How many staff do I need for my event?

Sometimes we get asked this question.

Before even going into the details, thank you for asking the question, informing yourself and asking experts is always the best way to find an answer. Sometimes people that are not used to working in catering and events forget essential things like:

Who will take care of the coats? Who will set up the venue? Who will clear and break down? Who will put the beverages on ice? How far is the kitchen from the dining area? How long will it take to serve everyone?

For example one might think that to serve 40 people food on trays they will need 1 waiter, but what about if a guest asks for a soft drink or there is an unexpected dietary requirement? Will this slow down the entire service? Regrettably the answer to this is yes.

We created a table indicating how many waiters one needs in different scenarios, based on events we have staffed. But before reading it let us write a disclaimer: every event is different and you should ask your caterer and/or staffing agency for their opinion.

We have staffed dinners where for 88 diners there were 44 waiters, 8 wine waiters, 1 manager and an event organiser. This surely is as good a service as you can get, on the other hand not everyone can afford this waiter/guests ratio. At the other end of the spectrum we have been serving weddings where there was a waiter for every 2 tables (with 10 guests per table) which may be suitable if you are on a budget, are not fussed about having a faultless service and most of your guests are just friends/colleagues just trying to have a good time.

Type of event	Waiters	Wine waiter	Bartender	Supervisor	Manager
3 course seated dinner  for 100 guests-formal	10	3		1	1
3 course seated dinner for 100 guests -  very informal	5				1
3 course dinner for 12 guests- formal	2
3 course dinner for 12 guests- informal	1
Buffet for 25 guests – informal	1
Buffet for 120 guests - informal	5			1
Wedding with 3 course menu in shared platters for 100 - informal	4			1
Drinks and canapés with bar for 100	2	1	2	1
Champagne and canapés – no bar for 100	2	2		1

6 tips on how to choose the right Catering Staff Agency

1)      Have a look at the website and make sure it looks professional. If they have put some thought into it they probably will put some effort into recruiting their staff too.

2)      Don’t be impressed by pages and pages of text. Websites often write a lot of content to rank better in search engines.

3)      Don’t’ believe all they say about training their staff in house etc. Very few will conduct regular trainings, most will have an induction day which includes some basic training. Catering is a hands on business and on-the-job experience is both essential and invaluable.

4)      Select the few you like and if you have time give them a call. Calling takes more time then writing a generic email, but will give you a chance to ask more questions and more specific ones, get an immediate reply and understand if the person you are talking to is clued up and their voice instills confidence and conveys passion. In fact many times your decision will come down to the best impression you received.

5)      If you don’t have the time then just send an email asking for a quote. Always keep in mind that the price you pay will reflect the quality and experience of the staff you get.  Check whether the quote includes VAT or not!

6)      If you have a small party or you are a small catering company you should go for a smaller company as your business will mean more to them.