Hors d'Oeuvre Planning |
What are hors d’oeuvres?
Hors d'oeuvres are little snack foods, small 1 or 2 bite items of
food served before or outside of ("hors") the main dishes of a meal
(the "oeuvres") which are intended to stimulate the appetite. The
terms hors d'oeuvres and appetizers are often used interchangeably,
but there is a difference: hors d'oeuvres are the small savory
bites, typically finger food, served before a meal, while appetizers
appear as the first course served at the table. The name hors
d'oeuvres comes from the French and is literally translated as "out
of the work," but it's more logical to think of it as meaning "apart
from (or before) the meal." |
How many hors d'oeuvres should be provided per person?
The number of hors d'oeuvres you need often depends on how long the
cocktail "hour" is, the time of day, and if a meal will also be
served following the cocktail hour. |
For a two hour party plan for:
w 10 -12 bites per person
w 20 bites per person if the hors
d’oeuvres replace dinner (e.g. party starts at 7:00 pm) |
When hors d’oeuvres are served before a meal plan for:
w 5-7 bites when served before a light
meal
w 3-4 bites when served before a full
dinner meal
People eat more during the first 90 minutes. After two hours
consumption picks up again, especially if hors d’oeuvres replace
dinner.
Young people eat more than an older crowd and guests eat more at
casual parties than formal functions. |
How many different kinds of hors d'oeuvres should be served for
an hors d’oeuvre only party?
For 25 guests plan for 5-6 different kinds of hors d'oeuvres
For 25-50 guests, plan for 9-10 different kinds of hors d'oeuvres
For more than 50 guests, plan for 10 or more different kinds of hors
d'oeuvres
If hors d’oeuvres take the place of dinner, include some substantial
meal type foods that can be served like hors d'oeuvres (for example
a carving station).
Remember to provide a variety of foods to please everyone. That
means something for the vegetarian as well as the meat eater. Having
both hot and cold foods also helps to keep everyone nibbling
happily.
If hors d’oeuvres take the place of dinner, also include several
bites of sweets per person. |
How do you figure how many of each type of hors d'oeuvres to
prepare?
A fairly standard formula is used by caterers to figure out how many
pieces should be prepared for each kind of hors d'oeuvres being
served:
Number of bites desired per person times the number of guests
divided by the number of different hors d'oeuvres being served. |
Should hors d’oeuvres be served for breakfast or lunch?
Hors d’oeuvres are not needed for breakfast or brunch. However, 2-4
light hors d'oeuvres can be served per person for lunch, if desired. |
Beverage Planning |
| The amount of punch or number of cocktails or beers a guest will
drink varies. Allow for the length of the party, the strength of the
beverage, the day of the week, the rowdiness of the crowd, or lack
thereof, and adjust your figure accordingly. The rules-of-thumb are: |
| Cocktails: Figure that your guests will consume 2 drinks per
person per hour for the first 2 hours and 1 drink per person per
hour after that. If you have the budget and inclination, you can
stock a full bar. However, a more budget conscious idea is to offer
a selection of cocktails that can be made from one or two primary
types of liquor. To limit the choices of hard liquor, select vodka
because it can be mixed with so many things. If your budget allows,
add favorites such as scotch, rye, rum, tequila and one or more
sweet drinks such as Amaretto, Frangelico or peach schnapps. Each
750-mil bottle of liquor contains 16 1.5 ounce shots. |
| Mixers: If you are serving cocktails, don’t forget mixers
such as club soda, lime juice and other fruit juices, tonic water,
and non-alcoholic beer. Buy them in small bottles so that unopened
containers may be used in future. |
| Beer: Stock 5 six-packs of beer for ten people, based on a
twelve-ounce serving. |
| Wine: Allow roughly half a bottle of wine per guest. The true
number of bottles required will also depend upon whether your guests
are heavy wine drinkers, or if there is a greater proportion of
drivers attending. You should get roughly 5 servings per bottle.
Fill glasses 2/3 of the way. White wine (Chablis or Chardonnay) used
to be more popular, but lately more people are choosing a red wine
(Merlot or Cabernet). On the other hand, if you want to "split the
difference," serve a white zinfandel or rose. |
| Soft Drinks: If your guests will be dancing the night away
make sure you provide plenty of soft drinks to quench their thirst.
Providing iced tea, punch or lemonade may cut down on the amount of
alcohol drunk, as guests who are thirsty from dancing prefer a
refreshing soft drink to a dehydrating alcoholic one. There are
about ten 8-ounce glasses of soda in a 2-liter bottle. |
| Punch: Figure 10 people to the gallon. That's a conservative
estimate, assuming your guests will drink about three 4-ounce
servings during the party. To avoid youngsters "accidentally"
dipping into the "spiked" punch bowl, choose recipes that are two
different colors and use see-through drinking glasses. This will
tell you at a glance whether you need to make a substitution. |
| Coffee: Plan on an average of 1 1/2 cups of coffee per person
(don't forget the sugar and cream). |
| Ice: Stock 1 pound of ice per person if the drinks need to be
iced. More will be needed for an outdoor, warm-weather party, or if
the party lasts a long time. Only about half that though, 1/2 pound
of ice per person, is needed if the beverages are pre-chilled or the
party is of short duration. |
| Cocktail Napkins: Figure about 4 cocktail napkins (or 2 linen
napkins) per person per hour, less if your guests will be using
small cocktail plates for food. |
| Glassware: Stock enough glasses that your guests can trade a
dirty one for a clean one at least once, maybe more. |
| Minding the Budget: To reduce costs try to get as many
bottles as possible on a sale or return basis. This way you will not
run out of drink but you will only pay for the bottles that are
used. Warehouse stores like Costco or Sam’s Club are usually open to
taking back unopened bottles and six-packs. However, they do have
some restrictions, so check with them first. To stay within a
beverage budget, serve wine, beer and/or soft drinks alone. At large
parties with many beer drinkers, a keg is a more cost-conscious way
of serving, but it is also more labor-intensive and requires more
space and ice. For the greatest savings, serve an alcoholic and
plain punch. |
| Planning Guides: Use these handy guides to determine how much
to order: |
Drinks
Per Bottle
Highballs, Cocktails, Mixed Drinks
(1.5 oz. liquor servings)
| Bottles |
1 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
| 750 ML
(25.4 oz.) |
16 |
33 |
67 |
101 |
135 |
169 |
203 |
| Liter
(33.8 oz.) |
22 |
45 |
90 |
135 |
180 |
225 |
270 |
| 1.75 L
(59.2 oz.) |
39 |
78 |
157 |
236 |
315 |
394 |
473 |
|
Drinks Per Bottle
Table
Wines, Champagne, Sparkling Wines
(5 oz. wine servings)
| Bottles |
1 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
| 750 ML
(25.4 oz.) |
5 |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
60 |
| Liter
(33.8 oz.) |
6 |
13 |
27 |
40 |
54 |
67 |
81 |
| 1.75 L
(59.2 oz.) |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
54 |
67 |
81 |
| 3 Liter (101 oz.) |
20 |
40 |
80 |
121 |
161 |
202 |
242 |
| 4 Liter (135 oz.) |
27 |
54 |
108 |
162 |
216 |
270 |
324 |
|
Bottles of
Wine for Dinner
Table
Wines, Champagne, Sparkling Wines
(average 2 servings at 5 oz. per serving)
| Bottles |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
20 |
| 750 ML
(25.4 oz.) |
2 |
2+ |
3+ |
4 |
5 |
8 |
| 1.75 L
(59.2 oz.) |
1 |
1+ |
2 |
2 |
2+ |
4 |
Generally, bottle quantities
recommended provide some small overages of wine from 10 oz. per
guest formula.
"+" sign indicates somewhat less than formula and additional bottle
may be desirable to have on hand. |
Number of People
Increase amounts for
events longer than 4 hours |
10 |
25 |
50 |
100 |
| Wine &
Champagne |
5
bottles |
13 bottles |
25 bottles |
50 bottles |
| Beer |
20 bottles per hour |
50 bottles per hour |
100 bottles per hour |
200 bottles per hour |
| Liquor |
1.5 bottles per hour |
3
bottles per hour |
6
bottles per hour |
12 bottles per hour |
Mixers
Go heavy on tonic water |
4 liters
per hour |
9 liters
per hour |
17 liters
per hour |
33 liters
per hour |
| Limes |
3 |
7 |
13 |
25 |
| Olives and Maraschino Cherries |
1 jar
each |
3 jars
each |
5 jars
each |
10 jars
each |
| Ice |
5lbs |
13lbs |
25lbs |
50lbs |
Cocktail Napkins
Reduce this number if
you are offering plates for food |
40 per
hour |
100 per
hour |
200 per
hour |
400 per
hour |
|
Stocking a Standard Cocktail Bar
If you do want to stock a full bar, most needs can be met by having
the following on hand:
w Vodka
w Rum
w Gin
w Scotch
w Bourbon
w Blended Whiskey
w Tequila |
Stocking a Complete Cocktail Bar
If you want to offer more cocktail choices, in addition to the
standard bar consider also stocking:
w Kahlua® or other coffee flavored
liqueur
w Creme de Menthe
w Creme de Cacao
w Amaretto
w Brandy and/or Cognac
w Grand Marnier®
w Drambuie®
w B&B® (Brandy & Benedictine)
w Triple Sec or Cointreau
w Apple Pucker Schnapps (for
Appletinis)
w Bailey's Irish Creme
w Southern Comfort
w Peach Schnapps
w Frangelico |
Mixers and Garnishes
Depending on the cocktails you plan on offering, you may need any or
all of the following:
Juices – orange juice, grapefruit juice, cranberry juice,
tomato juice or V8, pineapple, lemon or lime juice (fresh squeezed
when possible or Roses), Pomengranate
For fresh squeezed juices, you can estimate that the average
lemon or lime will yield about an ounce of juice, an orange will
yield between 1 1/2 - 3 oz. of juice depending on it's size.
Mixes – Bloody Mary mix, Margarita mix
Carbonated beverages – club soda, tonic water, cola, 7-Up or
Sprite, ginger ale.
Flavoring ingredients – Angostura bitters for drinks like Old
Fashioneds, salt, pepper or horseradish for drinks like Bloody Marys,
confectioner's sugar for fizzes an flips, grenadine, simple syrup,
cream of coconut, etc.
Dry vermouth if you plan on making martinis.
Sweet vermouth if you plan on making Manhattans.
Grenadine
Sweet & Sour
Salt or sugar for rimming cocktail glasses (for
Margaritas).
Milk, half and half, cream, whipped cream or possibly even ice cream.
Coffee – for hot drinks and last call, no alcohol.
Garnishes like lemon or lime peel or wedges, orange slices,
Maraschino cherries, olives, cocktail onions or celery stalks. |
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