Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Room Set Up Helps Anticipate Expected Food and Beverage Consumption

The room setup of a food and beverage function is extremely important. It can affect a number of things including the flow of service, the amount of food and beverage consumed an even the mood of guests.

If you are planning a reception or similar function, keep in mind these helpful tips in order to plan for food and beverage consumption accordingly.

Consumption relies on access. If you have an hors d’oeuvre table set against the wall it limits access to the food by only 180 degrees. A round table in the middle of the room gives a nice presentation, but because there is no apparent line to be formed at a circular table, guests will have to work their way in and out at various points for each item they wish to eat. This decreases food consumption. Having a rectangular table set at the middle of the room will allow for two open sides and a 360 degree access to food, allowing a higher consumption of food.

At a reception, you should allow anywhere from 6 to 10 square feet per person. With 6 square feet each person will be closer to one another and they will more likely feel a bit more uneasy on going to the food and beverage stations. Allowing 6 square feet per person is a good idea if you are paying on a per-person basis and you are trying to keep the costs low. If guests can eat and drink as much as they want for one price, then the square footage does not matter in terms of cost; however seven and a half square feet per person is considered “comfortably crowded.” If the purpose of a reception is to “mingle” and give easy access to food and beverage, then 10 square feet per person is ideal.

http://meetingsnet.com/food_beverage/strategy/insurance_setup_success/

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