Planning a social gathering, how is bill split?

I am planning a social gathering at a restaurant next month for about 15 people (sure only 10 will show up), and am not quite sure of the correct way to go about this. Everyone will be paying for their own food, but I am paying for 2 bottles of champagne and about 4 appetizers. Is it okay to split the tab on the food, or have the restaurant bill everyone separately?Planning a social gathering, how is bill split?
You might be amiss here. First of all, I've never been to a restaurant where they agree to split large parties. Most restaurants will charge an automatic gratuity for parties of 8 or more (6 or more at the stingiest of eateries!) and provide one check. They won't split because it's too many orders to ';mess up'; and it takes a lot of their time; chances are they won't make the same gratuity (on average) from everyone as opposed to their charging you the whopping 18% or 20% on the entire check for a large party.





That being said, if you know it's going to be 10 people, I'd consider having a pre-determined selection of entrees and let everyone know what it's going to be up front, and they can pay ahead of time. For example, pick entrees that are $15-20, then add the gratuity, and let people know they should plan on paying $25 before alcohol. That may or may not work, depending on the set up of your gathering. I'm just saying be prepared that they won't split checks at the restaurant.





If they do, it's perfectly okay to tell your server well ahead of time that you'll be paying for the alcohol and appetizers on your tab, and that everyone else should be billed separately. In some restaurants, for a party that size, you might get two servers, so it may be easier for them to keep up with. Enjoy.

tvs