Tips for Receptions and Food Stations

Should it be a reception or a dinner? Planners sometimes think it will be better to have an evening reception instead of a dinner. That's probably not true. If you're going to have a 6-9 p.m. reception, do you think the attendees will expect to be fed well? Of course they will. If you provide light hors d'ouevres, you will have saved money but made your attendees hungry — and probably unhappy.

Remember these guidelines for receptions:

• Light reception (one- to two-hour reception before a dinner): three to four pieces per person

• Moderate reception: five to seven pieces

• Heavy reception: eight or more pieces

Adjust upward the number of pieces if there's no dinner afterward.

Typically, you wouldn't have a heavy reception before dinner, although it makes sense if it's sponsored and is being paid by a sponsor. In that case, you could go with a heavy reception, and cut back on the dinner ; this also saves you money if the conference is paying for the dinner.

Think of each food station or display as the equivalent of 2.5 pieces per person. One exception: shrimp! Everybody loves shrimp, so think of a shrimp station as requiring five or six pieces per person. And remember this: If you run out of shrimp, your attendees will not be happy. They don't care if you run out of the cheese, they don't care if you run out of the fruit, but if you run out of the shrimp, you might as well run out of the room.

Action stations (food being carved by an attendant) are great showpieces for the middle of a room. One station can serve 10 to 30 people, with the variance coming from the location of the station and the demographics of the group.