Mumsnet Talk

Our first proper birthday party nightmare, DD1's 4th next week, whole class invited, half of which haven't got back to us... At this point I'm desperate enough to say we don't care what it costs: Does anyone know a good kids' party caterer in South East London? Party is at 2-4pm so not really teatime and I have no idea what to offer! Doesn't help that we're vegetarian and would like to serve nice vegetarian party food instead of something 'too healthy'... Any advice?

a caterer ? how many are you having? party food is some plain hula hoops, some cheese sandwiches, lots of fruit - so strawbs/grapes etc and some carrot/cucumber sticks - all our other party food is non veggie (sausage rolls blah blah)...

ahh whole class - even if lots of them come thats still only going to be 20-30 isnt it? you dont need a caterer surely - people only expect the above - if you're going to go mad you could put some marguerita pizzas in the oven and slice them up - that always goes down well...

I always do for parties
Carrots, cerelry, mushrooms, peppers, beans with dip of some sort
Cheese, Jam, Honey sandwiches (cut into triangles no crusts)
Fairy bread (Aussie kids party food - white bread no crusts spread with butter then sprinkled with 100's and 1000's)
Cupcakes
Grapes, berries, melon etc as a kebab on a stick
Mashmallows
Perfect party food.

Agree - not worth having a caterer for 4 yos - most of it ends up on teh floor. Doesn't matter that it's not tea time - they will expect party tea regardless. Also fills in half an hour when you don't have to be organising games/entertainment! Don't go overboard on sandwiches, just a few cheese, jam, ham. Agree cherry toms, cucumber/carrot sticks, grapes etc. If you are having non-veggie food as well, small sausages, sausage rolls are good. Mini pizza for something different. Crisps and then some fairy cakes, chocolate biscuits and you're away. Don't forget the birthday cake! Good luck!!

If you don’t find a caterer and do decide to do it yourself, I reckon you have 2 options:

1) buffet style with good mix of sarnies/rolls, little bowls of cherry toms, cheese cubes, carrot sticks, veggie sausage rolls perhaps, veggie pizza slices, crisps etc. and then a few savoury bowls to follow on like cupcakes, choc fingers, party rings..

or

2) the lunchbox method (my favourite for larger groups). You bulk buy those party boxes and organise a factory line in your kitchen on the morning of the party: something simple in each box along with a napkin and small toy.. I always take a few spare packets of alternative sandwiches (like a ham, cheese, marmite, jam) just to catch those who are really fussy.

Key things to remember: it is a party and the occasional bit of junk food is not a crime or ruin them forever. You are not going to please every child so don’t try to provide 50 types of sandwiches - stick to normal varieties and they will eat it. You might think it is in the middle of the day and they will not be hungry - wrong! After running around for an hour at the party they will all eat like horses. I would not bother trying to impress with a veggie gourmet buffet. They will either wrinkle their noses up at your efforts or will just eat the crisps anyway.

hth have fun!

agree quick and popular option is pizza chopped up.

Lots of nice fruit

I agree that it can take time though and be stressful if you're trying to organise everything

Whooa there! I can totally understand your panic because the mere thought of entertaining a party full of tinies used to (still does!) bring me out in a cold sweat. But I've been round the block a few times with this now.

Rule one. They don't eat much. I promise you, no matter how much trouble you go to you will either throw it away or end up eating most of it yourselves for the next umpty two weeks.

Rule two. Keep it minimal and simple.

Rule three. Buy yourself a big bottle of wine.

The easiest thing to do is to get some of those party boxes for food. Children love to have their own box and it saves you worrying about plates etc. Been there done that. Hassle. Party Pieces do them or places that sell party stuff.

Provide a bottle of water each. One with a sports type top. Buy lots of water cos little ones get thirsty. No sticky squash which some might not be able to have anyway and which gets knocked over.

Come up with about 5 things to put in each box. Ie A small yogurt and plastic spoon. A cheese string. A homemade sandwich. Some crisps. Grapes or carrot sticks maybe. A fairy cake. Chocolate fingers. A pretty napkin. Maybe a hat to wear if you want to jazz things up a bit.

Make up a box for everyone you've asked. If some don't arrive at least you're covered and because the food is minimal you won't have over-catered massively. (grrr at no replies from some. V rude but it happens)

Birthday cake of course for the party bags. If you have a lot coming and you don't think the cake will stretch round everyone, either buy or make a simple sponge cake and bump it up with that. I've done that before and no-one notices once it's cut up.

Oh and the wine is for you when it's all done and dusted

Tsarcharm gives good advice!!

Great advice, Tsarcharm! Thank you so much ladies, what would I do without you! I do have one more question if anyone still checks this thread..: The venue is booked for two hours and I have booked a magician for one hour(desperate here..). Should I have him perform in the middle or at the end of those two hours? Stupid question I know, but the magician said it's probably a good idea to deflate the bounchy casstle at the venue before he starts...

Oh I need that wine already!!

We're veggie and for my dd's parties I usually do:
philadelphia sandwiches
humous sandwiches
hoola hoops
carrot sticks
tomatoes
cucumber sticks
Fruits
Biscuits
Cake

The simpler the better.

you have the magician on first and dont have the bouncy castle at all...they are not going to sit down and listen to the poor sod after the bouncy castle anyway and you dont want to do it after food - although you might to keep them occupied but then where would you have hidden it in the meantime?

Yes definately deflate bouncy castle before magician starts

I'd have 30 mins of bouncing
1 hr entertainer
30 mins for singing happy birthday and cake then food and distributing party bags

I assume you;ve remembered party bags....???

Message withdrawn

Don't stress about it. If the party's 2-4 the kids will have had lunch and won't be so hungry so you will end up chucking a lot away. Also it doesn't really matter if they don't eat anything because there's still time for supper when they get home.

The other thing that I think is crucially important, particularly at a 4yo party, is wine for the adults. A lot of parents will probably hang around but 4 yos don't need much supervision at a party so much nicer for them if they can hang around with a wine glass (or plastic cup) in hand.

It is DD's party a week on Saturday. She is having traditional afternoon tea food, with some extras thrown in for good measure.

Think so far I am planning on:

3 x 3 teir stands: finger sandwiches (cheese, ham and one other) at bottom, mini scones on next tier, little mini cakes on top tier

There will be little pots of cream and jam for the scones.

There will be plates of veggie sticks, maybe some hummous, and bowls of fruit (covered in food glitter) on the table too.

Drinks will be a choice of cloudy lemonade or apple juice.

Birthday cake for us is for decoration only at the party and for candles. That will be taken home by us. Not handing out cake at the party - there will be enough on the table, and the cake isn't really ideal for cutting up for party bags.

I'd do half hour to 40 mins bouncy castle - maybe have simple craft stuff - ie colouring in available too, then magician, then tea.

if you have a bouncy castkle make sure you have plenty of drinks available - they will get hot and thirsty

When DD was younger (her 4th and 5th partes) we did food boxes and they worked out really well.

I'm reading these great advice through over and over again...party bags check wine check no bouncing with magician check... Almost wanted to have the magician at the last hour so I wouldn't have to try crowd control twice (i.e. when the magician finishes we'll be at the door handing party bags .

Love the breadstick tip apostrophe