To cost a restaurant event menu before you send the quote, add three numbers: food cost (estimated plate cost × the guest count you will actually prepare), labour (hours from the staffing plan × your loaded hourly rate) and add-ons (corkage, cakeage, audio-visual and anything else the event triggers). That total is your price floor. Divide it by (1 − your target margin) and you have the lowest per-guest price you can quote without losing money — before any discount talk starts.
This matters right now. This December's holiday parties and corporate dinners are being quoted this month, and most venues send those quotes faster than they cost them. Below is the method, then a worked example (invented numbers, labelled as examples) that shows what happens when 80 guests become 92.
A quote "like last year" is how you lose money
The fastest quote is last year's PDF with a new date. It is also the most expensive one. Between two seasons, three things usually move:
Ingredient prices. Proteins, dairy and wine shift several percent a year; a menu that cleared 30% margin last December may not now.
Labour cost. Hourly rates go up, and so does the share of agency or extra staff you need on peak weekends.
The event itself. Last year's client had 70 guests and their own DJ. This year it is 90 guests, a projector, a client-supplied cake and their own wine.
A per-guest price is not a property of the menu. It is the result of the menu plus the guest count plus the service format plus the add-ons. Change any of them and the floor moves. So the rule is simple: no quote leaves the building until the cost sheet for this event exists.
Step 1: Food cost per guest (recipe cost × covers)
Start with the menu. For every dish, you need a recipe with quantities per portion and current purchase prices. The plate cost is the sum of the dishes one guest receives — starter, main, dessert, canapés, coffee — plus a small buffer for waste and trim (3–5% is common for plated service; buffets need more).
Line | What to include | Common miss |
|---|---|---|
Dishes per guest | Every course on the menu, at portion size | Bread, butter, petit fours, coffee |
Special diets | Vegetarian, gluten-free, allergy plates at their own cost | Pricing them as "same as main" when the protein is dearer |
Waste buffer | 3–5% plated, 8–12% buffet | Leaving it out on buffets |
Guest count | Expected count now, final guarantee later | Costing on the enquiry number |
Then multiply by covers: the number of plates the kitchen will actually prepare. If your contract has a guest-count guarantee, cost on the guaranteed number, not the optimistic one in the first email.
In Manage My Restaurants Events, the menu attached to an event shows an estimated plate cost, and the expected and final guest counts sit on the same event. The shopping list is generated from that menu and count, so the kitchen orders against the same numbers the quote was built on.
Step 2: Labour cost from the staffing plan
Labour is where most event quotes go wrong, because it is costed as "a few servers" instead of from a plan. Use the staffing plan you would actually run:
Name the roles: floor servers, runner, manager, bar, kitchen.
Set hours per role, including setup and breakdown — not just service.
Multiply by a loaded hourly rate (wage plus employer costs).
For ratios, use your house rules or the staffing plans for 80, 100 and 150 guests: standard plated service starts around one floor server per 20–25 guests, with manager and bar counted separately.
The key point for costing: labour moves in steps, not per guest. Going from 80 to 84 guests costs you a few more plates. Going from 88 to 92 can cost you a whole extra server for seven hours. That step is invisible if you cost labour as a percentage.
Step 3: Add-ons: corkage, cakeage and audio-visual
Add-ons are the lines that turn a profitable menu into a break-even event. Cost each one on its own line:
Corkage. When the client brings their own wine, you lose the bar margin and still pay for glassware, chilling, opening and pouring. A corkage fee should cover those costs plus part of the lost margin.
Cakeage. A client-supplied cake still needs cutting, plating, cutlery, a fridge slot and a server's time during the busiest part of the evening. Cost it per guest.
Audio-visual (AV). Projector, screen, microphones, a technician for the speeches. If you rent it, the rental is a fixed cost; if you own it, cost setup time and wear.
Room extras. Extra linen, rented tables or chairs beyond your house stock, cloakroom staff, late-finish surcharges.
Fixed add-ons hurt more on small events: $500 of AV is $6.25 per guest at 80, but $12.50 per guest at 40.
Worked example: when 12 more guests kill the margin
Example only — invented values in US dollars (USD). A corporate holiday dinner, plated three courses, client brings their own wine and cake, needs a projector and microphones. Target margin: 30%.
The cost sheet at 80 guests
Line | Calculation (example) | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Food | 80 × $28 estimated plate cost | $2,240 |
Floor labour | 7 people (4 servers, manager, runner, bartender) × 7 h = 49 h | |
Kitchen labour | 3 cooks × 9 h = 27 h | |
Labour total | 76 h × $30 loaded rate | $2,280 |
Audio-visual | Rented projector, screen, two mics | $500 |
Cakeage cost | 80 × $1.50 (plates, cutlery, service time) | $120 |
Corkage cost | 80 × $2 (glassware, ice, pouring) | $160 |
Total direct cost | $5,300 | |
Cost per guest | $5,300 ÷ 80 | $66.25 |
Price floor at 30% margin | $66.25 ÷ 0.70 | $94.64 |
The venue quotes $98 per guest, $7,840 in total. Margin: 32.4%. Comfortable.
The same event at 92 guests
Two weeks before the date, the client confirms 92. What changes:
Line | What moves (example) | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Food | 92 × $28 | $2,576 |
Floor labour | 5th server and 2nd bartender: 9 people × 7 h = 63 h | |
Kitchen labour | Extra prep cook for 6 h: 33 h | |
Labour total | 96 h × $30 | $2,880 |
Audio-visual | Unchanged | $500 |
Cakeage and corkage cost | 92 × $3.50 | $322 |
Room extras | Two rented tables, chairs and linen beyond house stock | $250 |
Total direct cost | $6,528 | |
Cost per guest | $6,528 ÷ 92 | $70.96 |
Price floor at 30% margin | $70.96 ÷ 0.70 | $101.37 |
Now look at the two ways the quote could have been written:
Quote type | Revenue at 92 | Margin |
|---|---|---|
$98 per guest | $9,016 | 27.6% — below target |
Flat package "up to 100 guests" at $7,840 | $7,840 | 16.7% |
More guests made the event less profitable per guest, because labour and room extras jumped in steps. The per-guest price that cleared the floor at 80 is under it at 92, and a flat package is far worse.
What to do about it before the quote goes out
Quote per guest, with a price band: one price for 70–85, another for 86–100.
State the guarantee date and what happens to the price if the count moves past a band.
Cost add-ons on separate lines, so the client sees that their own wine and cake are not free to serve.
Re-run the cost sheet when the final guest count arrives, before the shopping list and staffing are locked.
What the client sees and what the general manager sees
The quote and the cost sheet are two different documents built from the same numbers.
Client quote | General manager's cost sheet | |
|---|---|---|
Menu | Dish names, courses, diets | Plate cost per dish, waste buffer |
Guests | Price per guest, price bands, guarantee date | Expected and final count, covers prepared |
Labour | "Service included" | Roles, hours, rate, step points |
Add-ons | Corkage, cakeage, AV as priced lines | Real cost of each line |
Bottom line | Total price | Direct cost, floor, margin |
The client needs a clear price and clear conditions. The general manager needs to know where the floor is and how far the event is above it. Keep both tied to the same event record, so a change in the count or menu updates the cost side before anyone agrees to it on the phone.
Once the quote is accepted, the agreed menu, count and add-ons flow into the day-of sheet. If you use a Banquet Event Order (BEO), that is where they belong; see filled BEO examples for how it looks on paper.
Common costing mistakes
Costing on the enquiry number. The first email says "around 100". Cost the realistic range, not the dream.
Labour as a percentage of food. It hides the step costs that appear at band edges.
Free corkage and cakeage. Someone still opens, pours, cuts and plates.
Forgetting setup and breakdown hours. The room does not dress itself.
One price for every count. Without bands, a growing event erodes your margin.
FAQ
What food cost percentage should a banquet menu target?
Many venues aim for food at 25–35% of the menu price, but treat it as a check, not the method. Build the floor from real costs first, then see what percentage it gives.
Should I quote per guest or as a package?
Per guest with bands is safer. A flat package only works with a firm maximum count written into the contract.
When do I re-cost the event?
When the menu changes, when the count crosses a staffing step, and when the final guarantee arrives.
Set your minimum price first, then quote
Plate cost × covers, labour from a named staffing plan, add-ons on their own lines: that is the floor. Quote above it, in bands, with a guarantee date — and re-run it when 80 becomes 92.
Manage My Restaurants Events is event-management software for restaurants, venues and hotels: clients, events, menus with estimated plate cost, shopping lists generated from the menu, expected and final guest counts, timelines, tasks, documents and templates, and staffing. Try it for free and cost your next quote on the same event your team will run.