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?

Grazing tables are not gross in real life. Just on mumsnet.

I agree that or an afternoon tea / colour salads and canapés garden party vibe works.

Thinking about it, one central piece such as a chocolate fountain, cheese fondue or vodka luge, would make it so memorable no one would care about the food so cheapy Costco burgers would be fine.

@HipsterCoffeeShop I’m definitely not determined to cook, very against it in fact!

Im thinking cold but easy starter prepared ahead, some kind of bought in main and then cold easy dessert - cheese board or strawberries and cream could really work.

I know she does like a grazing table, she made one for us a few weeks ago but it looked beautiful on the photos online and like a dogs dinner as soon as it was touched. I could take the idea for a cheese board though and just up the presentation aspect a bit!

Morrison’s buffet food sandwich platters are £10 for 20 sandwich bowls of nachos as they are cheaper than crisps then home bake scones and buy little cakes to make an afternoon tea rather than a full on meal.

I would def consider an afternoon tea or I have done a ploughman's before for lots of people

Get a local Indian takeaway to bring huge pots of curry, rice, naan etc. Super easy. One veggie, one meat

Plus cakes/desserts from Costco

This. Loads of ideas on instagram or pin interest

Hang on her MIL saw her arse because in your circle of friends you all pay your own way so she cancels the booking ...... how dare she, I'd be fuming if my MIL did that to me.

No help on the buffet suggestions OP im still raging that MIL had the nerve to cancel SIL birthday plans !!

Ah £200 is loads you’ll be fine! I fed 80 people a buffet on £150 for my 30th 😂

Have you got access to a Costco? They’re big pastas and salads plus garlic bread would be good and easy if you don’t want to cook.

For a ploughman's but some gammon and bake then slice.

A few nice cheeses

Home made coleslaw

Some celery , grapes, salad bits

And some bread and selection of pickles

Home made bread always looks nice and is cheap

Scones and Jam with cream for pudding ?

Use a local caterer.

They can make your budget go a long way. Further than you think.

Sorry I think it looks messy too.

For my 40th we catered for 100 with sandwich platters and other bits and bobs (quiches, chicken wings etc) from Costco.

For my 50th I did an afternoon tea for 30 people. I made the sandwiches (but Costco platters would’ve been easier!). I made the scones (very easy to do). The mini cakes came from Iceland (petit fours and macaroons, very cheap). Add in Prosecco or Pims (we did a huge tub of it) and tea/coffee. We have a double fronted gazebo, put everything on a wallpapering table with tablecloths over it. We had deck chairs and straw bales with blankets thrown over for seating. It worked really well..

Graze tables are naff and a nightmare if anyone has allergies /coeliac.

Could you not do the meal out and then a more basic family gathering? It seems such a shame she has cancelled it because of her MIL being ridiculous

Tell her to stop sulking, ignore her MIL and book the meal she wants. Paying for yourself would be perfectly normal here too. I know it's a thing on MN that you can't ever suggest eating out to someone else unless you're paying for the entire thing but it's normal for lots of people

We catered for PILs golden wedding at our house years ago. Prob not as many people, more like 25ish but we had a local deli do it all and it was great. Kind of a cross between a posh buffet and a meal with lots of cold salads, breads, cheese board, plus a few meat type dishes that we just needed to bung in the oven and warm through. I think we just added some fresh fruit salads and a cake. It was all delivered to us plated up on large china platters which we just had to wash and return. So easy.

I agree. I used a fabulous local caterer for a party and was pleasantly surprised by the cost. They also had really good suggestions about what would make a good range of dishes.

We got Sainsburys buffet food, you have to order it, not cheap but was very good.

Back to the 197os but amazing
loads of crusty French bread , cheeses , butters, some meats and loads of red and white wine

a friend did this recently and it was great

Do not do that
beyond tacky

I assume you like you SIL ?

Waitrose entertaining is much nicer than sainsburys and not more expensive

Is this your step mum?

Friends, the five couples, were happy to pay, so get them onboard. Everyone chip in half of what ivy would cost. Then organise something lovely

Could you do it as a 'bring a board' night, I've been to one of those recently and it was absolutely brilliant. If you arrange all the boards on a long table, get some prosecco and cocktails it'll be lovely

Grazing tables look gorgeous. But with about 2 minutes they turn into something resembling a chimps' tea party.

Cous cous is cheap.
Add cumin, turmeric, garlic and ginger, (I use the chopped frozen chunks in the world foods section of the freezer) tinned chick peas and sultanas. (Value or Aldi)

Look at the ingredients list on commercial packs to make a couple of varieties. Get your spices from world foods aisle.

Homemade hummus is cheap and easy too. Or Aldi do lovely flavoured hummus.

Veggie chilli made with red lentils. Easy to prep if you buy frozen chopped onions and frozen chopped peppers and value chopped tomatoes value kidney beans. (Plus extra water for the lentils).

Serve with rice jacket spuds or nice bread.

French baguettes and butter/ spread.

Couple of sorts of crackers from Aldi. Their cheese is good value too. Get a cheap red Leicester and something else posher.

Couple of bags of salad with cherry tomatoes.

Crudités from coloured peppers/carrots/celery always look cheerful.

Their strawberries are cheap at the moment too.

Couple of packs of grapes in small bunches.