Buffet for 40 people - ideas needed

[carnivalqueenthethird]

Later this year my parents will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They had their reception in a local village hall, so i have hired the same venue to host a surprise party for them.

It’s going to be a mingle and chat kind of event rather than a full blown party disco and will be held at 1pm. There will be tables and chairs to sit at, so it doesn’t need to be purely finger food.

I was originally going to do a mixture of hot and cold food - the hot being pulled pork and beef brisket with rolls, but I couldn’t think of a vegetarian alternative. We also have some quite greedy family members who would pile their rolls up with 4 people’s worth of portions, so I would need to stand there and serve which I thought would be just a bit too much hassle for 40 people.

So I think I’m going down the cold buffet route. I plan to make sandwiches, cocktail sausages and cheese and pineapple skewers as my parents had these at their evening reception. I will also do a tray of vegetable sticks with dips and get some crisps, but I would really like some ideas of other things I can serve that are a bit more exciting and not giving off children’s birthday party vibes. Particularly interested in vegetarian ideas as I always feel the veggies get left out a bit.

What are your go to buffet dishes? Maybe pasta salads or other skewer ideas?

The only thing I need to avoid completely is fish/shellfish as my dad is allergic and my mum isn’t a fan.

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

I think a lot of meat eaters view the veggie options as sides, too, maybe not considering that for us they’re the main course.

I think a traditional afternoon High Tea as suggested by @FridayNighFeeling might be the way to go.

I would go more down the afternoon tea route. Less bitty and more streamlined

Sandwich’s with crusts off - 4 varieties

Another savoury item

Then a variety of mini cakes, mini tarts, and similar

Serve hot tea and coffee. Some nice cordials with sparkling water, sparking wine.

You can then plate up using afternoon tea platters also so it’s kind of pre portioned per table. Either extra on side

Another vote for Morrisons platters. I hosted a hen party for a friend and the platters were amazing. I got a few different sandwich ones (they do vegetarian ones as well as meat) then some other savoury snack ones (can’t remember exactly what there was but I remember the mini pork pies as part of one of them) and they also do wraps, charcuterie, cheese, fruit and dessert platters. They do need a few days notice but it was such a great hassle free way of catering for a large amount of people.

What facilities does the hall have? A kitchen? Microwave? Fridge? Oven? Urn for hot water?

40 is an awful lot when you also need to think about cutlery, plates, cups/saucers etc. Do you have anyone to help set up, serve and tidy up?

I'd also buy in platters from M&S/costco etc and then top up with other bits. Some ideas:
-Quiche or frittata. If making, just check that any cheese is vegetarian and doesn't contain rennet
-Cold, chicken drumsticks with foil around the 'handle'
-These brie bites are quick and keep for a few days. I just use puff pastry and the cheap brie from aldi because it stays in shape, whereas the expensive brie melts everywhere. I've also use walnuts when I didn't have any pecans. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a56610/cranberry-brie-bites-recipe/
-Curried or deviled eggs https://www.recipetineats.com/devilled-eggs/
-https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/104806/tomato-and-mozzarella-bites/

I’d definitely order from Waitrose or M&S or get it catered. Loads to choose from & will save you a lot of time/effort.

Order platters of sandwiches, M&S do great platters and will cater for veggie / gluten free etc. Then do scones wjth jam and cream.

Thank you for all the replies so far. I updated my phone after posting and it completely froze so only just got back on. I will have a read through your replies now.

I did look at M&S but they won’t do a platter with prawns which my dad can’t eat annoyingly. I can only order the vegetarian one but there’s not much variety on that. The Lasagne sounds lovely!

Thank you! I’m hoping to get lots of photos from the day and hang them up around the venue too. My friend who is amazing cake maker is making a replica of the top tier of their wedding cake too. My mum also has her wedding dress stashed away, so I am very tempted to get it out and hang it up there as well.

Thanks for the suggestion, not sure why I didn’t think to look at Morrisons. I M&S, Waitrose and Sainsburys but they all have a prawn sandwich mixed in which means my dad couldn’t eat anything on the platter. I’ll have a look at Morrisons!

All of that sounds delicious, thank you so much! Very much up for making as much as I can the day before so I only really have to worry about sandwiches and cutting up fruit and veg on the day.

A really easy way to do fruit for something like this is to buy those packs of fingers of mango, pineapple and melon. Very refreshing and all you have to do is put them on a nice plate. If it's summer berries would be good, of course.

I actually think it will be simpler going down the hot route, making sandwiches is a faff or caterer’s are expensive. Vegan gluten free 5 bean chilli is a great option as ticks multiple dietary restrictions and is very cheap to make. To try and deal with greedy types cook trays of oven chips, and have salads before the hot more expensive food

There will be about 6 Veggies coming but my mum often opts for vegetarian food as well. Silly question but for a vegetarian chilli do you use quorn mince or do you think it would be better making a bean one? I really like the idea of it, I’m just nervous about keeping rice safe to eat. Good idea about letting the veggies go up first though!

Thank you for the salad suggestions! Deserts are all sorted as my friend is a cake maker/baker so she is doing all that for me which is handy!

Yes I said I would like to have tables and chairs for people to sit. I don’t mind eating a cocktail sausage or similar when standing up not a plate of food.

I can’t order from M&S unfortunately as they only do platters with prawns included. We don’t have any local sandwich shops/caterers around unfortunately that will just do sandwiches. I did find a couple but they wanted to charge £20 per person and I thought it was ridiculous. With myself, my sister, and my two best friends making the food, I’m sure I can do it for less than £20 per head.

do you mean Jackfruit? I completely forgot about that!! It was in ‘fashion’ a couple of years ago as it supposed to be similar to pulled pork I think.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I think this all sounds delicious. Oh yes, forgot about the pickled onions!!

If you’re worried about some folks taking more than their share then instead of having trays of sandwiches, a tray of sausage rolls (cheese and onion rolls are always a mega hit here), a tray of pork pies etc then make the trays per table and have a mix of bits on them.

Saves people getting up, and also means they the folks who can’t queue aren’t left with the dregs that are left at the end.

People are much politer with what they take when it’s right in front of the people they’ll be directly sharing with.

Thank you for the tip! I didn’t really think about it until you said, but you are right. I quite often go for veggie because I don’t always trust meat if I don’t know how it’s been stored and cooked 😂

Yes thank you. My sister and 2 best friends will be helping me make it and transport to venue so we have 4 fridges ‘at home’ and then there is a big fridge at the venue too. I plan on getting the food ‘delivered’ about a hour before it starts so hoping that some stuff can go straight on the tables and anything that needs to stay refrigerated until the last minute should fit the fridge at the venue.

It’s a bit of both for me. I did look at catering but both places wanted around £20 per head, and I just felt if I was going to spend that much I could have gone to a local restaurant that has a private dining area and then people could eat whatever they wanted and it would be no stress or effort on my part. But I have to be honest I really love hosting and I don’t get to do it very often anymore as I have 2 young children, so I’m strangely a bit excited to do it.

These idea sound delicious. I’m wondering if I might be able to cook at home and keep warm in a slow cooker?!

Thank you for these suggestions and sorry for your loss 💐

Yes plenty of space to prep and store.