How much food should i order ... 78 people .. how many servings?

I would have at least 2 servings of the meat for everyone, and the sides as well, to be honest. I'd rather have more than enough for everyone than to have just enough, and then one person goes up twice and then someone doesn't have meat.

For my wedding, we are doing an all you can eat pasta bar. I just used Google and pretended like I had 50 people eating each thing (we had 72 guests). It worked out well for us. We had tons of left overs.

Your caterer should know how much food you need.

Wait!!!We have to feed the vendors?!

I'd discuss with your caterer to see what they recommend and if they build in overages. You should definitely account for some people to eat more than one piece. Like a pp pointed out you don't want to run out or have guests served at the beginning going back for seconds before other guests have even eaten yet. Are you offering more than one option? If so, you will need to account for the fact that some people will take some of each. I'm not a big eater but, at a buffet, I definitely expect to try a little bit of everything.

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Yes, you need to feed your vendors. They are putting in a very long day and need to eat. Most have this requirement built into their contract. If you do not provide a meal I would expect them to leave and pick something up (which may mean they miss a crucial part of the day).

Most meals will offer ample amounts of food to satisfy your guest, so I imagine ordering platters close in number to the number of your guests and vendors should be sufficient. You may wish to add a few more plates to your order, but some people will eat less than others anyway, so your order should balance.

I would go for 1 and a half to 2 servings per person just to be safe.

You absolutely have to feed your vendors. Its usually in their contract.

We did BBQ for our graduation party, we had 50 guests RSVP so I ordered food for 55 to be safe. We also had appetizers first though.

We will have cheese and cracker platters, and veggie trays, and mini pretzel dogs at cocktail hour. Then dinner will be a choice of chicken or pulled pork sandwich and sides are mac n cheese, baked beans, green beans, and rolls. Plus there will be a sweets bar and wedding cake.

View Quoted Comment Ya we are planning to order about 10 extra servings on the bbq