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.

I would do it buffet style so everyone helps themselves.
Have a kids area.
Make sure everyone gets involved.

If you can't sit them all round the table then it's too many.

Given that you literally can't fit that many people around the table- yes this is too many.
However, if you do a buffet instead then crack on

So you need 28 seats and 4 high chairs?? And your table seats 10? 😱😱. Is your garden big enough for a small marquee with patio heaters?

The more I think about it the more it sounds like weeks of stress.

You’ll need people to arrive way earlier than 2:30. Do they seriously expect to arrive that late and sit down to a dinner fully prepared by you alone? It’s way too much for you and your partner but you’ll also have kids that want their presents opened and set up.
The food shop will be extortionate. Storing and cooking the amount of food required won’t be easy either.

if you have 1 family who live really nearby, could some of the family pop back there to eat and then return after the meal so you can be more comfortable? (We have done this and it’s fine, it’s actually more peaceful. Whoever is cooking does 2 of everything and then we can have normal sizes of serving dishes etc)

@BeanBeliever that's a v good idea

Everyone will freeze. Can't believe what some folk are suggesting. Nightmare

We have big family Christmasses too.
Everyone spread across available rooms and snacky food is passed around.

Meat and roasties cooked by 3-4 families and brought over, plus desserts contributed/made and brought. Joints sliced at home first to make reheating easier.

Main meal plated for all the kids first, second round for the elders and men (as there aren't as many) then finally the women, no rush and relax with wine! While the women eat, the men clear up and the elders head back to the lounge while the kids watch films/play with toys.

Hot hot gravy and be prepared to microwave bits. Meat and spuds dished up, everything else in serving dishes on the table.

Party hats and crackers pulled early in the day and make drinks easy to self serve - we sometimes put them outside on the patio to keep chilled and free up space.

Good luck, it sounds lovely

Just to add, I’ve been doing this for ten years now since my Dad died and it’s a way of all the family being together. The numbers increase every year due to marriage and births. The first year was so stressful but now I just get on with it and prefer no one else in the kitchen getting in the way.
As long as you have all the seating etc, it’s just one big Sunday lunch. Get yourself some aga deep pan shelves, they slot into the grooves of my Neff oven and are amazing for roast potatoes, they also do more shallow ones which can be used for roast carrots and parsnips.
That first year, the young adults were looking for more food a few hours after their Christmas dinner and I had nothing to give them as I thought the dinner would be enough. (They are active and eat like horses). Lesson learnt and I provide a tea as well and spend the week baking which I have to admit, I enjoy planning.
I also make personalised crackers. They look forward to it every year (I was surprised at that) and I hope it gives them some lovely memories.

There are so many helpful suggestions here, thank you very much. I have space for 3 slow cookers as well as 2 ovens and an air fryer, however I think I could get away with just doing the turkey, roast potatoes and pigs in blankets. I can assign the other dishes to everyone else as there are so many people.

So I can do Roast potatoes - parboiled, covered in fat and frozen in advance, ready to stick in the oven. 2x turkeys cooked and carved the day before, and probably pre-made pigs in blankets from M&S... sounds like I'll actually be chilling all day before everyone arrives

Then if I assign someone canapés, someone veg, someone gravy and stuffing, someone gammon, someone desserts, we should be fine.

I don't know if I'm being overly optimistic but I think with the suggestions of hostess trollies to keep food warm, everyone pitching in to clean up, pasting tables and foldaway chairs, we should manage.

For those asking - yes I am planning to do a proper dinner, but much more relaxed than a typical Christmas.

For those who think I'm crazy, wait until you hear that some of them are staying the night!

It sounds like fun! I’d have loved Christmases like this as a child. I’m a bit envious OP.

As long as the women and girls aren’t lumbered with all the graft/clearing up, this is perfect - relaxed and fun .

Exactly! At my mom, she regularly hosts over 20 adults. And while we do it buffet style (ie one table has the food, people serve themselves and then sit down to eat), the food is warm and we all eat together, split over 2/3 tables plus the sofas.

My moms house can accomodate, comfortable, arouns 35 people. I wish I could accomodate more than 20 at mine! Id be super happy to host most fo our family gatherings!

I need to know, OP…how many potatoes will you be peeling to do roasties for 28?!!

Sounds bonkers and chaotic but could be fun!! I would make a huge ton of roasties and also have a couple of relatives bring tons of roasties too! Same with pigs in blankets etc get everyone to bring some and also everyone to bring their air fryers?? So stuff can be chucked in those to reheat (pigs in blankets in one, roasted parsnips and carrots in another)

I think I'd do it buffet style, so the meats (cold?) roasties, veg , stuffing balls, all in big trays for people to serve themself , with hot plates and hot gravy? To counteract them potentially going cold before everyone's served

The more I think about it the more I think there just won't be enough space for 28 people worth of food if these trays even if you had 5 air fryers and 2 ovens . Tricky!!

Scrap the idea do a buffet instead!

Sounds awful!!
And l love a busy house at Christmas.

Have you got enough crockery and cutlery - as well as glassware? Might be worth considering hiring them. We had a party one year, and the company we used collected everything dirty as well, which was a great bonus!

Sounds great! And I LOVE overnight guests, especially at Christmas. It makes it even more magical for the kids too 🥹

Op I’m working on reading the thread but this immediately came to mind…you have a newborn? An EBF newborn? Or bottle fed or both? I will tell you I have hosted parties with a newborn. I have the space and all the family helps in many different ways but me…well I was upstairs in the nursery rocking and nursing my baby who didn’t like the noise or the bottle and inexplicably became a hard to settle baby that day. Remote hosting.

Madness.

I honestly find this so wholesome and perfectly normal.

youre going to have a wonderful Christmas.

My Mum and Dad used to cater for Christmases this size. We used to squash 14 round the dining table, then bring in the garden furniture, set that up in the sitting room (adjoins the dining room) and had the teens/older kids in the kitchen. Babies on laps or napping.

And we used to have more coming in the evening! Those who stayed over brought sleeping bags. Double bed, five kids on the mattress on the floor and another five on the base. Everyone mucked in and helped. I miss those Christmases.

@Aydel just like my family. Nothing quite like it 😊

Sorry op, it sounds like my idea of hell. And I say this as someone who enjoys hosting generally, and the chaos of Christmas in particular. And who doesn't have a newborn! I think you're crazy. Your house sounds lovely though, can I come? 😂

Sounds like you are well organized and enjoy it all.
I also do personalized crackers and they all love them.Its just a little thing but it makes such a difference and if course these can be done well in advance