- Drinks, all kinds
- 54
- Ice
- 28 lb
- Food, estimated
- $419
About $26 a guest — a planning estimate from typical supermarket costs, not a price.
Countdown
The anniversary timeline, condensed
4 weeks before
- · Send the date, the start time, and a question about what people do not eat.
- · One roast, one green thing, one sweet. Speeches can be a sentence.
2 weeks before
- · Order the things that sell out. Leave the greens for the week of.
- · Decide the table before you buy anything for it.
1 week before
- · Cook whatever is better the next day. Leave the last fry for the day.
- · Count the zero-proof and the water with the rest of the drinks.
Day before
- · Clear the surfaces you will actually serve from.
- · Label what is already done so a helper does not redo it.
Day of
- · Finish only what cannot wait. Put the rest out before people arrive.
- · Keep one person out of the kitchen once guests are in the room.
Day after
- · Cool leftovers in shallow containers. Note what actually ran out.
- · Eat the food that keeps. Throw out the food that does not.
Other sizes
Anniversary for more or fewer
Questions hosts ask
How much food for an anniversary dinner for 16?
About 25 lb of finished food, or 704 g a guest across 6 dishes, with tray-roast chicken & lemon as the main. The amounts are sized by the planning engine and include a small margin.
Should an anniversary dinner for 16 be a buffet or a sit-down meal?
A sit-down meal works for 16 if you have a chair for everyone. Count your seats first — the planner never assumes them — and switch to a buffet if you are short.
How many drinks for an anniversary dinner for 16?
About 54 drinks across the party, including alcohol-free ones, and 28 lb of ice.
How far ahead should I start planning?
Start 4 weeks before: send the date, the start time, and a question about what people do not eat, and one roast, one green thing, one sweet. Speeches can be a sentence.
What does an anniversary dinner for 16 cost?
The food in this plan comes to roughly $419, about $26 a guest. That is a planning estimate from typical US supermarket costs, not a price for your shop.
The whole night
Plan my anniversary for 16
Tell us about your kitchen, your seats and anyone's food needs, and the menu, shopping list and timeline redraw around them.