Service · glasses, breakage, staff
How many glasses per person, and how many waiters?
One flute and one wine glass per guest, a water glass, and 5% for breakage. One waiter for thirty seated guests, one for forty standing. The calculator below does the sum for your number of guests, with the cost of hiring glasses.
Glasses and staff worked out
Set for 100 guests. Tick the moments of the day: a standing drinks reception and a seated meal don't need the same glasses or the same number of hands.
The rules behind the calculation
Glasses
A flute for the sparkling, a wine glass for the rest. Two wine glasses per person, white then red, is the luxury of a served dinner; with a hundred guests, nobody notices and it all has to be washed.
The margin
Out of a hundred glasses, five get broken, lost or end up in a flower bed. When you hire, breakage is charged per glass; plan for it rather than discover it on the invoice.
Water
The water glass is the one people forget and the one used most. One per person, a jug per table of eight, and plenty of still water: half a litre per guest.
Staff
One waiter for thirty guests at the table, one for forty at a cocktail reception, and one person on the bar for eighty. Below that, the wine waits on the side table and the guests wait for the wine.
Hire glasses or use the venue's
| Option | Cost for 100 guests | What you need to know |
|---|---|---|
| The venue's or caterer's glasses | Often included | Check the number: a venue designed for 80 doesn't have 200 wine glasses. Ask who washes up, and whether breakage is charged. |
| Hire from a rental company | €100 to €150 | About €0.50 per glass, returned dirty or clean depending on the contract. Delivery and collection extra. Count breakage separately. |
| Buying simple glasses | €150 to €250 | Worth it if you entertain often. They have to be stored, washed, and taken home at two in the morning. |
| Reusable plastic cups | €60 to €100 | For a standing reception or a party in the countryside. Not for a served dinner: a Bordeaux in a plastic cup is a Bordeaux wasted. |
From 150 guests, the question of glasses and the question of staff come up together, along with the question of the pallet: the page how many bottles for 150 guests deals with all three at once.
The mistakes people notice
- No glasses, no wine. It's the most common breakdown at a drinks reception: a hundred guests, sixty flutes, and the sparkling stays in the bucket. The wine was there; the glasses weren't.
- One glass for everything. Drinking sparkling from a wine glass works; drinking red from a flute doesn't. Two shapes of glass, not one.
- Glasses that are too big. A glass poured at 15 cl takes the bottle from six glasses to five: out of a hundred bottles, sixteen disappear. The page how many glasses in a bottle does the sum by glass size.
- Nobody to open the bottles. A hundred bottles to uncork is two hours for one person on their own. A corkscrew per waiter, and the bottles for the meal opened before service.
- Nobody to wash up. The drinks reception glasses don't magically reappear clean on the dinner tables. Someone washes them while the guests sit down, or you have two sets.
For a wedding, the wedding wine page brings it all together: quantities, budget, chilling, service. To get the wine priced, the quote request takes a minute.
How many wine glasses per person for a wedding?
One flute and one wine glass per guest, plus 5% for breakage, so 210 glasses for 100 guests. Add a water glass per person. A second wine glass per guest, to serve white and red separately, is a served-dinner refinement, rarely justified above fifty covers.
How many waiters for 100 guests?
Three or four at the table, two or three standing, plus one person on the bar. That's one waiter for thirty seated guests, one for forty at a cocktail reception, and one bar for eighty people. Below that, service slows down and glasses stay empty.
How much does glass hire cost?
About €0.50 per glass, plus delivery and collection, breakage charged per glass. For 100 guests, allow €100 to €150 with the water glasses. Many venues and caterers supply them: check the number before hiring twice over.
Do you need different glasses for champagne?
A flute or a narrow white wine glass for the sparkling, a wider wine glass for the red. Those are the two shapes you need. The coupe is pretty and loses its bubbles in ten minutes; the plastic cup suits a party in the countryside, not a dinner.