Catering Quantity Calculator
For 500 guests across breakfast, lunch and dinner you need about 1,500 servings: roughly 2,640 starter pieces, 77 kg of rice, 110 kg of veg mains, 1,950 breads and 77 kg of sweets, including a 10% buffer. Enter your guests, meals, menu and style for a caterer-ready quantity list.
Assumptions used planning estimate, not a quotation
Planning estimate, not a quotation. Assumptions v1.0.
Estimated food quantities
Total for selected meals · buffer includedCaterer-ready: share this table with your caterer and confirm the final headcount 1–2 weeks before the event.
Catering notes
Quick insights
What affects your food quantities?
Guest count
Every quantity scales with guests. Confirm the final number 1–2 weeks before the event.
Meals per function
Breakfast, lunch and dinner each add their own servings, rice, breads and drinks; dinner is the largest.
Veg or mixed menu
A mixed menu shifts part of the main course from veg to non-veg dishes.
Catering style
Premium and luxury spreads mean more starters and portions 12–25% larger.
How this is calculated
The catering calculator uses per-guest, per-meal serving quantities for Indian wedding menus. It adds up each selected meal separately, adjusts portions for the catering style and menu, and adds a 10% buffer so you do not run short.
Each item has a per-guest quantity for each meal; for example dinner uses 60 g rice, 45 g dal, 90 g veg mains, 1.6 breads and 60 g sweets per guest.
Starters are 1.6, 1.9 or 2.2 pieces per guest per meal for standard, premium or luxury, and style also scales every portion by 1.00, 1.12 or 1.25.
A veg + non-veg menu multiplies veg mains by 0.82 and adds non-veg mains; a vegetarian menu has no non-veg mains.
A 10% buffer is added to every item. Weights are rounded up to the next 0.5 kg, pieces and litres up to the next whole unit, and dessert pieces assume about 60 g each.
- The event name is for your reference; quantities depend on guests, meals, menu and style.
- Late-night snacks, live counters and mocktail bars are not included.
Planning estimate, not a quotation. How we estimate →