Hospitality · Tool
Guest count in, service plan out.
Guests and style in — servers, bars, and coffee gallons out, on published event-planning ratios, with the equipment math linked off the same number.
The service plan
The counts above staff the room; the equipment behind them — chafers, urns, transport, tabletop — is the part we spec. Run the pan math and the table plan off the same guest count.
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Asked every week.
How many servers does a banquet need?
Published event-planning ratios: one server per 20 to 25 guests for plated service, one per 30 to 40 for buffet — a 200-guest plated dinner staffs nine or ten servers. Union properties and wine-service events run heavier.
How much coffee for 100 guests?
At 20 cups to the gallon, 100 guests with 60% take-rate is three gallons — one large urn. Banquet coffee runs out at the worst possible moment, which is why the urn count is worth ten seconds of arithmetic.
How many bars for an event?
One bar per 75 to 100 guests keeps lines civil; below that ratio, the queue becomes the event's memory. Behind each bar sits the underbar equipment — ice wells, glass storage, drainage — that gets planned per station.
A tool gets you close. A person gets it right.
Every number here is a starting point, not a quote. Your Zink specialist runs these questions for a living — and checking your math costs you nothing.