christmas party planning - help!

[tardisjumper]

I hope all you social butterflies can help me here.

We have an Xmas party on the 10th, from 3- last train home around midnight.

We are doing a kind of spread people can pick at, as they will be arriving at different times.
I want to do a boiled and baked ham as a centre piece and do some mince pies and xmas rocky road, but other wise I am stuck.

What else should I do? I'm not on a strict budget but have about £30 for about 20 guests stopping by. What should I get and when should I cook it?

Potato salad
Pickles
Bread
Carrot/raisin/peanut salad
Beetroot, mint & fetta salad
Tomato salad
Hummus
Good cheeses
Fruit

Hi I like the idea of salads, I hadn't thought of that! I was thinking more cheese and pate but the beetroot, mint and feta thing sounds great. Do you have a recipe?

Boil fresh beetroot until soft, then peel and slice thinly.
Slice red onion very thinly.
Make a vinaigrette and add some fresh mint.
Pour over the beetroot and onion and toss gently.
Sprinkle crumbled fetta and walnuts over the top and serve.

That sounds great. Beetroot is cheap in the market at the moment.

Pasta is cheap (I don't mean that how it sounds honest! It's just with you being on a budget) - you could do a big dish of chicken or cheese and tomato pasta - have it warm and then it will still be edible once it's cooled and won't need reheating or anything. It has the advantage of being nice and filling too Or rice - you could do a savoury rice dish, or couscous even - Aldi had some recently, in a couple of varieties, and it was only about 99p for a double pack.
Bread sticks or veggie sticks and one of those trays with the four different dips in wouldn't break the bank either.

OO OO I know! Get some cocktail sticks and go totally retro with a potato covered in tinfoil with little bits of hot dog sausage, cheddar, and pineapple on cocktail sticks stuck in Back to the 70s!