Last week we gave our advice for the number of passed hors d’oeuvres for a cocktail reception. Today we thought we would give you our recommendation for a combination of butler passed hors d’oeuvres and stations.

Here are a few scenarios to consider:

1. If you offer your guests a carving station, you should still also have at least 5 passed hors d’oeuvres to alleviate the pressure from the station.
2. If you have 2 or more stations, you can cut down on the number of passed hors d’oeuvres, but we wouldn’t recommend to go below 4.

Remember to also always consider how long your cocktail reception will be. If it’s a shorter amount of time (30 minutes) you can get away with less food. If your cocktail reception is longer (1 hour+) you definitely need to have larger quantities of food.