How Many Waiters?

[steve47807]

OK, we're trying to save money, and since I used to cooking for large numbers of people, I'm planning on doing most of the cooking for the reception (along with assistance from my mother, my grandmother and one of my aunts). Not a big deal, but I have hit a snag. Since we aren't hiring a caterer, we have to come up with waiters. This is where my little brother (he'll be 17 at the time) and his buddies come into play.

I'm thinking of offering them $40 each (or buying them each a video game (they are all XBox addicts)), offering to feed them, and rent them suits for the evening if they will be waiters for the reception. But the question is how many waiters does one need for a reception of between 100-120 people (we'll still trying to hammer out an exact number of guests). They won't actually be serving the food to each person, just making sure the buffet table is stocked and that everyone has drinks. Is there a rule of thumb for this sort of thing? I have looked around but can't seem to find any info (everything seems to just assume that your caterer or venue will be providing the wait staff).

Thank you ladies!

Steve

[reecey]

OK, we're trying to save money, and since I used to cooking for large numbers of people, I'm planning on doing most of the cooking for the reception (along with assistance from my mother, my grandmother and one of my aunts). Not a big deal, but I have hit a snag. Since we aren't hiring a caterer, we have to come up with waiters. This is where my little brother (he'll be 17 at the time) and his buddies come into play.

I'm thinking of offering them $40 each (or buying them each a video game (they are all XBox addicts)), offering to feed them, and rent them suits for the evening if they will be waiters for the reception. But the question is how many waiters does one need for a reception of between 100-120 people (we'll still trying to hammer out an exact number of guests). They won't actually be serving the food to each person, just making sure the buffet table is stocked and that everyone has drinks. Is there a rule of thumb for this sort of thing? I have looked around but can't seem to find any info (everything seems to just assume that your caterer or venue will be providing the wait staff).

Thank you ladies!

Steve

I've found in the past that if you have responsible buffet attendants, you could get away with 3 of them.

[steve47807]

Thanks Reecey. As always you are a valuable source of information. :)

[esp1087]

I agree that 3 should be plenty. We have about 200 people, and the hall told me that there will be 7 staff including the bartender. Our meal is family style too, so 3 should be enough.

[SusanM18]

I agree 3 would be plenty, but I would probably have 5 to be safe, because someone will need to bus all the tables as well. Also....if there are any elderly or very pregneant people, you could assign 1 (probably your brother) to make sure that person has food served to them. Just a thought.... :)