Is this too many people for Christmas?

Could you host a Xmas Eve or Boxing Day party instead? That way you can have a buffet and it’ll generally be a bit more relaxed. Or just lean into the fact that Xmas day is going to be chaotic and probably not involve the typical roast (one year, we did a ‘flavours of Christmas’ spread instead of a roast and it was delightful - think turkey and cranberry meatballs, winter salads alla Ottolenghi, a good cheese board etc). Just let everyone graze and organise party games for the evening - it could be lots of fun!

No turkey as you won’t have the oven space so instead do some fancy flans, and a one dish option. Put everything out as a buffet on the kitchen counter or get a table for this. Make it a cold buffet - so you can have cheese, dips, fruits, dishes you made and what people bring. Organise a washing up rota even if you have a dishwasher it will be quicker to wash up by hand.

We have a large family. I hire out a room at the village hall when we all get together. It's great fun and no one has the stress of hosting.

There are large families who do this regularly & not just at Christmas. It keeps extended families together. People who promote this & if they also have space do the hosting, are very special people indeed. You will have a wonderful time 😁

Not read all the replies so apologies if I am repeating what others have said

I think if it were me I would hire a table and chairs (or borrow, we often borrow stuff from neighbours and someone is always away at xmas). Set up another table in the playroom or living room which seats 10, or two smaller ones of 5, whatever works. We sometimes use our garden table for eg which is round and seats 6 and put a table cloth over it.

Carefully think about what you will eat and delegate appropriately. Also about oven space and what you can cook when, what you can keep warm.

Also cook the turkey for a shorter time and wrap in a bath sheet, it will stay warm and keep cooking for a good couple of hours, this frees up all the oven space for the rest of the food.

I don't know if any of your family have one of these you could borrow
Progress EK3665P Electric Buffet Server - 3 Pan Hot Plate, Food Warmer Tray, 3 x 2.5L Removable Sections, Adjustable Temperature, 300W Portable Chafing Dish, Bain Marie, Catering Buffet Serving Tray : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen
My Dad has one and brings it up at xmas sometimes if there are loads of us

Certain things can be done in advance and reheated quickly in the microwave eg cheesy leeks, gravy, stuffing balls.

If you have a starter make sure it's cold and can be done in advance, preferably by someone else. Ask people to bring puddings in cool bags with ice packs so they don't take up fridge space (in fact anything they bring that has to stay cold!)

Get a bucket and some ice to keep wine and beer cold to avoid taking up space in the fridge

If all else fails I would be tempted to just do enough proper xmas dinner for the adults and then do some stuff to do with the turkey/ pigs in blankets that kids would like more, eg some bread rolls and raw veg/salad, v often kids leave most of the veg anyway!

Finally write down your time lines of what you do when!

Omg 😮 that's an insane amount of people to feed for a sit down meal. The first time you've ever done it too. I hosted for first time last yr and there were only 4 adults and 2 kids, that was plenty stressful enough!

Forgetting the babies you need 28 seats. Do you even have enough plates, cutlery crockery etc. A buffet would work better.

Even with a table in your living room and one in the playroom you will likely be short (unless they also can sit 8 and 10 people). Would possibly need to do it in sitting and have a lot of help.

I'd be more inclined to suggest a meal out instead. I do remember once having Xmas at my nans with her 3 kids, partners and then grandkids. We had 3 different eating areas and it was a bit chaotic but fun. My uncle is a chef so he took over the kitchen. That was only about 12 people in total. It wasn't repeated again 😂

3 shifts

.
Most food cooked the day before pr that morning or bought from M n S and re-heated in oven. Everybody as to muck in and assigned jobs when mot eating shift.

I think this is totally doable - we've been having Christmas lunch at my parents' with over 30 people for the past 10 years or so (admittedly not in the UK, and houses are much bigger), and it's great fun as long as everyone is relaxed, and OP sounds super organised. Fully agree with advice to serve the food buffet style (we have proper Christmas dinner food, but set up so everyone stands up and fills their plate and then we eat together) and make parking arrangements.

Just a few tips:

• Our main issue was always food going cold. As we heated up one thing, something else went cold, so we never had a full plate of warm food. We rent food warmers now (the kind you see at buffets in hotels), and it makes all the difference.
• If you have several courses and not enough plates, it could mean having to wash in between, which is not fun. So we keep that in mind when thinking about the menu (eg: something other than soup to begin if we need those same bowls for the dessert later).
• For us, it works best if each person bringing something thinks about all things related to that dish (eg: if someone is bringing the turkey, then they should also think of the gravy and cranberry sauce), otherwise bits are forgotten.
• Depending on the age of the kids, some of them might want to feel like party of the dinner at least for the beginning. Assuming they're old enough to eat alone, you could try setting up a separate table for them (garden table, kids tableware kind of thing) in the same room.

I haven't read the whole thread (only OPs posts) so apologies if others have already suggested the same!

I LOVE a catering challenge (I know, I am weird) but I don't think this sounds doable unless, as people say, you have a buffet. Which could be fun! Not the traditional dinner but maybe you could just do away with that and do some massive chillies and hot dogs or something? Or if people are expecting the traditional sit down roast, you could stick a marquee in the garden and do it in there with a couple of trestle tables, but that would be expensive/hassle/cold and might not be enough room for it anyway.

Or rent the local parish hall and have it there?

It is an awful lot and I am the queen of mass catering.

How old are the kids? I might suggest you feed them all first, maybe with a standard roast Christmas dinner early-ish and then do a more buffet style second wave for the adults after the kids have got down, say an hour or so later. If you did a big turkey (top tip - do it on a gas barbecue with a lid, if you have one) and a full ham then you can put in a second load of sausages and roast potatoes and roast Brussels sprouts for the adults when the kids start to eat. If you do lots of Jamie Oliver’s get ahead gravy in advance, and a big casserole of red cabbage again in advance mostly for the adults, and make sure those plus sausages are all piping hot for the adults, it won’t matter if the turkey and some trimmings are a bit colder and the ham will be cold anyway.
but it is a lot to manage with tiny kids too.

Can you do it as a buffet? And not do a traditional roast?

So have enough seats so everyone can sit somewhere but it doesn’t have to be all at a time - it can be more like a party that a traditional Christmas.

If 2.30 is just after the usual nap time, it sounds idea.

Maybe consider not worrying about the environment for one day and have disposable cups, plates, cutlery?

You can’t all sit together to eat Christmas dinner so will have to take it in shifts likely of 3 when you factor in the children- logistical nightmare. You also don’t have space for everyone to sit down on the sofa afterwards. It’s clearly far too many people for your house.

You can’t do a traditional Christmas hot meal.

It would have to be a buffet. You can cook and carve the turkey for 28 people the day before along with the stuffing and pigs in blankets. And then use all your fridge space to keep it cool properly before serving. You could do a ton of mini roast potatoes on the day too and serve them hot. But you can’t manage all the hot veg a d gravy as well.
Others can bring prawn cocktails, vegetable salads, coleslaw, cranberry deserts etc ready to serve.
Serve the drinks from a different room if possible ..even get it all laid out in the hall if necessary.
If you keep it simple, manage expectations, have a strict timetable, get everything properly planned, sorted and laid out the day before, then it’s possible.
But it’s a lot of work to manage especially on a day your children will want to play with their toys…with you!

That sounds like too many to me tbh!
We've done 16 people for a full Christmas lunch and it's evolved over the years to make it more workable:

• only cold starters (as others have said, oven space will be at a premium)
• Nobody turning up too early and getting in the way (so one adult brings the food from that family and the other adult bring the kids later on)
• Limit the number of people in the kitchen while you're getting the main course ready (nothing pisses me off more than people who say "How can I help?" then turn out to be useless - it's quicker to do it myself and them stay out of my way tbh)
• Extra microwave/airfryer if possible (get someone to bring theirs with them)
• Give people specific jobs to do - if they're capable 😂- and don't attempt to do everything yourself!
• Ask people to bring crockery/glasses/cutlery if possible so you don't run out halfway through
• Step 1 on the day - pour yourself a large glass of something 😂

And don't plan to go anywhere on Boxing Day, I'm guessing you'll need a break !

Yeah I just ignored the newborn baby bit. My mind boggles as to why you'd host Christmas for a large group (let alone an enormous group!) whilst caring for a small baby. But people have different tolerances for horrendous amounts of stress I guess! I was very happy to be a guest until my youngest was much neaer 3.

We host 20-26 each xmas and I love it. It is chaos and noisy but everyone chips in for cooking and we all muddle through. No starters, we do picky bits while the meal is being prepared, then main meal with an adults table and childrens table. kids end up on every available chair (office chairs/stools etc). Loads of wine and laughter, although the giving presents part with 10 kids becomes chaos...

You're crazy to consider that. The food will be cold for most people. People eating off laps are going to.spill food/gravy on the carpet/sofas. It isn't going to end well at all. Then you'll have to clean up/wash up. Why do that to yourself? You're not going to enjoy it and they'll all ask to.do.it again next year! Personally I'd ask people to come over after their Christmas dinners, for dessert. That is more doable, put out desserts with tea & coffee. I'd use cheese, crackers, variety of cakes/pudding, disposable spoons, napkins and bowls. I only host for 5/6 people now, anything more is just too much hard work. I did have 8 a couple.of times, and all the work fell to me. I was annoyed as I'd just had a baby and no one helped. I used to offer evening nibbles for extended family, that ended when 2 turned up drunk.and spoke in a vulgar way. The small children were asking what does getting some pussy mean! Never again!

Christmas at my moms is 25 ADULTS. Sometimes 30 ADULTS, plus a couple of kids, who are now teens.
The sofas are used, and my mom puts out a couple of extra tables from other places, including a gaming table. Lots of foldable chairs as well.

To me, Christmas will fewer than 20 peoples is a sad Christmas 😂

I was just thinking of this too, what kind of a loving family decides to gather at the home where someone just had a baby. Madness, and where do all the 4 babies nap? Sounds very chaotic and not a very enjoyable day.

Can you have a marquee in the garden and hire banquet tables and chairs? It's low season so you could get a good deal.

HRTFT however I can't understand why, with such a big and close family, someone hasn't stepped in. You have a 3 month old and 2 other kids, regardless of how lovely and supportive they are, it's a lot of work. Why can't someone else host and let you relax?

If you want to do a sit-down dinner is it possible to get another table to extend the seating to 18, and then maybe have kids eat at a big table in a different room? Do you have the length to lay some tables out to create a big long table and everyone brings more chairs? Buffet would be easier. I think it is a lot of people if you don't have a huge house. Having said that, my nan hosted Christmas for about 26 people in a small council house for all of my childhood. She had a through-lounge and we laid out trestle tables and all ate together (adults and kids) crammed around the long makeshift table. People brought chairs and everyone cooked different parts of the meal, so my aunty did the roast potatoes, another aunt did the veg, Nan did the met. The women would serve everyones' mains, men then did the washing up. Pudding was always a buffet laid out on the same long table after mains were washed up —xmas pud, mince pies, xmas cake and you could help yourself to cream or custard. We'd open our gifts from one another before lunch, and smaller gifts from under the tree as the evening drew in. Lovely memories. Lots of work for my nan tho.

Sounds like madness especially with a newborn. Why on earth put yourself and very young kids through that??

Given that you’ve got two ovens and a third one very close by, and can seat all the adults at a table, I’d give it a go - but you’ll need to be organised. You could ask each family to bring enough dinner plates, cutlery and pudding bowls for their group. You’ll need to know who is cooking what eg someone else can do pigs in blankets and stuffing and foil them up and get them into the hostess trolley when they get there. You’ll need multiple runs if the dishwasher but most machines can do a quick 30 minute wash for plates and cutlery eg . Roast the turkeys in foil trays to minimise the washing up - but put the foil tray in a metal roaster or at least on a baking sheet - I know someone who didn’t and let’s say it was tricky getting it out of the oven as the foil tray bent and sagged.

It should be cold outside so plastic storage boxes turn into drinks fridges outside - we’ve always done that in any case. Drinks outside the back door.

Paper plates for Christmas tea later on - mince pies, shortbread, Christmas cake etc. Sandwiches for the DC as well.

Hope it goes well!!

I think you’re very brave but go for it! I love a big family Christmas! We’ll have 13 adults/older teens and 2 young children (4 and nearly 2) this year (presuming everyone accepts our invitation - we’ve hosted the last couple of years so I think it’s expected now). My husband does most of the cooking whilst I keep an eye on the kids, do drinks, etc. We usually have to borrow PILs dining table and chairs which my husband goes and collects in his work van on Xmas Eve with his brother….we might have to borrow my parents table and chairs this year too.