Guide · Planning
How much food to order per guest.
The question every host asks and most caterers answer with a shrug. Here is how we actually plan it.
Ordering too much food is the most common and most expensive mistake at a UAE event. The instinct is to add dishes, but variety and volume are different problems: ten dishes for a hundred guests does not feed more people than six, it just wastes more of each.
What follows is how our packages are structured and why, so you can plan your own event with the same logic.
Prices and policies on this page are the ones our booking engine uses. Last reviewed .
Course counts
How many dishes a package carries.
Rice, breads, salad and setup are included in every package rather than counted as dishes. That is deliberate: they are the part guests fill up on, and charging for them by the dish encourages the wrong menu.
| Course | Classic | Premium | Luxury |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starters, vegetarian | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Starters, non-vegetarian | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Starters, seafood | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mains, vegetarian | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Mains, non-vegetarian | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Mains, seafood | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sides | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Desserts | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Live stations included | 0 | 1 | 2 |
The rules of thumb
What we plan against.
- Five to six starters is the ceiling before guests stop reaching the mains.
- Three to four mains covers a mixed crowd. A fifth main mostly generates leftovers.
- Always more vegetarian mains than non-vegetarian for a UAE guest list, which is why every package is weighted that way.
- One live station per 75 to 100 guests if there is also a buffet.
- Two desserts is enough. The second one exists so vegetarian and vegan guests are not left with fruit.
By guest count
Planning fifty, two hundred and five hundred.
Fifty guests: one buffet line and one live station. Two waiters. Guests will finish eating inside forty minutes.
Two hundred guests: two buffet lines running the same menu rather than one long one, plus two live stations positioned apart. Eight waiters. A single line at this count creates a twenty-minute queue.
Five hundred guests: multiple service zones, three or more stations spread across the floor, twenty waiters. At this scale the floor plan matters more than the menu, and our team sets it on a site visit.
Dietary
Counting the diets, not just the guests.
Ask for the Jain, vegan and allergen counts when you collect RSVPs, not on the day. Jain menus with no onion, garlic or root and fully plant-based vegan menus are cooked on a separate line, and that line has to be planned in advance rather than carved out of the main service.
Common questions
Answers before you ask.
- How many dishes should I order for 100 guests?
- Around five or six starters, three or four mains, two sides and two desserts, plus rice, breads and salad. That is the Premium package structure and it is sized for a mixed UAE crowd.
- How much food per person for a buffet?
- Plan variety, not volume. Our packages carry between six and twelve dishes across starters and mains depending on tier, with rice, breads, salad and sides included on top. Adding dishes beyond that increases waste rather than satisfaction.
- How many live stations do I need?
- Roughly one per 75 to 100 guests when you also have a buffet. Premium includes one station, Luxury includes two, and extra counters are AED 20 to 30 per guest plus AED 250 setup.
- How many waiters for 100 guests?
- Four. The ratio is one waiter per 25 guests with a minimum of two, at AED 150 per waiter.
- When do I need to confirm the final guest count?
- 72 hours before the event. Charges are based on the confirmed number or actual attendance, whichever is higher, so it pays to confirm accurately rather than optimistically.
Keep reading
Related to this page.
- GuidesWhat catering costs per person in DubaiWhat catering actually costs per person in Dubai: real package rates from AED 125, staff at AED 150, transport AED 500 and 5% VAT, with worked totals for 50, 200 and 500 guests.
- GuidesChoosing your live stationsWhich live catering stations to pick and how many: costs per guest, how stations affect queueing and floor plan, and which counters suit weddings, offices and home parties.
- CateringHome & villa party cateringPrivate party catering at home in Dubai. Birthdays, Diwali, anniversaries and villa dinners from 20 guests and AED 125 per head. Staff, crockery and setup included in the quote.
- CuisinesJain & vegan cateringJain and vegan catering in Dubai, cooked on a separate line. No onion, no garlic, no root, and fully plant-based menus for weddings, festivals and corporate events.
Ready when you are
Build your menu, get a live quote.
No commitment and no phone call. Price it out yourself, then send it over and we'll take it from there.