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!

Yes change the invite to nibbles only. Then serve plates of crisps/prezels and what not. 200
is not enough to service 70 people.

id probably kill the sandwiches altogether and get loads and loads of pizzas. Lidl are good value

I can't see the appeal in sliced up, raw vegetables either.

I think better to make large bowls of salad with the veg incorporated. Maybe potato salad (cheap if you make your own), rice based salad, Waldorf and one bean based.

I might swap the chips for 50 jacket potatoes.

Small people doesn't mean they will take much less. For one thing the smallest "unit" they could take would be one sandwich, one sausage roll since they won't be leaving half behind. For another a ten year old could easily scoff five sandwiches/sausages rolls etc if they were very hungry whilst a five year old could get through the same amount by taking a bite of one sandwich and finding out they don't like it and want another and then another. Obviously that's not ideal behaviour, but do you really want to be hovering about worrying about them only taking one sandwich each because that's how much you calculated? It's better to just have more.

You need more food basically. And ideally more of the protein items- the sausage rolls etc. I would also buy in extra crisps etc. You can refill the bowls as they empty and unopened big packets of crisps don't go off. So if you have a lot left over it doesn't matter. But if you run out half way through it's worse

Buying in chips is an excellent idea but I would make it more than a couple of portions. A lot more. You could also have takeaway pizza delivered as well (but that's just me)

I agree with this 100%. Better to have nice snacks and plenty of them than a sparse buffet.

Nowhere near enough, I would say 3x what you've listed and a better variety of sandwiches. Maybe just double the sweet stuff and fruit.
Do some cheese and pickle sandwiches and ham and coleslaw, don't bother with a tub of coleslaw. I'd get ritz crackers and a couple of quiches too.
Some people won't want a bit of everything but some will eat 5 or 6 cocktail sausages/chicken bites/sausage rolls.
I wouldn't bother with chips, hassle for someone to go out to get them and will go cold quickly, no one wants cold chips

All the food prep sounds exhausting. I’d go to Costco and get 5 large cakes, serving 14 each. Indulgent and with a slice each, people will feel fed. I’d probably get 3 trays of wraps with that (48 pieces each). Then I’d use the rest of the budget to do a freezer dash for supplementary cocktail sausages, sausage rolls etc. All £1.50 a bag max. Big bowl of tuna pasta (homemade), potato salad. Maybe a couple of cheap quiches to throw in the oven. Buy basic crisps and depending on price / 100g, individual may end up cheaper.

I think it’s doable. Just have plenty of plates.

Hi OP,

I am glad you put the time in as I wondered throughout the thread, I think it makes a huge difference.

I would definitely have had dinner before I went to a 30th on an evening, and a few snack size bites would be sufficient. I certainly would not come out thinking there would be a cracking spread.

Had the party been during the day, I might have expected something more substantial like hot food as I likely wouldn't have eaten a main meal of the day by then.

That said, as soon as any buffet is opened you definitely get some men at the front of the queue with their plates piled high taking four of everything and giving no shits about anyone else.

Google AI suggests around 20kg food in total.

Similar result here: Party Food Calculator — Portions Per Guest | PartyCalcs

Yes just say snacks or nibbles, or ask people to bring a dish, it’s not the food type that’s the issue, yes it’s a bit dull but it’s fine, it’s the very low quantities.

I hate to ask, but if the price of food is worrying you have you considered alcohol? Or is it a dry party? As as much as people may bring a bottle of wine or something, if people expect to drink you need to provide quite a lot of alcohol for that many people,

for 70 people you will be looking at at least 40 bottles of wine, then spirits, mixers, soft drinks, and of course ice.

do you have enough plates and glasses?

Was thinking the same. People love all the snacky things that can be eaten in one or two mouthfuls and picked up with one hand without getting mucky fingers. More sausage rolls, mini sausages, onastick etc. Dump the hummus and dip ideas so no double dipping etc.

I’ve found that when buying lots of pre made things the cost can really go up. So if you want to feed people for cheap making something like potato salad or pesto pasta salad fills people up cheaply. Like a simple version.

you could roast a chicken the day before and make chicken/mayo/sweet corn sandwiches because that’s going to be cheaper than ham and cheese at the cost in the shops at the moment- it’s about 5/6 quid for a medium chicken isn’t it in Aldi?

another thing I’d consider is jacket potatoes- if you cooked them ahead then covered in foil or borrowed a heating mat? Then everyone could have a potato with cheese / chicken mayo or tuna mayo - filling and cheap? Then have some dips/veg?

or just get a domino’s delivery and see if you can get a good deal? I went to a party and it was domino’s and then shop bought cakes as that’s what they liked! Everyone loved it and it wasn’t overly expensive?

How are you storing, preparing and transporting all this food? Seriously, it is a huge task to do this yourself, keep the cold food cold and then heat up anything hot.

If it's a surprise, how/where will you make all the sandwiches? Where will you put them?

I suspect you don't have enough fridge space to store enough food for 70 people or enough car space to transport it. And you can't leave it out in the kitchen.

I would suggest you contact a local Indian restaurant and see how much it would cost to get them to bring in some big curry dishes - in my experience that's the cheapest way of catering for a large group. Or ask the local chippie what they could deliver for £200 - you might find they will bring in cod bites and chips, say.

Or like others have said, just do nibbles. Tell people there is a chippie nearby if they haven't eaten.

Are you doing a cake?

It’s clearly at a pub or club if OP has no access to an oven. Either way, it is not usual or expected to in any way provide alcohol if you’re having a party at home. The food, yes, but everyone who has even a sliver of social competence knows to take their own alcohol, not to expect the host to provide it.

I don't think you are thick at all! And I think it's completely reasonable to work within budget and stick to it. But the budget you have is quite small to feed lots of people. My suggestions would be

1. Tell people it's nibbles, so they aren't expecting a full meals worth of food
2. Ask other people to help. You don't need to ask for money. But you can suggest a completely optional "bring a desert" type thing. Out of seventy people there will be several who will want to do this so then you have a lot of cake/desert type options.
3. Alternatively For people close to you and your husband it's not cheeky to ask them to help by bringing a salad they make really well or something. I wouldn't do that for every guest (and that would be too much food and chaos) but I am guessing there will be family members etc who might also be happy to chip in with making the event nice by helping out. If another person is doing salad or sausages rolls or bread then you have more money to bulk up the rest.

Sounds like you’re planning a lovely evening for your partner!
I’d prob keep it simpler with cheese or ham/turkey sandwiches only. Egg needs cooking and it’s faff enough to make that volume of sandwiches.
Crisps and nuts go on the tables, maybe some haribos as well?
Just do sausage and maybe cheese rolls; pies can be quite expensive and it’s a faff to cut them too. A few platters of nuggets as well - I’d probably do 200 for 60 people.
Pasta pesto or potato salad is a good filling shout but needs cutlery vs finger food so balance the price of the tableware.
Id probably do crudités as they’re v economical - bags of radish, celery, carrots, as well as breadsticks.
If the chippy is around the corner I’d probably make that known so people can pop out and sort themselves.
have a lovely time!

Never underestimate how much some kids will eat. They'll likely go straight for the pizza and crisps too. We had a party for my son when he was about 8, and one boy ate half the strawberries (about 500g) before anyone noticed and took them away from him.

Sorry its no where near enough! I would double the bags of crisps, have the spares sat there ready to go. I would increase sausage rolls, pizza and sausages these will be the first to go! Can you do a selection of cheese and biscuits?

It's amazing how much adults and children eat at buffets. When I was a waitress at a hotel they used to do buffets when they catered weddings. It was like a plague of locusts when they announced the buffet was open. And sausage rolls are basically crack cocaine to the under tens. This is why I always err on the side of more rather than less food.

£200 at a push is not enough to feed 60/70 on a buffet. If you say snacks, then perhaps half will turn up. Which is plenty.

That is like 1/3 cherry tomato per guest? 😅

I think you are underestimating how long it will take to prepare a lot of what you are proposing eg slicing peppers, making egg mayonnaise, making sandwiches. Also when you are heating up the pizzas it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get the spring rolls into the oven. What I have learned from 45+ years of catering for various events is that you should go for a smaller selection but larger quantities. As others have said, people will take 2 or 3 of everything, sausages, sausage rolls, slices of pizza etc, they feel they are missing out otherwise. I would do slices of ham and slabs of cheese with French bread, keep your dips, but only have 3, not those selection packs. Don’t do coleslaw, it gets wasted and you will have to use forks for only one thing. Think carefully about the chicken pieces, sausage rolls, sausages and pizza as these may need to be heated. Skip the watermelon, it will need forks and separate plates. See if anyone you know has a Costco card, some of your selection can be bought there more cheaply than a supermarket.
If it’s at 7 o’clock you may find that people won’t have eaten and will expect to at your party!

Have a great time and remember the people that matter won’t care what is served up, and the people that care don’t matter. X

@RosesAndHelleboresyour suggestions sound great!

Someone suggested olives, mozzarella pearls and tomatoes on sticks, which sounds utterly charming. Or you can go for the 80’s-kitsch version of pickled onions, cheddar cube and tinned pineapple chunk on cocktail sticks presented on a grapefruit as a hedgehog. No party table is complete without in my opinion and it’s easy and cheap.

I agree with people saying cut down on the options of crisps and dips and sweets and cut out the coleslaw. Cheese people can cut themselves was a good suggestion and you could also put out crackers and chutney so people can help themselves.

If you have children you can rope in to help they could make marshmallow tophats (marshmallows dipped in chocolate with a smartie on top). These are cheap to make & very party-appropriate.

Things like chicken skewers are popular for those avoiding carbs.

If you dont mind cooking, you could rustle up a couple of big quiches?

But dont put yourself under pressure. Youre clearly putting in a huge effort and the reason it feels tough is youre catering for such big numbers.

@bdaypartyfood for quickness I’d swap egg mayo sandwiches for tuna mayo. Peeling that many eggs is going to be a nightmare and take forever, where as you can buy 8 cans of tuna from Tesco for £5, add some mayo and mix it up quickly. Slicing cheese is also doing to take a while. Another fairly easy sandwich filling would be to buy a rotisserie chicken, think they are about £7, cool it and strip the meat off, mix it with mayo.

for 60-70 people I’d do 3 x bags of 50 sausage rolls and maybe around 2 x cocktail sausages.

I’d do about 7 pizzas - do fairly small slices.

Veg wise carrots and cucumber sticks and cherry tomatoes are good, dip wise I’d go for larger tubs of individual dips rather than mixed selection packs.

I’d probably skip the chips and add some quiches instead. Chips will go cold quickly unfortunately and it’s an added stress on the day.

I haven’t tried them, however as you are on a tight budget (understandable as you’ve just bought your first home - congratulations - I think what you are doing for your BF is lovely ☺️), I had a look online and Iceland do 100 packs of spring rolls for £8. They also have backs of Bhajis, chicken bites, sausage rolls etc at really good prices, most bags seen to be 3 for £5.

I wouldn't touch dips at any gathering, except of very immediate family, at home, where there's a spoon in the dips, we each take some with the spoon and put it on our own plate. There are too many double-dippers out there. Sorry if that's picky, but I find even the thought of sharing dips disgusting.