Adjust for your crowd
Enter how many of your guests are kids; each counts as half an adult.
Ice for other crowd sizes
tap a row for its own list ↓| Guests | Ice to buy | 20-lb bags |
|---|---|---|
| 10 people | 11 lb | 1 |
| 20 people | 22 lb | 2 |
| 25 people | 28 lb | 2 |
| 30 people · you're here | 33 lb | 2 |
| 40 people | 44 lb | 3 |
| 50 people | 55 lb | 3 |
| 75 people | 83 lb | 5 |
| 100 people | 110 lb | 6 |
| 150 people | 165 lb | 9 |
| 200 people | 220 lb | 11 |
2 20-lb bags for 30 people. Buy it the day of the party, and keep the bags in a cooler until you need them.
How many people do 3 bags of ice cover?
Covers about 60 people indoors, or 30 outdoors in warm weather.
Everything else for 30 people
How we got this number
- 130 guests × 1 lb (indoors) = 30 lb
- 2× 1.10 cushion = 33 lb
- 3÷ 20-lb bags = 1.65 → 2 bags (20 lb)
we round up to whole bags. Ice is cheap; running out isn't.
Sources for this rule: Reddy Ice FAQ; Reddy Ice, How Much Ice You Need for a Party; Reddy Ice calculator; Reddy Ice; Tasting Table, How Much Ice You Need for a Party; WebstaurantStore; app.warehouserunner.com.
Ice questions
How much ice for 30 people?
Buy 33 lb of ice: 2 bags (20 lb). That's 1 lb per guest indoors, plus a 10% cushion, in 20-lb bags.
What if 6 of the 30 guests are kids?
Kids count as half an adult, so it's 27 adult portions: buy 30 lb of ice: 2 bags (20 lb).
How many people do 3 bags of ice cover?
Covers about 60 people indoors, or 30 outdoors in warm weather.
Different headcount? The ice calculator works for any number of guests, and the menu planner builds one shopping list for the whole party.