How much food would you want at an adult birthday party?

[pemberleypearl]

Posting for traffic and to hopefully get more responses as I would really appreciate the help. I've been turning this over in my head for a while and I just don't want to get it wrong.

I am throwing a party for my mum who is turning 60. Local bar/hall. About 70 guests. Party will be 7pm to midnight with DJ. Guests can buy drinks at the bar.

What food would you appreciate? I have to balance convenience of ordering party food versus preparing stuff myself. Ordering in can be expensive and making stuff is time consuming day of especially as I have a toddler to manage.

I'm now thinking of having retro sweet buffet (it's a retro party) and ordering pizza. Dominos have a 50% off £100+ orders. Would that be enough? And when to order it for?

Please help. I am prone to over catering normally but haven't had to cater for his many before and really don't want to mess it up for my mum.

Honestly, I'm always disappointed with just a cold buffet.

Parties I've been to in this area (including my own engagement party) we had an Indian deliver platters of pakora and pizzas. There are Indian takeaways here that specifically do HUGE pizzas for this kind of thing. Then all the wee triangle sandwiches and cold shit liek sausage rolls can be there to bulk it up.

I'm going to put this out there. I fully judge a party on the buffet. There I said it. I'm a fat ganet and I love a party scran. When I was pregnant I was going to parties for the buffet alone. Haha

Carb fearers?
Wow. Complexed carbs like bread, pizza etc are problematic health-wise to some people.

I’d see if any local bakeries do catering. Where I live there are a few that do really reasonably priced cold buffets and deliver to the venue. They also set everything up and you just drop back the unwashed serving dishes.

None of the guests are diabetic then?

@ffswhatnext why would that make a difference?

Well, speaking as an "elderly person" of 62 (), if it were my party I would go with a retro 70s theme - so cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, vols au vents, quiche, scotch eggs, sausage rolls, sausages on sticks, stuffed tomatoes, twiglets, crisps, ritz biscuits, cream cheese etc and a black forest gateau to follow.

Had a similar party recently, went to a local cafe, they supplied beeef stwe and cahcken curry with rice and 4 salads, Dlievered i with the heated serving dishes and all. Went to local C+C and got 4 cheescakes and pavalovas for dessert. It did cost me, but foof was fab plus it didn't exhaust myself out doing sandwiches etc. My mother used to do this whenever we had partys at home and was so tired from preparing it was never able to enjoy the party

rosegold I fully agree with you. A cold , drab buffet would be such a disappointment. I would prefer a much better spread for a party than some rolls, cheese and the usual stuff that you just throw together.
I might be biased though because I'm indian and we usually do any event where a big part of it is a good delicious spread.

My parents are 67 and they love pizzas, currys and Chinese take away! I'm not sure they would be pleased at being referred to as elderly either 😂
My Grandad was in his 90s when he died but he could still shovel down an Indian or Chinese.

@mummydoris2006
The pizza and sweet suggestions.
I know with some type 1 they will adjust their insulin to eat a slice.
Type 2 might be ok but also needs a salad or something to eat with the pizza slice and it can still be very tricky to get the balance.

When I hold parties I like to know about these things and allergies. I wouldn't be happy that a guest had to nibble on carrot sticks whilst everyone else tucked into a banquet of everything else.
Unless I had gluten-free pizza I wouldn't serve this to someone who cannot medically eat gluten,.

Same with I wouldn't serve a load of dairy products knowing someone is lactose intolerant.

If I couldn't feed people without medically excluding others, I wouldn't provide food. And when I hold large parties like this, asking them for a reminder about their allergies etc isn't an issue. It gets mentioned when invited.

Then I start looking at what everyone can eat, and either decide to make stuff or say fuck it, everyone brings a dish.

In general, People in their 60s will enjoy a normal Cold buffet ( as suggested by many PP) far more than Indian food or pizzas
Totally shocked at this presumption. Normal cold buffets are ok if that's what's easiest to provide. But certainly not preferable to some tasty Indian or Italian (or any other more interesting) offerings. And I'm pretty much over 60.

I was going to suggest that the op see if they can keep the key until the next day (I've done this loads). But I don't know. With the cold buffet generalisation, people might think they should be at home tucked up in bed rather than still dancing at 3 am.
Must tell my friends in their 60+ they are doing it all wrong 🤣

I do party buffets :) we supply
Italian meat platter with mozzarella and ciabatta, hummus and crudités, a selection of sandwiches and wraps, quiche, pork pies and sausage rolls, chicken wings, pasta salad, cheese board with chutney grapes and crackers, and salad we always get bookings from guests of events we have catered and it's not to much work to put together.

Nobody wants sweets at a drinks party.

Do you have a local Italian restaurant that could supply pizzas, they would be a million times nicer and probably cheaper, then you could supply big bowls of salads and garlic bread.

@brazi103 I'm invited to your next party right?

If piZzas out I would do cheese boards. Big wheels of cheese, lots of nice crackers, chutneys, pickled onions and cocktail gherkins, grapes, celery and some pates (include a mushroom one for vegans). Some crisps and nuts. Easy.

@ffswhatnext I am type 1 and also struggle with insulin resistance but I would hate it if someone felt they needed to treat me differently tbh! I can't think of a single time I haven't been able to eat something at a party regardless of the food on offer, it's like everything in life, a little common sense and everything in moderation I suppose.

Tuna crunch sandwich

What on earth is tuna crunch?!

Tuna with peppers and cucumbers.

rosegold off course

If I couldn't feed people without medically excluding others, I wouldn't provide food. And when I hold large parties like this, asking them for a reminder about their allergies etc isn't an issue. It gets mentioned when invited.

While that's really thoughtful of you, having a child with coeliac disease and a child with peanut and tree nut allergy, they just wouldn't eat at this kind of occasion. Unless there was something that was bought in and was completely sealed, for example a packet of crisps.
It's far too hard to guarantee there hasn't been cross contamination.
We've been stung before by well meaning hosts, it's not worth the risk and honestly my children get uncomfortable with being singled out even though it's meant kindly. They'd rather just quietly eat some safe food from home and enjoy the rest of the party.

That's why I suggest doing a bring a dish unless I can make something that everyone can eat.

No-one feels excluded or treated differently, and everyone can safely eat without fear of cross-contamination.

For me as a host, if I am providing food for guests I want them all to be able to eat something enjoyable and filling. Not trying to do their best trying to pick certain things. Or wondering about the ingredients and allergic reactions, or other health implications.

Haha you are all basically reiterating what's been going on in my head.

Party is definitely going ahead. Saturday night. And no cooking facilities at the hall, so anything I being must be cooked beforehand.

Invitations have gone out and I haven't asked them to bring a dish. I don't think I would to be honest. For a smaller gathering with my girlfriends yes, but not for something like this.

I am aware of allergies and will make sure there are options. My mum is actually coeliac herself.

Ultimately I think I will do a cold buffet, and love the idea of some retro items in there, but add in a takeaway just a touch later.

In an ideal world this would have been sorted months in advance, but as the party is at the weekend, then a cold buffet plus takeaway pizza will be a good solution. Though if there are ovens in the place I'd just buy supermarket fresh pizzas and heat them up, saving you hundreds of pounds.

Wouldn’t it cost the same or less to just have a caterer provide a buffet rather than make a buffet and then provide a takeaway as well?
I think most people will just expect a plate of any food to soak up the alcohol and also a nice looking birthday cake.