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!

I would say more sausage rolls/ cocktail sausages , those nibbly type bits tend to go at party, in my experience esp with kids and the men, there’s no enough for one per person based on your numbers.

If I were you I would genuinely scrap food altogether and just do snacks. Bowls of crisps, nuts, pretzels, breadsticks etc.

You just can’t feed 70 people on £200, nowhere near. From what you have said it’ll be one slice of pizza for four people. 70 people fighting over two tubs of strawberries.

Making all those sandwiches from scratch will take ages. I would save yourself the hassle and say ‘no food’.

If you want something to stretch farther then I’d suggest a massive portion of pasta salad. As in several salad bowls full. Cheap to make yourself and everyone eats it. Another option is rice mixed with finely chopped tomato, onion and cucumber and some herbs and olive oil. Very cheap and fills people up.

Don't get chippy chips. They’ll go cold and inedible in 5 mins.

I would eat them, but not cheese or ham.

Sainsbury’s and Morrisons do party platters. They just need to be ordered. Sandwich’s/ wraps, sausage platters that sort of thing. That may save you alot of time and stress.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/groceries/occasions-by-sainsburys/party-food/c:1046177?aka=1

Your buffet sounds fine to me and much like many I go to! I just don’t think there’s enough. I would buy 4 times the amount of sausage rolls, chicken bites, pizzas and people can fill up on carb. Iceland is your best bet.

My 6 year old DD who’s small for her age would eat at least 4 of those sausage rolls. I’d do 150. 2 pizzas isn’t nearly enough, 8 slices per pizza means only 16 get one slice. Some will want more than one.

I do think though you have vastly underestimated how much people will put on their plates especially the children. but if you've never hosted for this many people that is understandable. in all honestly I would have multiplied virtually everything by 4 on your list.

if cost is an issue like others said remove the tuna. id keep the egg mayo though just because they're a favourite in my family.

For my function, I asked close family to bring their air fryers (all double) so we were able to put sausage rolls and other bits in them and that freed up the oven for pizzas. But if you want to make it easy buy the bags/boxes of about ten minutes pizzas from Asda. id get at least 10-12 boxes and that would cost the same as a few large frozen pizzas.

Also I'd do a few more cucumbers - kids will want them and other people to dip into dips. You also really need at least two of each dip so maybe don't do loads of keep to salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

I like the idea of chips but If you are getting bags of chips you will need a substantial amount so this might actually end up being costly. Asda also do cheesy mini potato tots which go in to the air fryer or the packs of smiles I've seen for 4 for £5 somewhere if you want something potato based.

I think your husband is very lucky and it's good that you've asked as it's always better to have more and not less and I think it is manageable for £200 even with bottles of soft drinks and wine. on invitations you could tell people to bring their own alcohol if you want this.

best not go to any buffets then

Is everything cold? I wouldn't want cold sausage rolls, pizza, chicken bites, sausages etc. I do nit think £200 can cover actual food for this many. I think you might be best going no food and using the money for nuts and snacks etc.

Dips are something that I’d be very wary of serving unless they are kept cold having had very bad food poisoning from a buffet - it you want some veggies then make them into a salad or vinegar based slaw

since You haven’t invited yet can you do 730/8pm and just do desserts? Just thinking outside the box.

otherwise I’d say snacks only and get loads of crisps and cocktail sausages etc and skip sandwiches and pizzas.

I have twice had barbecues and posted on here. Everyone was screaming and shouting that I wouldn’t have enough. I had to throw enormous amounts away both times and that was with ignoring Mumsnet.

🥪 Sandwiches — the main eventAim for 130 whole sandwiches = 260 halves.
Filling Whole sandwiches
Ham 40
Egg mayo 30
Tuna mayo 25
Cheese 25
Ham & cheese 10
Total 130
I'd actually make ham the biggest quantity, as it's usually the safest crowd-pleaser.
Buy approximately:

• 26–28 loaves sliced bread
• 3 kg ham
• 36 eggs
• 10–12 tins tuna
• 2.5 kg cheese
• 4–5 jars mayonnaise
• Butter/spread

🌭 Sausage rolls — coldYou can absolutely serve sausage rolls cold.

• 180 mini sausage rolls
• Or around 60 large ones, cut into thirds

I'd favour mini ones, because people can take a couple without filling their plate with one item.

🍝 Cold pastaMake a big cold pasta salad.

• 3 kg dry pasta
• 2–2.5 kg pasta salad ingredients/dressing
• Sweetcorn
• Peppers
• Cheese
• Mayo or a light dressing

You don't need 4 kg now because the sandwiches and sausage rolls are doing more of the work.

• 🥔 Crisps15 large sharing bags
• Mix of ready salted, cheese & onion, salt & vinegar, etc.

Put them into bowls so people can help themselves.

🥚 A few extra cold fillersI'd add:

• 30 Scotch eggs, halved
• 2–3 packs cocktail sausages, served cold
• 2 large packs pork pies, cut into slices
• 2–3 packs tortilla wraps, sliced into pinwheels if you want something different

You don't necessarily need all of these — they're your cheap insurance against running out.

🍰 If you're also providing dessertI'd keep dessert simple:

• 70 pieces of cake/brownie
• 2–3 large packs of biscuits
• Fruit if wanted

🛒 My exact shopping list for 70Sandwiches — 260 halvesBread

• 28 × 800g white sliced loaves
• This gives you plenty of bread and some spare.

Ham

• 10 × 300g packs = 3kg ham
• Use generously on the ham sandwiches.

Cheese

• 3 × 900g blocks = 2.7kg
• I'd buy blocks and slice them yourself — much cheaper than individual slices. Aldi currently lists 900g mild cheddar at £4.85.

Egg

• 3 × 15-pack eggs = 45 eggs
• Use about 30–36 for egg mayo and keep the remainder as backup.

Tuna

• 10–12 tins tuna

Mayonnaise

• 4 large jars/bottles

Butter/spread

• 2 tubs

Sandwich quantities

• 40 whole ham
• 30 whole egg mayo
• 25 whole tuna mayo
• 25 whole cheese
• 10 whole ham & cheese

That's 130 whole sandwiches / 260 halves. 🌭 Sausage rollsThis is where Aldi is particularly useful.

• 20 × 8-pack sausage rolls = 160 sausage rolls

At the current listed price of about 95p per 8-pack, that's only around £19. You don't need to heat them — serve cold. I'd actually put out perhaps 120 initially and keep the remaining 40 in reserve. 🍝 Big cold pasta saladBuy:

• 3 × 1kg bags pasta
• 3 jars mayonnaise
• 4 tins sweetcorn
• 3 peppers
• 1kg grated cheese
• Optional: cucumber/tomatoes if you want a little colour

Cook the pasta beforehand, cool it completely, mix it up and refrigerate. 3kg dry pasta will make a seriously large bowl, so this is excellent insurance against running out. 🥔 CrispsBuy:

• 15 large bags/sharing bags

I'd get mostly:

• Ready salted
• Cheese & onion
• Salt & vinegar
• Prawn cocktail

Don't put all 15 bags out at once. Put out 8–10 bags, then replenish from the spare ones. 🥚 Extra cold buffet foodI'd add these because they're cheap and make the table look much fuller:

• 30 Scotch eggs
• 2 large packs pork pies
• 3 packs cocktail sausages
• 2 packs mini Babybel or similar cheese snacks, if budget allows

Cut the Scotch eggs and pork pies into halves/slices so they go further. 💷 Rough budgetI'd expect something along these lines: Item Budget 28 loaves £16 3kg ham £16 2.7kg cheese £15 45 eggs £9 Tuna £10–£12 Mayonnaise £8–£10 Butter £4 20 packs sausage rolls £19 3kg pasta £5–£7 Pasta salad ingredients £12–£15 15 bags crisps £15–£20 Scotch eggs £10–£15 Pork pies £5–£8 Cocktail sausages £5–£8 Estimated total ~£154–£174 So you've got £25–£45 left over.

Could you ask people to bring something along? If each family brings something and you add £200 of sandwiches, pizza and sausages you should be good.

It’s all very childish good OP - feels like a 5th birthday party not a 30th.

I think you need to completely rethink.

To be honest for that many people I wouldn’t be doing a buffet myself. I would either:

• get some m&s or Sainsburys catering platters for the right number of people (can just be collected morning of)
• do some easy hot food and rent some hot plates to keep warm (chilli, curry etc).

If you are intent on doing it yourself then you basically need to scrap it and start again

• warm bread rolls
• extensive cheese board
• deli meats
• pate
• home made sausage rolls
• full size sausages not cocktail
• A selection of flat breads and dips (hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki etc) and olives
• a large pasta salad
• a large couscous salad
• a large orzo salad
• a large rice salad
• a large green salad

in enough quantity to feed 80 people

OR I would just cook/order a load of pizza and garlic bread

This. Pizza and chicken bites need to be served hot. You will need a lot of oven space to serve pizza for 70. I would scrap the food altogether and just do bowls of crisps, nuts and olives then a great birthday cake to cut and share with guests.

Have you costed the food, and where is it from?

I think you need to be prepared for people to have one of every item, so doesn't sound enough, sorry. My aunt always says "If there's no leftovers, you didn't serve enough."

Id add some quiche and some large bowls of tuna pasta and potato salad all of these are fine to eat cold

Nonsense! Egg Mayo is very popular 😁

This is like enough food for a children’s party of about 20.

We just did MIL’s birthday party, which admittedly was hot food (burgers, sausages and a roast chicken), salads, crisps, dips, nuts, 3 cakes (one GF) plus alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for about 30.

It was way more food than this and cost probably £600.

You need to stop complicating it all by adding more and more and more different things. You need 4-5 main things to eat, but a whole lot of it. 1 kg bag of carrots is one meal for my family of 4. If all 70 people want carrots, you are going to need at least 5 kg. Similarly, a punnet of tomatoes does us for a side salad with our main lunch with family (7 people) and there is never any leftovers.

That is no where near enough for 60-70 people

@bdaypartyfood If you have time could you make some bulking out things that could be made in advance like
a couple of large quiche
garlic bread
satay chicken skewers- or marinated chicken legs
Desserts- not just the birthday cake and buns but maybe a couple of cheesecakes?
It is a bit kids' party food at the minute but you know what your guests like

If you do not have time why not order a load of bhajis and samosas from your local takeway?
Or a couple of nice hot pizza? to be delivered

I know it can be difficult with fridge space doing this sort of thing

Could you go to Costco and add on a few of their large party trays? They have all sorts.