Party planning help

[Summerdrink]

Hi all,

Im organising a surprise 50th birthday party for my husband this May, only about 25 people in total. Im using our house & hopefully garden if weather is good. Budget isn’t too much. This will sound a bit sad but I haven’t organised any kind of party before! Just wanted to get some tips please..
Some thoughts I have…

• I wont have enough plates, glasses, cutlery for everyone. Is it okay to use paper plates etc or should I hire/ borrow glasses?!
• I wont have enough chairs/ tables. What do you suggest? I don’t really want to buy anything & we don’t own a car so difficult to borrow any.
• Im planning on buying the booze from Tesco, prosecco, wine, the usual. Re beer, should I get a selection of beers or buy a keg of beer?
• Party starts at 3pm as some family are travelling from afar but it will go until late. Im planning on putting out food at 3pm when the party starts. I guess I will then need to keep food “stocked up” throughout afternoon/ evening? I don’t want to do a bbq but want something substantial so people don’t get drunk. Any suggestions? I don’t think sanies will be enough. I did look at external caters but it was outside my budget. There wont be any children btw.
• Any ideas on how to make it a little bit special? I will get 50th balloons and will buy a 50th cake. Do I need 50 candles?!
• Present is sorted a least! He loves golf so getting golf stuff.

Thanks so much for reading :)

any replies? 😀

Few random thoughts:

Gazebos - beg borrow and steal from friends to provide shelter outside
Picnic blankets / cushions for seats
Ask people to bring camping chairs
Morrisons do glass hire otherwise paper / plastic is fine
I'd get selection of beers / lagers / ciders don't get a keg it's a pain to serve

Some supermarkets do platters of sandwiches? Chilli in slow cooker? Jacket potatoes?
fairy lights in the garden?

Pizzas / party food eg Indian snacks / sausage rolls are very easy just keep chucking them in the oven until people are full!!

Helium balloons are great for decorations - make them into tall bouquets tied into a weight.

If you are in an area where ice cream vans visit you could let them know and they may agree to come round at some point which could be fun.

Music!! Make sure you have a decent speaker set up.

For food in the early evening could you pre-make a few big pots of something easy to eat from a bowl/plate whilst mingling - e.g. chilli, or bolognese (perhaps not with spaghetti though!). Or some jacket potatoes with a selection of different fillings?

I’d do candles, but you don’t have to. Card factory will have a cheap “5” and “0” I’m sure.

@FusionChefGeoff and @thesandwich
thanks so much for your responses, really has helped. I hadnt even thought of picnic blankets or cushions! Great ideas.
Love the suggestions too, I like chilli in slow cooker too. 😀

Thanks @MrsKipling16 I will give chilli a go with rice perhaps

I would look at local caterers or take out for a few items, and have some food arrive around 6. Maybe a curry with plain rice, or a big lasagna from a local Italian place, etc. That way you have something warm that you don't need to cook yourself.

Make some large salads in advance, such as a green salad, pasta or potato salad,. Or make a sandwich bar, with buns, deli meats and cheeses and pickles ready to go and people can help themselves.

Disposable plates and cutlery are fine, and scrounge together as many chairs as possible, but you don't need to seat everyone together. People can mingle and eat.

Get a large cooler or similar, fill with ice, and keep a variety of soft drinks and beer/cider etc, so people can help themselves, as well as a close by bucket for empties. Set up a bar area with openers, ice bucket, and glasses (use yours first, then have plastic as back-up).

You don't need 50 candles! Look for candles in the shape of numbers for the 5-0, or use 5 larger candles for each decade.

Since he's a golfer, maybe make a silly putting game in the yard with a little prize, for fun and to keep laughs going.

Have fun and relax!

@mdinbc thanks so much. Massive help x

Don't do a keg of beer. Buy cases of bottles/cans and then if they don't all get used, you can take any unopened cases back (Tesco definitely will take them back).

If you do sandwiches, they'll start to dry up after a while. If you do chilli or curry in the slow cooker, serve with crusty bread or naan breads instead. I'd not do rice but that could just be me as it's one thing I always struggle to cook! Alternatively, pulled pork in the slow cooker served with baps, a green salad and coleslaw could work.

I wouldn't attempt 50 candles either - you won't get them all lit before the first few have burnt out. Just get a 5 and 0 candle. If you want a bit more of a wow factor, you could always get a couple of cake sparklers.

I did my own 50th! I borrowed chairs from friends and raided charity shops. I was going for an afternoon tea vibe and ordered stuff from Morrisons online and made some cakes. I made and bought cake stands, sarnies, cheese board, etc. I borrowed a karaoke machine and had the best afternoon ever. There was about 40 of us in my tiny garden.

My advice is make it as easy as you can. Set up early and use supermarket catering stuff for ease!

my.morrisons.com/foodtoorder/
Absolutely not endorsing or advertising but this is where I got my pre ordered food. I think all the supermarkets offer the same. Makes life so easy and not expensive!

To feed and water 25

trying to keep costs down

As your party spans 3 until late you are going to need some cold food stuffs for during the day and then get the hot stuff out later on about 7.

Your slow cooker needs to be large to feed 25 people.

chilli, rice, grated cheese, Tortilla chips - once ready to serve pop on a table with the slow cooker and spoon so guests can help themselves. Put the sides in large bowls so they can self serve those too. If you don’t have already buy a paper party table cloth (roughly £3 from Asda/sainsburys). You can also buy birthday confetti for a few pound to sprinkle on the table.

I’d buy plastic wine glasses, and plastic bowls for your guests to eat their chilli. Plastic forks too.

When guests arrive have crisps & dips. Cucumber/carrot/pepper sticks also for dipping. Nuts. Warm baguettes x 4 sliced with oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping

people will have had lunch so those few snacks will keep them going until chilli time.

re your booze. Keep checking for the specials online. And buy when they come on.

Also I know you are trying to keep costs down but food and drink for 25 people is going to be expensive

Not sure which part of the country you are in but do consider for example our local Indian does a special for £13, starter, naan, rice, curry, side - in your shoes I’d simply order 10of these and open them all out on the table for guests to help themselves. I’d chop the naans in half. So for £130 you could have that headache removed. There’ll be other restaurants who would be similar.

you could for example ask your local Italian for a large lasagne big dish of pasta, garlic breads etc maybe for £100

Also don’t forget local caterers they might be even cheaper to do you a chili rice etc for £25 people - it removes the stress from you

good luck

I would go to Majestic: if you buy your alcohol there, you can hire glasses for free, hire a drinks bucket for free, and return any unooened bottles and get a refund. They sell and deliver party ice too.
I wouldn’t worry about chairs, most people will be standing and mingling.
As people will be eating standing up, don’t serve anything that requires a knife. I’m not in favour of a chilli, it reminds me of school dinners tbh! I would lay out dips and crudités and crisps at 3pm and at around 5pm bring out 3 salads (cous cous salad, potato salad, pasta salad), meatballs, ham, salami or roast gammon, possibly homemade coleslaw or roast veggies, chicken nuggets, pizzas. Around 7pm take out cheeseboard with fresh and dried fruit followed by the birthday cake and Prosecco.

There may be specials on drinks around Easter, or around the May Bank Holidays.
Tortillas and dips are always popular in the afternoon, and if doing hot food, then having that later is a good idea. Agree with chilli or curry or similar but with naan rather than rice. But paper plates would be too wobbly for that. If need more plates, then can try charity shops or car boot sales. Or paper plates mean no washing up! We have some picnic plates we got a few years ago (think from wilkos) - have been used for multiple bbq as are more sturdy than paper plates, and store away easily . And extra cutlery can be plastic or bamboo.

And depending when in May the party is, might be worth getting some stuff in advance as people will stock up for Bank Holidays (and possibly Coronation Street parties).

@Quitelikeit @Maraki @OldTinHat @whoknows1230
Didnt expect so many replies…. they are fantastic…. thank you so much, it really helps. Im making a note of all these suggestions & will take all your advice xx

Another option could be M&S lasagne- they do large ones - you’d need about five though you could cook them earlier then reheat

serve with

boiled baby potatoes
Garlic bread
3 x large coleslaw tubs

^^ that would cost about £40 all in

Also re the cake, if you google ‘golf birthday cake’ you’ll see some ideas then you can contact local cake makers to ask how much they will charge. Or you can tell them you have a xxx budget and can they make you a golf cake for that price

Another idea could be chicken fajitas

you could make these in the morning and then pop them in the slow cooker and turn it on about two hours before to heat up

then you could buy a large sour cream (it’s quite cheap)

4 packs of 8 wraps (£4)

lettuce shred it

grated cheese

fajita seasoning

may go down much better than chilli with guests

Keep it simple. Hot dogs. On a BBQ. And a massive salad Rope people into helping on the BBQ. Everyone bring a bottle and a chair
Sorted

Snacky bits from 3: crisps and nibbles

Cold buffet bits at intervals from then.

At 7 bring out slow cooker chilli or spiced chicken, wraps, salad , grated cheese , salsa, guacamole , sour cream.

Cookies and ice cream from 8.

I know it's a special birthday but how formal do you want it to be, how available to guests do you want to be and how much help do you have? Do you, or someone you know, have a Costco membership? Their sandwich platters are reasonable and generous and more interesting than the usual fare. Get their sandwich platter for kids (cheaper & just plain) as well as the stuff for adults. Mini pastries, baby cupcakes and biscuits are excellent value. They also do 6-8 portion oven ready meals, cheaper by far than supermarkets, you'd just need to put them in the oven & serve with bread & salad. I'm a big fan of pizza delivery late at night to a party, there are always offers - buy one get one free and so on/25% off with Deliver/Uber etc - so easy to get a selection. You'd probably get 4 large pizzas delivered for £25. If £ is an issue I wouldn't go to a baker but buy a couple of the same large supermarket traybake cakes & either side by side or on top of each other decorate them with personalised decorations from eBay. There are so many & so cheap. Banners too, I recently bought two large personalised banners for £4.65 inc postage. What about putting a slide show of pictures together and displaying it on a loop through your TV? Completely agree with the beg/borrow a gazebo idea - Facebook marketplace good for that and you could look for party packages - tents/domes and so on that someone comes to set up & take down - they are often good value.

I think the question is how much you want to partake in the party - if you bringing out food every couple of hours and clearing it up then you won't participate much. What do you want to remember about it?

I made a chilli and a vegetable chilli ahead. For rice for that number of people I saw a method of cooking it in a big roasting tray in the oven - was a bit sceptical, but it worked a treat! Used bamboo disposable bowls and forks, and had dishes of sour cream, fresh chillies, chopped coriander and lime etc for people to help themselves.

it also meant that I wasn’t rushing around preparing food during the party.

I don’t think you need food at 3 pm. Crisps/nibbles will be fine for a couple of hours at least.

Here is one example. I also checked online for the quantities I’d need.

www.favfamilyrecipes.com/cook-rice-crowd-easy-oven-method/

You mention drinks such as wine, prosecco but have you considered a jug of Pimms? You can prepare the fruit beforehand and have the jug ready as people arrive, it encourages guests to help themselves to drinks and if the weather is nice you can put the jug on a table outside. You’ll probably get good deals on Pimms nearer the Coronation or Easter weekends but if the Pimms prices are too high you can also use the Lidl/Aldi alternatives.

I’ve also prepared a jug of passion fruit martini before that was very popular (the drinks can be a bit pricier than, say, Pimms but I use Passoa and then Aldi vanilla vodka and Aldi fruit juice with plastic shot glasses of Prosecco on the side, again this can be prepared in advance and is a bit of fun).

Somebody upthread mentioned a cooler filled with ice which is a good idea. I bought a couple of laundry tubs/storage baskets from Wilko years ago (the sort that you carry your laundry from the machine to the washing line) that have handles (but no holes in). I fill these with ice and put the beer and wine/Prosecco bottles in there, I also tied bottle openers to the handles. I place the containers on the decking or in the garden so that guests aren’t congregating in the kitchen and getting in the way.

Good luck with the party, it sounds lovely.