How Many Napkins Should You Order For Your Wedding Or Special Event

If you’re planning a wedding or special event in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast, or surrounds, you’ve likely got a lot on your plate. From booking the perfect venue to sorting out the décor, catering, and entertainment, every detail counts. For now, we’re tackling a question that might seem small but can make a big difference to how comfortable your guests are during your wedding or other event: how many napkins should you order?

Whether you’re hosting a beachside bash in the Gold Coast or an elegant soiree in Brisbane, we’ve got you covered with this handy napkin calculation guide for events of various sizes.

Types of Napkins

Before we dive into the numbers, let’s look at the different types of napkins you might need for your event:

1. Cocktail Napkins: These small, square napkins (typically around 24cm x 24cm) are perfect for pre-dinner drinks, canapés, and dessert time. They’re essential for any event with a cocktail hour or finger food. Cocktail napkins used for drinks are great for outdoor Queensland weddings, in particular, to keep drinks cool and prevent condensation from dripping so much in the heat.
2. Lunch and Dinner Napkins: These larger napkins are a more elegant and formal option. They’re perfect for sit-down lunches and dinners, buffet-style meals, and other types of dining situations. They add an elegant touch to your wedding table settings or your décor for corporate events, birthday parties, etc. Napkins for lunch and dinner events are typically made from cotton, linen, or mixed materials.
3. Guest Towels: While many people use large, absorbent paper towels in bathrooms at their special events for guests to dry their hands, you can choose a thicker, more luxurious option such as a standard dinner napkin, too, if you want to match the décor in the dining area.

Napkin Materials and Their Best Uses

When it comes to napkin materials, you’ve got a few options to choose from, each with its own strengths: 

When choosing your napkin material, consider your event style and theme, budget, and sustainability goals.

How Many Napkins to Order for Different Event Sizes

Factors to Consider

A few factors will influence how many napkins you’ll need to order for your special event:

1. Guest numbers – each guest needs at least one napkin during the celebration, but it’s best to allocate at least 2 or 3 per attendee at a minimum.
2. Event duration – extended events with multiple meals or many courses will mean your guests use extra napkins.
3. Event location – outdoor events held during hot times of the year in Queensland can mean guests are dealing with high temperatures and humidity, and potentially unexpected rain. It’s worth increasing your napkin orders by 2 per person for outdoor events in case attendees need to dry off sudden sprinkles or wipe their hot faces.
4. Types of meals being served – finger foods and messy dishes will require more napkins than neatly-plated meals. In Queensland, we often serve up lots of seafood at events, so if you’re offering prawns, crabs, bugs, or other hands-on dishes, it’s worth adding an extra 0.5 or 1 napkin per person to your calculations.

Now, let’s break down how many of each of the main napkin types you might need:

How Many Napkins for 100 Guests?

Wondering how many napkins to order for 100 guests? Here’s our guidelines:

Cocktail Napkins: You’ll want to stock up on at least 2 per person, so 200 cocktail napkins at a minimum.

Dinner Napkins: For a traditional plated meal, allocating around 1.5 dinner napkins per person should be sufficient, so 150 in total.

If there will be lots of finger food or multiple meals served up over the course of the event, it’s best to order at least 3-4 napkins per person, so 300-400 in total.

Bathroom Napkins: Add 2 napkins per person if you’re using napkins in bathrooms, too, which increases your total by 200.

How Many Napkins for 150 Guests?

If you’re trying to work out the math on how many napkins for 150 guests at your wedding, the ratios will be the same. So, order at least 2 cocktail napkins per person, or 300 in total. When it comes to dinner napkins, again, allocate a minimum of 1.5 per person for a traditional plated meal, so 225 in total. Up this to 3-4 napkins per person for lots of finger food or multiple meals (equating to 450 or 600 napkins total). As for napkins for restrooms, arrange to have at least 2 per person on hand, so 300 to use as guest towels.

How Many Napkins for 200 Guests?

Perhaps you want to calculate how many cocktail napkins you need for 200 guests? If so, again using the allocation of 2 per person, ensure you order at least 400 cocktail napkins in total. For dinner napkins, 1.5 per person equals a minimum of 300 napkins. Order 3-4 napkins per person, so 600-800, if you feel the number or type of meals warrants more usage. If placing napkins in bathrooms, you’ll want to order 400 or more for use as guest towels, since most people will probably use at least 2 each.

Remember, these are general guidelines. You know your guests and the situation best, so feel free to adjust based on your specific needs. When in doubt, it’s always better to have a few extra napkins than to run short!

If you’d like some help choosing napkins for your event, contact our friendly team for assistance. We can help you pick materials, colours, and quantities for a fantastic and stress-free celebration.

Happy planning, and here’s to a fully-napkinned event!