Is this too many people for Christmas?

[thebradybunch]

We are hosting Christmas for the first time this year. Just us (family of 5, small child, toddler and newborn), our parents, siblings and their kids. However both our families are big and everyone has said they're coming.

This means we've got 18 adults, 10 children and 4 babies

For context we are all really close, and our families are all friends so that's not an issue. Also everyone will bring a dish so I won't be the only one cooking. I'm worried about how we will accommodate everyone and it not feel like chaos though.

I was planning on having them all come over at 2.30pm. Any tips on how to organise the day? I'm being massively thrown in the deep end here so need some advice from seasoned professionals!

• Our house isn't huge but it isn't small either. Our kitchen table can sit 10 people at a squeeze.
• We have a decent sized playroom for the kids with a big TV in it.
• Living room sofas and chairs can probably sit 10 people.

It's a lot! I think its doable if you have a decent amount of space, have they all been over at once before?
I think it would have to be a buffet, and I'd get some decent quality disposable plates, cutlery foil trays, and glasses. No one wants to spend Christmas night/Boxing Day dealing with the cleaning up!

From experience it's too many. Last year my dsis hosted for 21 people- 15 adults and 6 dc. Everyone brought specific food- one did the hams, one the turkey and stuffing, one a roast beef. Dsis did the sides. House was big enough to sit everyone around tables. Myself and dsis served the food. By the time I sat down to eat most people had finished. Then we served deserts, then later cheese boards etc. Then the clearing up 😭. Didn't get to just chill and it didn't feel like Christmas. This year I'm having it at home. I think 10-12 is max I would want.

I couldn't do Christmas for that many. I have seated 10 and could seat 12 at a push, but I like a proper Christmas dinner and that means seats round a table to me.

That is only my preference though... Other people may be happy with a buffet type arrangement where people eat where they can, when they can, that seems like an awful lot of work for the host/hostess to me. My way is a lot of work beforehand, but once dinner is served I can relax. The older grandchildren clear the table between courses and at the end of the meal and the adult children wash up/fill/empty the dishwasher. My DH deals with any leftovers. I sit in my chair and allow it all to happen.

Be realistic about the work that is involved, how many seats you have, whether you have enough p!ates/cutlery/glasses or whether you will use disposable, who will be clearing up, who will be replenishing food and drink etc. Then decide on what will work for you.

Do family live close by? That will help as heating stuff up plus cooking in a single oven is hard.

Are you close to your neighbours and are they around over Christmas? Could ask if you could use their kitchen?

Also, think about practical things like cups, glassware, crockery, cutlery. Serving platters. Label stuff not yours. Fridge space. Maybe ice in a bath for drinks??

Have someone (older teen?) in charge of games for kids- get them out of the house. Pre lunch treasure hunt near by??

Oh and I think you are absolutely bonkers to agree to this. But it will be an experience to remember!!!

My husband has a large family like this and they actually hire a hall for their christmas meal, they all take charge of the starter, main and pudding and all help out in the kitchen.
This would probably be the best idea for your family. There's no way I would have that amount of people round to eat if we couldn't sit together.

@thebradybunch This sounds really and sweet! I'd love to attend. Do you have room for one more? 😂 I'm great at cooking and helping out

Do all these people know they won't all get a seat, there'll be 32 people crammed into the room and no proper dinner?

That will likely result in the number going down. Sounds absolutely awful.

I would recommend getting hold of a hostess trolley, they are a godsend for these large family meals.
My DH made a bigger table top from a piece of 8x4 plywood sheet fitted to sit securely on top of the existing table. We used to seat 14 comfortably that way. Every seat we had was used and we had a few folding chairs kept in the shed for this

If you can seat everyone for dinner then it’s not too many, otherwise where will people eat.

My aunt hosted a similar Christmas, we all chipped in £50 and she hired some tables and chairs (for 28 people) and turned her long living room into the dining room. Everyone could then sit and eat for dinner.

After dinner we just drank, mingled, sat on sofas / on the floor, stood to chat. It was a mixed bag but It was fab. As long as you can seat everyone at the same time for Christmas dinner.

I don’t even think it would be ‘fun’ with that many, it’ll just be a chaotic mess from start to finish- awful.

It's not doable unless you can provide more tables and chairs.

Eek it is a bit much especially if you can only seat 10!

Can you do a Christmas buffet instead of a sit down meal?
Have the adults around the table and on the sofas and set up a "picnic area" on the floor for the children.

Paper plates, paper cups, bin bags to chuck rubbish straight in to

When I have been to things like this there has been a buffet but more helpfully the host sent out in advance a list of who was making what. ie dessert, meat main, salad, cheese and snacks etc.... so there was a good spread of food and lots to choose from. If you plan ahead it's do-able - as others have said find an extra table and make sure you have plenty of plates, glasses etc. Coordinating a roast for that number would be a nightmare but a more relaxed buffet is fine and not nearly as much work for you.

Anyone else got visions of the Sainsburys "Mog's Christmas" ad with people hefting supplies up the drive and eating on the stairs?

For me this calls for a buffet, with the 10 older kids around the kitchen table and adults seated in the living room/playroom - as PPs have said get them to bring extra chairs. Obviously nobody gets to just sit there and be waited on, but it should work if nobody expects formality

You need one set of useful parents to come over at 10 am and be really useful.

Crack out the camping supplies. Beg, borrow or steal slow cookers. Ice boxes full of ice in the corner for drinks. Tongs, serving spoons.

Feed the children first and get them settled. Then sort the adults.

Toilet paper. You can’t have enough toilet paper.

I think you could do Christmas dinner

I think it would be quite chaotic, but could be fun as a one off

I'd suggest (1) cook and carve turkey the night before, serve it cold on dishwasher hot plates with piping hot gravy, (2) buy roast potatoes, or do baked potatoes, (3) buy frozen pigs in blankets, (4) red cabbage can be cooked in advance and reheated in large pan, (5) boiled peas, (6) gravy granules. This would be quite simple food, but just about manageable for such a large crowd

You could eat in two sittings. Or on a rolling basis ie start serving food, first 10 people eat main course quite quickly at the table, when each person finishes eating, their plates and cutlery are washed and another person takes their place at the table

Pudding could be a bought Christmas cake and mince pies ie no plates or cutlery required

You'd need to delegate people to do washing up

And suggest wine glass charms, for identifying whose glass of wine is whose

Seems a lot of work
If you really want that many coming then you could still cook a turkey if that’s what you are having and maybe a gammon joint then throw in some pigs in blankets and have with salad and jacket potatoes or a potato salad then a selection of desserts
You just need to work out seating

Its a party not a dinner with that number. So it has to be a very flexible buffet arrangement. Try and organise a seat for everyone and ensure all the food can be eaten one handed whilst holding a plate

If your having that many, including 10 kids, you may be better off hiring a village hall for the afternoon!!

How many plates and sets of cutlery do you have. What a out all the washing up afterwards?
If I es I bited it would sound d like the worst Christmas day off my life. Too many people will be talking over each other, kids will be getting hyped.
Honestly I'd rather stay at home and have a jam butty for my dinner than go to chaos.

Op you will be frazzled no matter how much people will say they will help out, the bulk of the work is going to be done by you.

Sounds like hell to me. It's all very well saying - oh, get everyone to help in the kitchen and bring a dish - where on earth do you put all the food before/during service? Even in a large kitchen, the work space will be filled with the first dishes of food (assuming you don't have to try and keep it warm as well), plus you are trying to keep space for carving/serving, more space for dishes and cutlery. Where are all these people who are supposed to help going to be? I have a larger than average kitchen but with full-on prep I wouldn't want more than 4/5 people in there, not to mention the kids who keep running in to show us something or the person who is trying to get ice and drinks from the fridge etc. How many ovens and fridges do you have, the fridges will be full of food before anyone even arrives.

Somebody mentioned air fryers and steamers, great idea but where are they going? There's only a certain amount of space, are they going to be on the floor in the hall with extension leads? Also making sure that young children have a space to relax and nap - again where? The entire downstairs is going to be rammed with people so you need someone who is willing to sit upstairs with little ones to get them off to sleep through the noise and excitement.

Where has the idea for this Christmas get-together come from? You say it's your first time, where has everyone gone in previous years? Has anyone in the family ever done this before?

I would have no problem but helped in my Fathers restaurant at a tender age and have worked as a volunteer in big soup kitchens. Christmas dinner is easy. It’s just timings and space.

Fridge space is your actual enemy and the size of your oven.

Get one to bring Christmas puddings and all the cream.

Get one to do a cheeseboard.

Get one to bring mince pies.

If you want a starter get someone to bring this along.

I like multiple stuffings, could get one to bring along stuffings.

Prep all the veg the night before, keep in pans of salted water.

I have a regular oven and a 5 ring hob plus the biggest size air fryer you can get. Plus a rice cooker and a slow cooker, all can be utilised for a big dinner. What’s your setup like?

Plus there is keeping it warm borrowing a hostess trolley to keep stuff warm for instance it will make your life easy. Or those heated metal storage things, popular in the 1970’s to keep stuff warm. We had those in the restaurant.

The hardest dinner I do is big traditional meal based on my Fathers home country cuisine. It’s next level as multiple dishes.

It sounds like the real problem is seating for everyone to eat together. If your kitchen is large enough you could extend the table by using trestles and placing a board across them. As long as the extended "table" is stable, hidden by a tablecloth and decorated, it'll be fine. Chairs will need to be borrowed from family.

We've done this on many occasions when DH has become over-enthusiastic with his Christmas (and other) invitations. All that matters is that people enjoy the occasion and the hosts don't end up too frazzled.

(Edited for typo.)

We used to do a similar amount of people for Christmas eve dinner in my parents. Its doable but people need to compromise and realise that it will be eating on knees etc. My parents hadn't a huge house but what we did was

We rearranged furniture to prioritise circulating space. So the Dining table was pushed into a corner and chairs were placed around the edge of the room. THis meant everyone had a seat but there was no hierarchy of who got to sit at a table. Also meant we moved sears and chatted to different people as the evening went on. My dad was always put in the chair beside the dining table as he needed to sit at a table.

Dinner was buffet style and laid out on the dining table.

Kids get served first so parents can set them up in another room. Again eating on floor/chairs

Paper plates for dessert.

As long as people are happy about squeezing in then it could be a lovely day. However if you have any ackward people or people who expect a proper sit down dinner then you either need to find a way to get more tables in or else abandon the idea.

Its going to be lovely. I remember Christmas just like this, always doable, always nice, however you plan it, it will be fun and a great memory for the kids. Dont back down because it’s slightly crowded and people say its too much.

The only way I would even remotely consider hosting this as any semblance of a sit down meal is:-

1- Hire a local hall that has access to kitchen facilities - as they will prob already have tables / chairs. I would want this to be within walking distance to my house so i can have a drink.

2 - I'd do the main organizing but insist each adult brings a cooked dish with them and insist the adults help decorate the room

3 - Everyone arrive with mainly cooked food - and the Kitchen use for teas / coffees / Simple things

4 - Everyone chips in with the clean up afterwards sweeping etc / takes the dirty pots home to sort

My local church hall can be hired, and it includes dozens of long tables / chairs / kitchen facilities etc. They do expect the hirer to leave it as it is given so a clean up would be needed