Party & Event Supplies FAQs

How many disposable napkins, plates and utensils to buy?

Napkins:

On average, people use three napkins, but since there’s always a spill or two, overestimating is a good idea. For example, for an event of 40 people, you would need (4 napkins times 40 people) a solid 160 napkins.

 Guests x (4) = Napkins to Buy

Plates & Utensils

Since some will be going back for seconds and even thirds, it is better to be prepared with about three disposable plates per person.

Guests x (3) = Disposable Plates and Utensils

 

How many linen tablecloths and  napkins to buy for a restaurant?

Napkins should always be at 4 to 5 times the table cloth requirements to compensate for 2, 6, 8 place settings. Remember to allow at least twenty-four hours of shelf time to all items to improve the flat-dry appearance and to ‘rest’ the fabric. At a minimum plan on reusing the same set of napkins and tablecloths every 3 days. This assumes 1 day in service, the next day at the laundry, and 1 day on the shelf for prep for use. Also, we assume an on-site laundry or daily delivery service. Let's take an example to illustrate:

No. of tables (assuming all of the same size): 10

Turns per day: 2.5

Tablecloths needed for one day use: 2.5 X 10 = 25

Tablecloths needed for 3 day use: 25 X 3 = 75

Napkins needed for 3 day use: 75 X 4 = 300 pieces

 

How to determine what size of linen tablecloth I need for my tables?

We have both linen and vinyl tablecloths on the offer. There are two distinct differences between linen and vinyl fabric that influence how we measure the tablecloth size for our tables. While most vinyl fabric rolls are 54" wide, linen fabric rolls can be 45”, 54”, 64”, 72” and 90”. As a result, linen tablecloths can be made without any seam for wider tables whereas vinyl tablecloth will always have seams for tablecloths wider than 54". Another stylistic difference between linen and vinyl tablecloths is vinyl tablecloths usually have 8" hang (drape) and linen tablecloths can have 9" to 15" drape. The longer the drape, the more formal the setting. Also, linen tablecloths can have different width drops than length drops. With that in mind, here is how to find out the tablecloth size for your table:

a) Choose the nearest width rolls that would give the width drop you need. For example, for a 36" wide table, if we choose 54" wide roll, we will have (54-36)/2 = 9" drop. If we choose 64" wide roll, we will have (64-36)/2 = 14" drop.

b) Choose a length that will give the desired length drop. For example, for a 96" long table with 9" drop, we will need (96+2 X 9) 114" long tablecloth.

 

Linen tablecloth size chart

You can use this table to figure out the size of the closest tablecloth you would need for your table in either half-drape or full-drape. This table is intend for an approximate tablecloth to table size mapping.

 

Tablecloth	Table w/ Half Drape	Table w/ Full Drape	Overlay
60" Square	30”-36” Square		54” Square
72" Square	42” Square		54” Square
85" Square	48”–60” Square	30”-36” Square	54” Square
70" Round	30”-42” Round		54” Square
76” Round	48” Round		54” Square
90” Round	54”-66” Round	30”-36” Round	90” Square
108” Round	72” Round	42”-48’ Round	90” Square
120” Round		54” – 66” Round	90” Square
132” Round		72” Round	90” Square
60” X 102”	6’ Banquet
60” X 126”	8’ Banquet
90” X 132”		6’ Banquet
90” X 156”		8’ Banquet