co*cktail Party Guide | Epicurious.com (2024)

FAQs

How much food do you need for a co*cktail party for 40 people? ›

Guests tend to eat and drink more at night than during the day. However, an after-dinner co*cktail party requires much less food than an all-afternoon cookout. On average, plan for each adult to consume about 1 pound of food total (not including dessert). Count on children to consume about a ½ pound.

For your first party, aim for fifteen confirmed guests. I've found that fifteen people at a co*cktail party gives the best balance.

Unless you're serving an amuse bouche, a good rule to follow is to serve 6 appetizers per person for a standard dinner party and 8 to 12 appetizers per person for a co*cktail party. Plan on your guests to eat about 4-5 appetizers each during the first hour.

co*cktail Party - Allow 4-6 pieces per hour per person - where the finger food is served in place of a meal. You will serve more pieces per hour in the first 2 hours and less per hour after that. Remember snacks with meat and fried foods are more filling.

The typical time to host a co*cktail party is between 6 to 8 pm. co*cktail parties generally last for only about 2-3 hours. By providing an end time, your guests can make plans afterwards and you won't be left with a guest who overstays their welcome.

Usually, co*cktail receptions occur before or after dinner, and a large meal is not served. co*cktails include an alcoholic ingredient combined with another liquid, like liqueur, juice or soda. However, a co*cktail party might also offer beer, wine or other libations to its guests.

Thankfully, hostess gifts don't have to be elaborate. The cliché is true: It's the thought that counts. A bottle of wine or fresh flowers are both great options, and easy to pick up on your way to the party. You can't go wrong with either of them.

Get a handle on those six drinks, the authors write, and you'll be able to create innumerable variations. They are the Old Fashioned, Martini, Daiquiri, Sidecar, Whiskey Highball, and Flip.

How many hors d'oeuvres for 40 people? ›

With more people there, you want to have a larger buffet of food to choose from, so a larger variety of 6-8 different appetizers is a good plan. The higher the number, the bigger the array of choices you need. What is this? For a party of 40, make at least 320 appetizers.

With this in mind, Kehati says her team at JPO Concepts has a go-to guideline for determining the correct amount of food to serve at co*cktail hour: eight to 12 bites per guest. "The range should be adjusted based on the time of the co*cktail hour, heartiness of the caterer you've selected, and budget," says Kehati.

If the guest list has fewer than 45 people, plan on using roughly 6 different appetizers. For more than 45 guests, approximately 8 different appetizers. The rule of thumb for smaller gatherings is that 3 types of appetizers are suitable for 8 to 10 guests; 4 or 5 types of appetizers for 14 to 16 people.