Expo Hire delivers crockery to events across England and Wales. Dinner plates, side plates, soup bowls, dessert bowls, cups, and saucers are all available with live stock and delivery to your postcode.
For a three-course dinner, allow three to four plates per guest. For 100 guests, that is 300 to 400 plates plus 10 per cent for breakage. Read the Crockery Hire Guide for full quantity planning.
All crockery is delivered clean and checked. Return it dirty. Commercial washing is included in the hire cost.
Browse all crockery and check delivery pricing to your postcode.
Expo Hire delivers crockery to events across England and Wales from regional depots. Enter your postcode at checkout for instant delivery pricing. Sunday delivery is included as standard. Crockery is delivered clean and stacked in crates.
Three-course formal dinner: Side plate for bread, dinner plate for the main, dessert plate or bowl for pudding. Three plates per guest plus 10 per cent. For 100 guests, order 330 plates across the three sizes.
Afternoon tea: Side plate and cup and saucer per guest. If serving sandwiches, add a dinner plate for the sandwich tier. For 50 guests at afternoon tea, order 50 side plates, 50 cups and saucers, and 50 dinner plates.
Buffet: Main dinner plate per guest. If soup is served, add a soup bowl. For a simple buffet, 1 plate per person plus 10 per cent covers most events.
Coffee service only: Cups and saucers. For a conference break serving coffee to 200 delegates in 15 minutes, 200 cups and saucers with 2 or 3 large urns is the practical setup.
Stack it back in the crates dirty. Expo Hire runs everything through commercial dishwashers. No pre-rinsing required. Broken items should be left in the crate and noted on the return paperwork.
Order by course, not by guest count alone. A 100-cover plated dinner often needs 100 dinner plates, 100 side plates, 100 dessert bowls or plates, and 100 cups and saucers if tea or coffee follows. Buffets need fewer side plates than formal dining, but they often need more bowls, platters, or service ware. If you expect a fast turnaround between courses, hold a small reserve rather than running every plate to the table.
Wedding caterers often add 5 to 10 extra settings so there is cover for breakage or a last-minute guest change. Corporate events can work closer to the confirmed headcount if the menu is fixed. You can build the order through our crockery hire range and match it with cutlery and glassware before checkout.
