Catering and headcount for wedding reception

I would talk to your caterers about this.
If you have your guests make a meal selection on their RSVP, this will give you an idea of how many meals each caterer should provide.

I agree you should talk to your caterers to see what they recommend. They probably have a formula. But I would imagine most guests would want to try both cuisines. So you should probably have a served buffet so you can control the portions and make sure you don't run out of food.

They each would have food for your entire guest list. Many caterers will let you take home leftovers if you ask.

I would do 120 for both

I agree with Melle. You order the same amount for each

I work for a catering company and would say have each make food for about 70 people. When we’re determining quantity we make sure we’re providing more then enough food for each person, and there are always left overs. If you have both caterers provide food for 120 people your going to end up with so much food waste it will be insane, there’ll be enough food for 250 people and there’s just no way you’d be able to eat all of that, even if you freeze it and eat it over the next few months everyday. If there’s one you think will be more popular you could do 80 and 60 or something like that.

View Quoted Comment Kristina, I agree, food waste is something I'm trying to avoid. Thanks for your suggestion and insight.

Are you giving your guests the option of trying both cuisines or are you limiting them to 1? If you’re allowing both then both would need to have 120 but if it’s an option then do it based on the meal they chose

You can ask the caterers you alter courses too- cuisine 1 course 1, cuisine 2 main dish and dessert a combo of both- or this concept but maybe a duo on the main dish or add a fourth course to have 2 and 2 from each cuisine. ? A thought.

What about doing like 100 each. that way you don't waste food but it'll be enough.

I agree with Kristina to do 70 & 70. If you do 120 for both you will have a ton of leftover, wasted food. What are you having each caterer do? Is one doing something very unique and different or are both fairly common, widely known dishes? I do think that may make a difference on how you split the numbers.

I agree with most of the other posters about doing 75-100 per caterer. That way, you have enough options. But, its going to come down to knowing your guests. Are your people more chicken and steak people or seafood? Is there anyone in your party that has food allergies or special diets? This is where adding food preferences to the invitations is important. Also, keep in mind that while most people might choose chicken on invitations, when presented with a steak or fish/seafood option, they'll eat a bit of both. Especially if you're doing buffet vs plated. Because of this, I would go with 80-100 per caterer just to be safe. And any leftovers, you can keep. We had a lot of leftovers which was great for the days after our wedding leading up to our honeymoon. We still had family in town and were able to use the extra food for when they came to the house before flying back home.

View Quoted Comment One will be American/Latin cuisine and the other will be Indian cuisine

Also the food will be served buffet style.

I would order enough for each guest to try both cuisine. As a guest, I’d want to try both and would be bummed if I was told I had to pick one or the other, especially if it is a buffet style meal.

View Quoted Comment Since you are doing half Indian cuisine is half of your guest list Indian? Since one is a more specific ethnic food is probably go with 80/80 or maybe 100/70.

You send a card with the invite with the food choices and they will choose which on and you tell the caterer that you need x amount of one and then x amount of the other!