to change my birthday party (ever so slightly) after the invites have gone out

[Justalittlelemondrizzle]

It's my 30th this month and I have planned a big party to mark the occasion. I created an event on Facebook and asked for people to rsvp asap due to me needing to arrange food.
I have since decided not to have any food at the party due to cost.

How do I word this on the Facebook event page so people are aware or should I not bother saying anything. Party starts at 8pm. So i'm guessing people would have already eaten anyway.

I agree with other posters. You need to have food at the party especially as you have said there will be food.
I see you have already paid for a few drinks for everyone would it be possible to ask the venue if you can change things and ask for the drink money to be transferred to food. People usually expect to pay for drinks but they expect food to be provided.
I would not have eaten before a party.that starts at 8pm

I would find it strange that a party at that time didn't have food. Especially if you had already indicated that there would be. Cancel the pre paid drinks and use that money for food.

Having told people there will be food, I think you have to deliver, but it would be fine to use your £300 on food, rather than drinks for the guests. You haven't said if it's possible to self cater.n,

Contrary to some people's opinions the point of a good party is not simply to get falling over drunk

Contrary to some people's opinions the point of a good party is not simply to eat (free) food, but to spend time with people, talk, dance, have a laugh.

Quite often at parties I have gone to the food has largely gone to waste as nobody expected a meal and had eaten beforehand.

Yes the lower key, simple food, parties have often been at home, but not everyone has the space. Just because you are paying for an outside venue doesn't mean you have to pay again for fancy food.

Food or no food is fine. So long as people know. These are your friends - be honest with them and have a good time!

If I was expecting food and there was no food I'd be in deep sthuck as I would get hangry.

If I knew I had to eat first fine.

You have to tell them.

OP appears to have ran away!!

I find it hard to believe that you didn't enquire about the cost of food before you booked the venue, OP. Surely it is one of the major considerations which you take into account when budgeting.
I have organised upwards of ten major parties over the years - on when particualr occasion I paid for a restaurant (meal and drinks) for my guests, otherwise I hired a hall and - depending on my financial situation - either did the catering myself - with a little help from my friends (to quote the Beatles) or with professional help. I know (even quite well-off) people who swear by Morrison's party platters and Iceland does a variety of inexpensive party foods.
However, if your venue is the kind of place I think it is, then they will not let you bring in your own stuff - so your choices now are as others have said - move the money from drinks to food, or cancel the venue (I'm sure you can think up an excuse to avoid losing too much face on FB) and re-plan according to your means.
I still remember being invited to a 40th birthday party with insufficient (self-catered) food for the numbers and crawling home at midnight to eat bread and cheese. Do not stint on food!

OOps, auto-correct: "on ONE particular occasion"

OP needs to read the thread about the woman who catered for I forget how many for 50 quid

I don't mind a party with no food as long as I know beforehand and drinks are reasonable. If drinks are really expensive and there's no food then I probably wouldn't stay long.

I'm just waiting for the OP to drip feed something spectacular.

But OP, we are on your side. Everyone just wants you to have a nice party and enjoy your birthday.

Oh yes, *NIghtwander" - it involved IKEA bags full of bashed cakes and the whole meal was cooked & prepared & eaten before the menu was even finalised. That was a very odd thread

If you've told people that there will be food of course you should then tell them there won't be!

Unless you want everyone leaving early because they're starving and off to the chippy. Btw all your guests are going to be smashed if you don't tell them.

I'd rather have food than a free drink.

What have you decided OP? I've re-read your original post and you say it's a big party you're throwing. If you are inviting 50 guests then at £300 the cost is only £6 per head and if you have 100 guests it's £3 a head. I don't think the venue are ripping you off. These seem like very reasonable rates. Would the venue let you have a mammoth pizza delivery later in the evening - 2 pizzas per table and you pay for the pizzas and paper plates - and offer to clear it all up? Def consider lifting a drink per head - this should easily pay £300 for the food....

At an 8pm party I would eat before I went expecting maybe some sandwiches and sausage rolls and some cake around 9.30pm. I wouldn't expect any free drinks though. I would ditch the free drinks and provide a small buffet and cake if I was you

Dont do it it OP. I did similar once years ago as I was skint. It was a shit party and I cringe at the thought. I was just clueless and inexperienced about party planning. I hadn't realised the true cost of putting on an event, and skimped on things, and it showed! Make it a party to remember for the right reasons and fork out for the 300 quid and stop the free drinks.

they do remember miserliness with regard to food and drink, because they are what constitutes 'hosting' a party.

Absolutely agree with this. I attended a 30th party where there was no food except a small bowl of crisps on each table and a paid bar. The birthday cake was brought out and cut while the birthday girl posed for endless photos then taken away never to be seen again.

It turned out a that a select few were asked back to the house to continue the party. They were served food and birthday cake while the rest of us went home via the nearest takeaway place.

I am yet to receive a thank you for the gift I left on the 'gift table'. Never again.

If you host a party have the good manners to feed your guests.

they do remember miserliness with regard to food and drink, because they are what constitutes 'hosting' a party

Definitely. I went to an engagement party and a wedding for the same couple. The one thing I remember most about them is the lack of food at both events. At the engagement party there wasn't enough food to feed 10 people, let alone the 60 or so invited guests who turned up. That lack of "planning" had to be deliberate. I've been to heaps of engagement parties over the years, but this is the only one I can remember specifically, and all because of lack of food.

Their wedding was held at a very posh golf club (I knew roughly the costs involved as DH and I had checked it out during our wedding planning). The buffet ran out of food. Both main and dessert courses. A lot of us left early to get food elsewhere as we were starving. I'm not sure who was at fault there, but it's the one and only thing I remember about that wedding.

If you want people to remember your party for all the wrong reasons, then sure, go ahead and not provide any food. But don't be surprised if people still recall the story of the birthday party without any food 20 years down the track.