the government pays for state dinners at the white house.
who pays for state dinners at the white house?
government
in 1976, haller oversaw food preparation for white house events in honor of the united states bicentennial. for much of 1976, the ford administration had a normal schedule of one or two state dinners a month. but in june and july, haller was preparing three or four state dinners each week. because the federal government shifted the start of its fiscal year from may to october, haller had little money to bring on additional staff to assist with the preparations and cooking. at the state dinner for queen elizabeth ii of the united kingdom, haller prepared a state dinner for 250, which was served on the south lawn of the white house under a marquee.
henry haller
the clintons were also the first to use the east room for most state dinners, rather than the much smaller state dining room. the reason was size: the state dining room could accommodate only about 136 people, while the east room sat 260. the clintons also used marqees, set up on the south lawn of the white house, for state dinners, which allowed seating to run as high as 700 individuals. president george w. bush, however, returned to the practice of hosting state dinners almost exclusively in the state dining room. the gold-upholstered chairs were often removed for meals and replaced with smaller chairs from elsewhere in the white house, as they proved too bulky to accommodate large numbers of guests around dining tables.
state dining room of the white house