To be considering doing own christening buffet for 70ish people?

[Mummyof287]

DD2 is getting christened in August, and I'm currently planning the celebration after, which will be at a local village hall.

I'm not skilled in the culinary sense, DH is good at cooking but not a baker really, and we are pretty short on time with a 6mth old and 5yo, so if we did the food it wouldn't be fancy...possibly partly homemade by myself or my mum- cheese straws, cupcakes, sausage rolls or scones perhaps,but definitely alot shop bought too...probably upto 70ish people coming plus kids.

It appeals to me as it would save us loads of money and we can choose ourselves what to put out and have a wider selection.

For Dd1's christening we had a caterer who was very reasonably priced at £200-300ish i think, which included staying to do teas and coffees and cutting the cake (which we are getting made again) but she no longer does it, and the quotes this time ive got so far £7-9 per head minimum) mean the total would be about £500.

I want the food to be reasonably tasty and good quality and not look skimpy...after all people have made the effort to attend, afew possibly from some distance so feel its only fair to provide a nice spread.

Am I being unreasonable to think us doing it would be do-able...or should I just swallow the £500ish it would cost me to get caterers in and save myself the stress of buttering a gazzillion sandwiches and baking/buying/setting it all up?!?

When you're weighing it up remember you are comparing the £500 to whatever you will spend on ingredients. How much do you think doing it yourself will cost you? £500 might seem more reasonable if it's going to cost you £200-300 doing it yourself.

It's not so much the catering as the keeping everything safely stored in fridge and freezer space etc that might be hard. I did a tea party once and it was an absolute nightmare keeping things cold and covered so that I was serving it safely. This was for forty people all family

Could you get everyone to bring a dish to share? A friend did their wedding (about 150 people) this way once instead of wedding presents and it was great - does slightly depend on having a reasonable proportion of guests who are good cooks.

I've done this but for 30 people and never a christening (too tired).
Always did hot dishes like lasagne, curry, etc
With loads of sides, rice, salads, breads etc.
For 70, for a christening, I'd personally throw money at it, if you can, or reduce the numbers and cater yourself. I couldn't make sandwiches for 70 people, and thats without being postpartum!

Have a look at M&S / Waitrose Entertaining. Cheaper than a caterer but they do big platters etc.

The place where I volunteer get platters of sandwiches from Costco, which they reckon are the cheapest whilst still being nice.

I would think £500 to feed a group of 70 to be a good price. It will cost you as much if you were to cater for that number yourself.

It's the mechanics of getting it all chilled, transported, served up. I think hot food like potatoes and chilli, or lasagne, is a lot easier than "picky bits" for a large group. Every little tiny task like taking the cling film off becomes significant when you multiply it up.

You can definitely do it, but if you do, try to draft in some relatives or pay a couple of teenagers for extra pairs of hands. You'll really feel you've earned the savings though.

The ingredients, time, hassle, cost of electricity or gas to cook. Transporting it, probably isn't much cheaper. Id go hassle free to be honest. Enjoy the time rather than added stress

Totally do able . How about afternoon tea ? . Buy sand which platters from super market which stayfresh in the plastic containers until ready to plate up. Home made scone marathon , easy enough , just repetitive. Small cakes ( everyone loves mr Kipling fancies and mini battenbergs , Betty’s do fabulous Fondant Fancies if you want more special. Make a few star items if have time . Cut out sugar iced biscuits or mini Victoria sponge ? . Then loads of colourful macaroons from somewhere like Mark and Spencer. If you want a bit more savoury then smoked salmon / egg mayo blini / cups . if you have antique markets nearby / eBay you could get miss patched China to serve it on for a reasonable price . I bought over 80 pieces from a market recently for less than 1 pound an item . All perfect. But I will use them a lot .
fortnum and mason jams (and loose leaf tea) is reasonably priced for a special occasion so dropping those around the table with little silver spoons ( TK max ) may add a little class . Sparking Tea from F and M also lovely but maybe a little pricey for 70 people , they did have a spicy” winter” one on line a few days ago very much reduced mind you.

Where are you going to store it all?

At christmas with 2 fridge freezers I cant even fit it all in with a family of 6 adults. We have to use an electric cool bag in the utility room.

We did it with parents' help and it was fine, made sandwiches on a production line the morning of the service in the church hall. We also did soup for one of them and served it from the slow cookers. Then a selection of cakes and brownies.

For 70? I wouldn’t put myself through the hassle and stress. Just get caterers in

Gosh, just looked at Costco prices and totally doable.
whereabouts are you? Not your address but south or north?
Personally I’d throw money at it but I’m very lazy…

I’d consider getting some sandwich platters. By the time you’ve factored in cost of ingredients they’re not bad value

We catered both my Dds christenings but that was about 40 people.
Don’t make sandwiches!!
We had salads, cheese, quiches, sausage rolls, nice bread, crisp, pickles etc etc
We then did several sheet cakes and fruit for pudding.
Very successful and relatively low stress.
But I agree with thinking carefully about where at all going to be stored and how much help you’ve got.
Do you have access to an urn for tea?
70 people is a lot.

I'd def go with Costco!

YANBU. We catered my DM’s 60th buffet for 90 people, but that was before we had DS!

For DS’s christening we ordered platters of sandwiches, quiches etc from Morrisons (really recommend this; quite cheap too), then we just provided the cake and salads on top with gateaux and cream, and drinks on each table. It was doable but a bit stressful with a christening as well; DH got the hall all set up and the food out with a few of our friends while I took DS to the church, then DH and friends came round to join us. It was a good way of doing it cheaply - but it was work!

Logistics of keeping it chilled in August would put me off. Unless there’s lots of fridges at venue you can’t safely store and transport food in hot weather.

I did my own for my 40th. There were about 100 people. Platters from Costco - sandwiches, cheeses, quiches, cold meats, coleslaw, dips, french bread etc. It was all very easy. I just set up the buffet table earlier, but left the platters in the fridge. Knew exactly what I wanted where. A couple of friends helped me whip everything out on arrival.

For my 50th I did an afternoon tea for 30. Made everything myself, which was easy enough, although I wished I’d just bought some sandwich platters, boiling and cooling eggs and buttering everything (etc) was a faff!

OP, it's entirely down to how much you value your own time plus how much you can afford to spend to use other peoples time to do the heavy lifting for you. For 70, I'd be worried about safe storage, transport and serving, hygiene and temperature, as mentioned by PP, there'll likely be elderly people at this bash, the anxiety of possibly serving food that's compromised would make me buy in professionals. Plus, having done it a few times, we actually spent the same or nearly the same as getting caterers when it was all added up.

I would say it's doable but don't make all of the sandwiches yourself as they take a lot of time. For the DC's Christening I ordered platters of adult sandwiches and made jam sandwiches for the children, plus French stick loaves with butter.

If you have an afternoon type tea or ploughman's type then there isn't too much which has to be kept refrigerated.

If you do Costco etc Saturday you’d need cool bags to transport home in then lots of fridge room overnight. Then who will set out on day. You’ll be at christening. You can’t risk putting it out before church in August.

If the church has fridges you can use for the day before, its doable - otherwise its very risky