How to feed 35 people on a budget

[Spottybotty20]

My SIL had organised a meal for her 30th birthday in a posh restaurant with us, them, and 5 other couples. Her MIL (not my mum) has ruined all the plans calling her self indulgent and grabby for asking her friends to come for a meal and pay for themselves. This is fairly normal in all our friendship groups but has upset her so much she has cancelled it all.

I’ve now said I will throw her a garden party instead but the guest list has crept up to 30 adults and 5 kids (not her inviting more - just family all wanting to come too)

How can I feed them all, without costing myself a fortune and it still having the classy birthday meal vibe she was going for?

Pulled pork, salads, rolls, interesting condiments….

Ask people to each bring a dish?

Look for local cafes or delis who will do you big trays of pasta/ chilli/ curry. Morrison's also do a very good food ordering service.

Unless you're a very good cook and used to big numbers it's very hard to cater for that many people by yourself.

Massive chilli, veggie chilli, rice and sides

So spiteful of her MIL. You're very kind OP. Moroccan theme? Cous cous salads. Falafel. A vat of houmous. Wraps. Go veggie to keep costs down.

Slice up baguettes and spread with sundried tomatoes and cream cheese. Alternate with pate. Starter cost about £20-£24.

Chicken breasts, smother with whole grain mustard mixed with a little mayonnaise, then lightly wrapped in streaky bacon. Cook in a double oven. On the hob, new potatoes, steamed green beans and julienne carrots, gravy.
This is a very filling dish. Main cost about £60-65.

Cheeseboard and a variety of crackers. Don't go for the poncey ones, nobody likes them. Water biscuits and cream crackers. Put out Stilton, Cheddar a soft French cheese and a hard Swiss cheese. A fruit salad as an alternative, with some whipped cream: orange and lemon juice base, melted Demerara, pineapple, melon, grape, cherry, apple. £40-£50.

Cost about £5 per head. They will be stuffed.

Afternoon tea? Sandwiches without crusts, pretty colourful salads, homemade scones with jam and cream… bunting etc

Jacket potatoes with a whole choice of fillings

Borrow some slow cookers and make chilli, curry, bolognese. They'll stay hot for ages and along with a oven full of jacket potatoes guests can help themselves

Maybe add some garlic bread, naan etc.

You could also make ahead and freeze

You’re a very kind friend and SIL.

How much can you afford to spend?

This.

Catering for more than about 10/12 people is really difficult in a domestic kitchen - you can't cook everything in the oven, there's not enough room, hob space is a premium.

If you're determined to cook I would make things that are supposed to be eaten cold/can be reheated so you can make it all over the previous days & you can't actually attend the party instead of frantically cooking.

But it is much easier to ask guests to bring something. You can request a specific kind of thing - a meat dish, a salad, a dessert. People love to help, honestly. It will be much cheaper than a restaurant for them and you can spend extra on a bit of decor for your SIL.

A couple of large meat lasagnes, a spinach & ricotta lasagna. Garlic bread sticks. Salad. Veggie sticks.
A Mac and cheese for the kids possibly.

Then for dessert some fresh strawberries and cream / ice cream. Birthday cake.

Keep it simple. Everyones there to socialise and if you're on a budget there's no need to go OTT they'll be glad to be invited and around for the bday girl

For 30 people a proper meal won't cut it in a domestic setting. You need to think more buffet style. If you want it to look lovely and have WOW factor then make a graze table instead of a traditional buffet. They are all the rage right now. Get artificial foliage or even real flowers to decorate, create height with raised levels to make it more interesting and spread it all out and let people help themselves. You could easily cater for 30 for about £90 and have it look like it cost £500.

I would borrow a few slow cookers and do pulled pork, gammon, chilli, etc and just make huge vats of rice, nice bread, salads.

Ask each family to bring a sweet dish and a savoury dish. Give them a list to choose from so you don't end up with a bag of crisps from someone

Bring your own meat BBQ?

Tbh I'd be ordering a load of pizzas / chippy tea 😂

Pot luck. Each family brings a dish to feed 4-5 people. In that way there’s more than enough for everyone. Amend as necessary eg big families. Allocate sweet or savory. Everyone has a bit of a taste of what they fancy. They also bring a bottle of two.

You make a lovely birthday cake and provide some extra drinks in case you run out.

No.

It looks messy and jumbled up.

The easiest thing that I have ever heard of if catering for large numbers is a ‘bubbles and burgers’ theme. It’s just rolls, salad and condiments. Veggie and beef burgers.

A potluck theme would also be good. Where everyone brings a dish and a bottle.

Costco is your Only friend here.

I don’t like the grazing table thing, too fingery and also a nightmare if you have restrictions on what you can eat.
Mezze?
italian?
curry?
what does she like?

I love that you are doing this!

Some really good ideas,
@BuffaloCauliflower my dad has offered to cover a buffet I think he’s expecting about £200 as that’s what we spent on a kids party.

So I have that and I can ask around family to all contribute items/help but not financially.
Im sure she would be happy with anything but the meal was in the ivy so some sausage rolls aren’t quite the same vibe!

I can definitely get hold of a few slow cookers, and I love the idea of a cheese board.

Will also look at local delis!

Pot luck or Costco. Don’t do a grazing table, they are gross.

Christ not a graze table it'll look hideous the moment the first person takes something from it.

Is hog roast too £££? BBQ too everyday? Afternoon tea as suggested already could work really well - can make that super-posh easily and cheaply. Otherwise cold buffet easy to do in your own kitchen. One pot hot dishes like pulled pork, chille also easy enough in a kitchen.

Agree with others about not being too ambitious unless you have catering size hobs and pots though.