Engagement party for 40 guests
A cocktail-style engagement party for 40: 5 dishes, about 166 g of food a guest (14.75 lb in all), 30 lines on the shopping list and around 170 drinks. 44% of the cooking can happen before the day.
- Dishes
- 5
- Food
- 14.75 lb
- Drinks
- 170
- Shopping lines
- 30
Sized by the planning engine
The menu, amounts and kitchen check
- · We set food for 6:30 PM — change it if your timing is different.
Menu for 40
To start
- Canned chickpea hummus & crackers2 batches · 12 servingson the day
- Warm citrus-fennel olives1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
Starters
- Vegetable samosas, oven-finished0.5 batches · 12 servingsday before
- Arancini al burro, fried to order0.5 batches · 12 servingsday before
Dessert
- Dorayaki2.5 batches · 25 servingson the day
About 166 g of food a guest. 44% of the cooking can be done before the day.
Shopping highlights
- Citrus for garnish8 ea
- Garlic2 clove
- Herb for garnish — mint or rosemary3 bunch
- Lemon2 ea
- Orange2 ea
- Egg10 ea
- Mozzarella7 oz
- Breadcrumbs9 oz
- Canned chickpeas2.5 lb
- Cooked risotto rice2.3 lb
10 of 30 lines. The full list comes with the plan.
Kitchen check
SERVING STATIONS — What runs out first
Serving stations 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
- 170
- Ice
- 70 lb
- Food, estimated
- $508
About $13 a guest — a planning estimate from typical supermarket costs, not a price.
Countdown
The engagement timeline, condensed
4 weeks before
- · Send the date, the start time, and a question about what people do not eat.
- · Passed bites and a board. The dinner can be another night.
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
Engagement for more or fewer
Questions hosts ask
How much food for an engagement party for 40?
About 14.75 lb of finished food, or 166 g a guest across 5 dishes. The amounts are sized by the planning engine and include a small margin.
Should an engagement party for 40 be a buffet or a sit-down meal?
It usually runs cocktail-style: guests help themselves, so not everyone needs a chair at once. Still count the seats you have; the planner never assumes them.
How many drinks for an engagement party for 40?
About 170 drinks across the party, including alcohol-free ones, and 70 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 passed bites and a board. The dinner can be another night.
What does an engagement party for 40 cost?
The food in this plan comes to roughly $508, about $13 a guest. That is a planning estimate from typical US supermarket costs, not a price for your shop.
The whole night
Plan my engagement for 40
Tell us about your kitchen, your seats and anyone's food needs, and the menu, shopping list and timeline redraw around them.