Does this sound like an okay party spread?

[bdaypartyfood]

Currently planning a surprise 30th birthday for my partner and catering it ourselves. It’s a family party so a mix of ages and some children there! Probably about 60-70 people coming.

I’ve never really done a buffet before but my current plan is this:

Ham sandwiches (1x platter)
Cheese sandwiches (1x platter)
Egg mayo sandwiches (1/2 platter)
Tuna sandwiches (1/2 platter)

Cherry Tomatoes (500g bag)
Celery
Carrots (1kg bag cut into sticks)
Cucumber (2 whole cucumbers)
Pepper (1 pack of 3 peppers)
All served with various dips

Mini sausage rolls (50)
Cocktail sausages (50)
Vegetable spring rolls (24)
quorn cocktail sausages (1 pack, only one vegetarian that I know of!)

Cheese & onion crisps
Sweet chilli crisps
Salted crisps
Tortilla chips
Onion ring crisps
(All one big share bag per flavour)

Chicken bites (72 pack)
Cheese pizza (x2)

Breadsticks (2 packs)
Coleslaw (1 pack)

Strawberries (2 packs)
Grapes (2 packs)
Watermelon (1)

Fairy cakes (24)
Mini flapjack (20)
Mini brownies (20)
Mini rolls (20)

Also doing some gluten free sandwiches and some gluten free cakes (only one person is wheat intolerant not coeliac so no cross contamination concerns)

Obviously a proper birthday cake as well!

Does this sound like a good spread of food? Too much or not enough?

Trying to stick to a budget where possible as the room hire was expensive!

Thanks in advance for advice!

Seriously though, why do some people expect every single social occasion to revolve around a bloody meal? It does irk me a bit, simply because I find it so boring and limited. The point of getting together with people is supposed to be to socialise, surely, not stuff one's face.

It's takes a couple of hours, but put your shopping list on the supermarkets apps (Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury) and work out which is cheaper. I do this every pay day to see where I'm doing my 'big shop'. This month it was between Tesco and Asda- Asda was £28 cheaper on my shopping list. So there can be a significant saving/!

@bdaypartyfood one tip for storing the sandwiches initially, once you’ve made each sandwich leave it whole and store it back in the bread bag. This will take up less room in the fridge.

Also make sure you spread the butter/spread thoroughly into every corner (more thoroughly than you normally would in a sandwich), it will act as a barrier to the sandwiches going soggy due to wet fillings.

Once you’ve cut and arranged the sandwiches, if you are storing them for a while, cover them with a slightly damp t-towel (wring it out really well, so it’s only slightly damp). You can then wrap them in clingfilm. My friend once roped me in to make all the sandwiches for her Uncle’s 80th birthday party. Time wise I had to make the sandwiches the afternoon on the day before, but I cut them in the morning and used the t-towel trick (I googled how to keep them fresh) and it worked well.

Sausage rolls and cocktail sausages can be cooked and cooled the day before. I’d probably do spring rolls on the day as they’ll store less well.

If you cut the carrot up a while beforehand store it in water, if will keep it fresher. Alternatively you can buy bags of cut up carrot batons, 400g for about £1. Just buy, 2 or 3 bags. Yes it’s more expensive than whole carrots but it’s not excessively expensive and will save a lot of time peeling and cutting carrots. They will probably keep better too as you can open the bags and set the carrots up pretty last minute at the venue.

Take a look online to compare prices of your sausage rolls, spring rolls etc. I imagine if you are buying frozen Iceland will work out cheaper. When I looked online £8 for 100 spring rolls seemed like a bargain. They also do home delivery, so you could get the frozen bits delivered which will save time and storage.

What you are doing is lovely and you’ve obviously put a lot of thought into it.

One last tip, look online for the most effective way to cut the cake so that everyone who wants a piece gets some. Cutting it the traditional way is going to produce far less slices than cutting it into sections. Birthday cakes are expensive to buy or make, so it’s good to get the most slices out of it.

Hope it goes well and you have a nice time OP.
I’m now sitting here craving a sausage roll.

Will you alone be doing the catering? No family help? No one suggesting they bring all the desserts, or someone said they’ll bring some quiches?? Nothing

what about alcohol?

Can I put forward other suggestions that might be easier for you, no more expensive and feel like you’ve done more than just crisps?

Hot dogs - buy lots of sausages fprobably 2 per person), cook at home before the party and then keep warm in slow cookers (if you don’t have one I’m sure someone can lend one). Buy finger bread rolls (cut in advance), crispy onions, sauces and let people help themselves. Do a side salad or crisps if you like but not needed.

Chilli - again borrow multiple slow cookers and put it all in the morning of the party then it will be ready by the evening. Pad out with lots of beans as the meat will be the expensive bit. Take tortilla chips, grated cheese, guacamole and sour cream for people to help themselves. This would be more if you want it to be a meal rather than a snack.

Hot pasta - again make ahead and keep warm. You could do a couple of different ones eg cheese and tomato, pesto etc.

If the venue allows take away food to be brought in it might be cheaper to be honest and less hassle .

I have done both and the takeaway option was cheaper and easier. Few bowls of crisps on the tables to nibble on until food arrives.

agree that the amount of food you’re suggesting is still way too little, even with your suggested revisions, and particularly as it is starting at 7, which is far too early for most people to have eaten dinner. If I was invited to a party that started at 7, it wouldn’t cross my mind to eat before I went and I’d expect there to be a reasonable amount of food available. I think your suggested menu is very boring - you said that you've based your menu on what you've seen your guests eating at a similar buffet, but maybe they would have eaten slightly less bland food if it had been available? I think the idea of chips from the chip shop is daft because they would go cold so quickly, and it would just be weird for the only hot food to be chip shop chips. I think your later suggestion to say that there will be snacks only, rather than a buffet, would be more sensible, then your guests will know to have an early dinner before they come. Maybe just have lots of puddings as someone else suggested?

Yes, that’s exactly it, thank you.

I would love to do a full buffet but it appears that this isn’t going to work out with my budget. I do have lots of helpers so time on the day is no issue, and the venue has a bar where you can just purchase drinks (and no one will be expecting these to be paid for by us!) so alcohol not included in the budget and not an issue

I will chat to my family about what they think and possibly offer my revised option, maybe with a couple extras (whilst making it clear on the invite that it’s light refreshments)

I promise for all those doubting that they are a very classic northern family who will just want and be happy with a beige buffet!

As others said, it’s my first time doing anything like this and I’m really not familiar with it at all. I do just want to do something nice that my partner will love, and ultimately food is not the main part of that, it’s the people! So I’m sure it will turn out as a lovely day either way

thanks for all the advice and comments on what to do!

It’s your first time… are you doing this all alone? No one is contributing financially ?
Or providing food?

buy enough booze for a toasting drinks and provide nibbles only

There was an article in The Times recently about catching food poisoning and the author said that coleslaw at events is one of the biggest risks and she wouldn't touch homemade.

I'm really sorry OP but I don't think you can feasibly feed 70 people on a £200 budget. It's just not enough money.

Either reduce the number of invites you send out, find a way to increase your budget or ask people to bring a plate of food with them. Or, as PP suggested, make it clear that you're only providing snacks (but then be prepared for people to leave early to get a proper meal).

7pm is dinner time for most people and I think unless you make it crystal clear that you're only offering the basics, people will expect enough food to cover a meal.

The venue doesn’t allow alcohol brought in, so no need to buy drinks at all!

But I have some people who can help me out on the day, but no one else is paying anything towards it

So his parents, siblings etc… no one has offered to bring, let’s say, a big salad or the desserts?

A few tips (trying not to double up on advice you’ve already received) -

1. Don’t open every packet straight away as it’s hard to predict how many you’ll need and you don’t want to waste them. If you keep some food under the table, you can replenish during the night (or, even better, assign a helper to do this). That way, if not all the food gets eaten, you can take some crisps and veggies home for your lunches, which helps keep costs down . It also helps to have some ‘spares’ in case a kid spills lemonade etc over the peppers.
2. Assign helpers with specific roles in advance; eg one person goes to the chippy at a certain time, another replenishes crisps and veggies. That way, you can relax and enjoy the night.
3. Ask for discounts! For example, the chippy may agree to give you a discount if you order/pay in advance and don’t need the portions individually wrapped.
4. Borrow any serving dishes rather than buying them - even disposable serving plates can be expensive if you’re on a tight budget.

I hope it’s a great night and that you all have loads of fun!! Remember this isn’t the Masterchef final so don’t worry if the food isn’t perfect on the night - no one will care! 🤣

If I knew my daughter or daughter in law was on a very tight budget and arranging all this, having never done anything like this before - I’d have leapt to contributing financially and providing food.

But you are saying they are will to help with prep but not actually bring anything to the table?

No they haven’t offered anything or said they’ll bring anything at all, and I felt it was rude to ask

This sounds like a thread in itself

imagine your daughter or son’s girlfriend on an incredibly tight budget hosting a huge party including food - and not saying “right, what can I bring… how about all the sweets? Or all the salads and snacks bits”

or better yet…” I’ll throw in £100 to help out “

I’d beg to differ 🙊

Why not do a stew and have a meat one and a veggie one, you could get disposable bowls and serve with small baguettes of bread and jars of red cabbage and beetroot. That way they get a hot meal. Apple pie with ice cream for the pudding, these can be bought from Iceland or Farm Foods. If you use mince meat from either of these stores and put carrots, potatoes and onions that should not cost too much. You might need to ask a few people for slow cookers but I am sure people would let you loan theirs for the event.

I asked chat GPT and the estimate was for a meat stew using mince for 60 people works out at £137 in total .You might need a veggie one for around 10 people. It told me that would make it around £2 a serving. You could get packs of apple pies so each person has an individual little pie . I think that would save a lot of time and fuss. Ice cream a few tubs from Farm foods.

Sorry I meant to add the veg is included in that price.

Is she allowed to bring in a whole load of slow cookers? How does she transport hot slow cookers to the venue ? Where does she keep the ice-cream ?

To those saying it's not enough, they are doing light refreshments and snacks. I think op has a great amount/variety of food.

If you are doing a buffet would it be more worthwhile to get a catering buffet in ,so much is needed for a buffet. Catering companies know what goes well for a buffet to have a successful one.