Bday party with no sarnies?

[MassiveSalad22]

Party tomorrow and just thought I can probably get away with no sarnies?

5 year olds. Party is 2-4pm. Party lunchbox with pombears, mini choc fingers and juice box, plus the party favour and a cupcake to choose on the way out.

Does this seem measley? Purposefully chose that time slot tbh to avoid doing a full meal.

Want to avoid as much waste as poss - have borrowed proper cups, all paper decorations etc. I have bought the stuff for sandwiches but we’ll easily use it up through the week. Just hate the thought of platters of rejected sarnies!

But it is a meal...you need to change your mind set. Every party I've been too and the one we've thrown have had a great spread of what everyone else is saying, plus cucumber sticks and fruit platters. The kids and adults loved it!

Why is it a meal? It's not at a meal time. It's a snack...

I think it’s pretty clear that not everyone will be as certain about it being snack time and no meal provided as the OP needs them to be

I can't believe how many would rely on a meal being given
I don't rely on a meal being given.

It's the norm at parties I attended as a child and that DCs have attended to have to a party tea, so a more substantial snack with a mix of savoury and sweet snacks.

I'd adjust our meal times and portion sizes to reflect the party tea and would find it unusual for there to be chocolate fingers and crisps only.

We went to a party at a soft play earlier in the year. The options were meat pizza, chicken nuggets, chips and cake and none of it was vegan, not even the chips (cooked in animal fat). Safe to say we felt pretty excluded! Offer a vegan option please!

In my experience of several parties ages 3 - 9 sandwiches and all food gets demolished no matter the time of party...

I also wouldn’t “rely” on a meal being provided but if it weren’t clear on the invitation for a party from 2-4pm I wouldn’t be sure of whether to give a full lunch and tea at normal times or adjust timings

Does it really matter though?

You feed you kid what you want & when & they eat what they want at the party?

I wouldn't go to a party at that time without feeding my child. But some might assume they will have food not just snacks.

Get some cooked sausage rolls and chop them up. Don't put them all out though leave them in the packets. Just keep some extra back and put out if needed. If there's any left they can be frozen.

This is nuts Sorry!

They won't all pick the same filling, and most of them will like most/all of the fillings. Make it simple and do about 25 half sandwiches with a range of fillings. (2/3 choices). That way there's a bit extra in case you have a few children that are fussier.

Well we are going through a cost of living crisis. Some children might not even know where there next meal is coming from. Some parents might not be able to afford a gift.

No it doesn’t really matter. I was responding to the “I can’t believe people are relying on a meal at the party” thing.

Ah sorry, hadn't picked that up.

It was easy when I was a kid-there was always a "birthday tea".

Did a similar party. Had Crisps, sandwiches, popcorn, Frubes, oranges, Cucumber, cupcakes, cheese, pizzas, mini cheese and onion rolls. It all went! Every last bit. There was loads too. Kids running around like mad things at a party will be hungry.

I mean, what is served at the party changes things, even though it doesn’t really matter

like if you were invited to an adult party and had no idea if just nibbles or a full dinner were being served, it makes a difference to how you plan the rest of your eating that day

it doesn’t matter, and certainly not to the host, but if you have the information you will change things

Yeah I think that’s still the case, hence the OP’s dilemma

Yeah I think that’s still the case, hence the OP’s dilemma

We did used to have parties at a time that would make this obvious though!

Since the party is now over I wonder if OP survived the feral stampede instigated by the call of SNACK TIME!

Starts looking for hospital threads

As it happens we are vegetarian, and at that particular party the margarita pizzas were all snaffled before we got to them, so I do feel your pain!

DD, age 5 went to a birthday party yesterday at 2-4pm at a soft play. I’ve no idea what food they had as I just dropped her off - did my time last month hosting 20 5 year olds for her birthday and hardly any parents stayed, so felt zero guilt making a hasty exit

She’d definitely eaten cake as it was all over her face. I asked her what food she’d had and she didn’t seem to know, apart from cake. I assume there was some kind of “party tea” as there always seems to be, but she’d had lunch and we had dinner as normal.

I really wouldn’t care in that time slot what was offered. I’m just happy she’s had a nice time. Over a meal time I guess I’d be more bothered.

We did a 1-3pm party and all the food was eaten, including ham and cheese sandwiches!

Party was over by the time you posted but no I didn’t offer a vegan option - I asked for dietary requirements on the invite and even if the host didn’t, you should have mentioned you were vegan when you RSVPd I’m afraid! Mind readers don’t exist!

For those interested, I did 6 sandwiches of each filling, cut into 4s, and 3 pizzas. Pizzas went but we had at least one platter of sandwiches left over. Basically all the token veg was left too. So pizza is the way forward! Lunch boxes worked well and all eaten (Pombears, mini choc fingers and apple juice carton).