Party food ideas how much to buy

[Happymomma12]

So I’m getting my daughter christened Sunday and have decided to do the buffer myself I’m thinking ham sandwiches and cheese sandwiches, pizza, pork pies, scoxh eggs , cocktail sausages, mini sausage rolls , crisps , salad and maybe some sort of chicken goujons but I’ve no idea on portion sizes I don’t know how much I need to buy of each item how many sandwiches to make , there gonna be cut into quarters , how much of everything else to buy also I want to know if I’ll be okay to prepare it all the night before then keep it in the fridge till the next day thanks There’s about 40 people coninf

I would always over cater rather then under..
I would go for ham, cheese savoury and egg mayo sandwiches
Sausage rolls, pork pies, chicken goujons, pizzas, spring rolls
Quiches/Pies
Crisps
Cheeses
Hot Dogs

Presuming kids are there then would add choc fingers, party rings etc

I did a small (13 people) buffet last year and just a couple of tips I would give are:
Sausage rolls will go fast
Don't forget condiments (especially if there will be children. I didn't have ketchup and that didn't go down well)

I think I used 2 or 3 loaves of bread for cheese or ham sandwiches, then got 2 packets of frozen sausage rolls, a couple of quiches, crisps, a cheese and pineapple hedgehog, cocktail sausages and mini scotch eggs.

Will you need to provide plates / knives / forks etc? And how are you serving things - do you have the bowls / platters etc that you'll need? I put cocktail sticks in everything that could be "sticked" because I didn't like the idea of everyone touching the food, especially coming off the back of the 18 months we'd just had!

I don't think people will be that hungry at 4.30
Not adults anyway. Who eats dinner so early?

@DockOTheBay they are invited to an event they will expect food. Maybe they will have missed lunch while getting ready to go to the christening.
OP I was at a christening last week in a pub and the food was goujons/sausages/ sandwiches/soup and various rolls/cake /wedges /chips there was also a kids sweets table set up. This was for about 50 people at 3.30pm event and the hosts had to ask the pub to put out extra food as everyone was hungry.

Seriously. For forty people. In my family it would be forever known as the meanest event they ever attended.

Unless it's essentially a children's party buffet and you are not actually catering for the adults I would maybe rethink/adjust the food choices. I don't think most adults want to eat plain ham sandwiches and cocktail sausages?

How about (all can be made day before):
Quiche and/or mini frittatas (can remake them in muffin tins)
Sausage rolls are fine but again make some nice ones yourself
Chicken Satay
Mini Koftas
Fruit platter
Veggie platter
Cheese twists (puff pastry with cheese)
Cheese and crackers

I think the pp who said 4x large bowls of salad is seriously overestimating how much salad people will eat at a finger buffet! I would say cut the salad and add more substantial things. What about crusty bread sliced up and cheese/pate? If you want salad then crudités and dips/hummous. If there are lots of children coming then oven chips and lots of ketchup will go down a treat.

40 is a lot to do for if you're not used to it. Cold pizza is very cardboardy.

One large salad. Lots of crudités - Cherry toms, carrot and cucumber plus a big coleslaw and maybe a potato salad. Dip selection (with spoons!).

Fruit platter especially if there's lots of kids

A bowl filled with fun size choc bars goes down well too

Bowls of crisps - however many you think, then double it.

Several quiches, veggie and Lorraine, wedged up plus I would aim for 3 sandwich triangles per adult.

I would do a mix of wraps and sandwiches. Looks more interesting and you don't need to butter the wraps. Chicken, cheese, carrot and hummus, egg mayo

2 x 50 packs of sausage rolls. They always get eaten. Same again goujons, a bag of cocktail sausages.

Agree don't forget mayo / ketchup.

I used to run a restaurant and did loads of buffets. Even now at home I'm not brave enough to cater for more than 25 on my own. I have a huge American fridge freezer, a chest freezer and a another fridge freezer in my room ( for medication). In the run up to ash event I let my kitchen fridge run right down and move things I won't be using to my medication fridge. Then all food that's pre-prepped goes into the fridge. Proper catering trays with rigid covers on are brilliant as you can stack them high and maximise your space. I make all sandwiches the day before. Same with salads,pasta and coleslaw etc. 3-4 hours before the event I cook what needs to be done. Cool in front of a fan, cover, chill. 1-2 hours before the event I have sausage rolls/pork pies/samosas delivered. They get plated up and go into a a cooler to be pulled out right before people arrive. I put my signature ham into the oven and then that gets bright it when everybody Is there and already eating.

40 people can be done but it will be difficult with a standard domestic fridge. I'm very comfortable for fridge space and know what foods I can leave out longer than others etc but I would struggle for 40 people unless I was actively in the kitchen typing up food during the actual party itself.

Event starts at 4.30 so I assume finishes at 6.30. Like lots of adults with children they eat with their kids so it will be dinner time.

How are you transporting the food to the pub?
Where will it be stored?
Who's going to bring it out etc??

Why can't the pub cater the event? They normally can do buffets.

For 40 I would double that.

If you are just doing plain ham or cheese I wouldn't do that many. With lots of other bits and pieces they will be least popular. I would probably go with slightly more interesting fillings, even just adding in some salad or condiments. I recently did a sandwich platter with ham salad, cheese and coleslaw, eggs mayo and cress, chicken, bacon and sweetcorn, Wensleydale and carrot chutney, prawns in Marie Rose sauce with lettuce. Chicken, bacon and sweetcorn and prawn were first to go.

If it's in a pub, can you not ask them to provide some bits? Bowls of chips and hot chicken dippers would go down very quickly with the kids. For the adults, i would get some nice quiches and do a decent cheese board with crackers, grapes and olives. For sausages rolls, decide how many you think and double it - they always go super quick.
Big bowl of potato salad and coleslaw.
If the pub are prepared to help, you could ditch the all/some of the buffet idea and do hot potatoes and make a curry and bolognaise the night before. Then a big bowl of cheese and tuna mayo.

I’ve got a similar amount for a 1st birthday party on Sunday and this is what I’m doing catering wise: I’ve ordered 7 trays of sandwiches, 2 vegan sushi platters and 2 fruit platters from Waitrose. Then I’ve ordered similar buffet catering trays from Amazon and a big sainsburys order coming on Sunday morning. I’m going to do a tray of crudités (pepper, cucumber, celery, carrot, radish, little gem lettuce, spring onions), a tray of falafel, hummus, mint and yoghurt dip, ricotta stuffed peppers, loads of olives and antipasti, a charcuterie tray, a cheese tray, vegetarian mini sausages and sausage rolls and then I’ve just ordered 24 glazed donuts and mini flapjacks, rocky road, brownies etc that I’ll arrange over a couple of trays. Literally the only things I need to make are the hummus and dips and chop up the veg. Everything else is just emptying and opening packets and making things look nice.
oh just remembered I’m going to do salmon blinis with the giant side of smoked salmon left in the freezer from Christmas but they won’t take long. I’ve got one helper and aim to have it all done in a hour or so.

by car and I’ll store it in fridge then I’ll lay the tables few hours before the event abs the pub said we have to sort our own food

...good luck with it all

If you're near a costco they do sandwich platters and you might have time to get some from there... worth a try?

How did it go @Happymomma12 ?