Roughly how much should I budget for Christmas dinner?

[NoCapes]

I'm hosting for the first time properly this year and I'm just trying to set budgets to put money away for the rest of the year and realise I haven't a clue how much it will all cost

I realise it's a little bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but how much do you usually spend?

I'll be hosting 9 adults and 4 kids aged between 2 & 9 and was hoping to do it for around £150 including booze - am I way off with that number?

Lidl are currently doing 6 bottles of prosecco for £20 if that's of interest to you?

£100 for a turkey!?

Go to Iceland and buy a crown for £15 and if you feel the need buy beef from the butcher. No need to spend on veg neither, go to Aldi. Chop your veg and don't buy pre packed.

TESCO will soon have 25% off 6 bottles of wine.

Will dinner be lunchtime or a late one? Are they staying all day?

I agree with keeping the trimmings simple, I've noticed that the more I ponce up the dinner the less gets eaten, so we just have pigs in blankets, one stuffing, sprouts, parsnips and carrots, veg either steamed or roasted. I'd have swerved cauliflower cheese too I'm afraid Stopbrushing, I donn't think it goes with a roast.

This weekend lidl had six bottles of prosecco for £20 working out just over 3 a bottle. So that would save a few pound. It is nice.

We always get the turkey in aldi. Think it is about 20. Tesco sell a gorgeous ham. Wiltshire ham - would recommend.

Sorry - saw it is mentioned above. Think it is for the weekend only.

Lots of these people will ask if they should bring anything, I imagine. Can you ask people to bring a bottle of red/white/fizz?

It's tight but doable. Buy when you see bargains, like the wine /prosecco deals mentioned.

Feeding 13 people is a lot of people and you don't want it to be a meagre feast where everyone walks away hungry or has to pick either turkey or beef but can't have both.

Could you have someone bring the pudding, someone bring the starter, someone do rhe veggies, someone else the crackers, everyone bring a bottle, this way you spread the cost?

I did Christmas dinner for 18 last year. I've just checked back through bank statements and the turkey was £45 from the butcher. We also had a small (probably about £7 worth) of beef as mil prefers it. There were enough turkey left overs for a couple of extra dinners for the 5 of us too.
I reckon you could get all the extra veg, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, condiments, stuffing for that many for £20-25. Maybe £10-15 for puddings depending how many options you give. The same for a starter if you serve one (soup would be cheaper than prawns and salmon for example).
Drinks, out of 18 of us last year, I think 7 of us were drinking, and two of them bought a bottle with them (which is polite). So work out who drinks what before you splash out. I don't like prosecco, so no point buying that for me. Soft drinks, I probably had about £10 worth, although that was more for variety, it didn't all get drunk.
I think £150 is completely doable. Lots of Christmas dinner foods are on offer in December so shop around and be realistic with portion control (i.e. Don't order a massive over sized turkey unless you are sure you will use the left overs. My family all laugh at me for counting sprouts, but there's no point in buying them if we won't use them).

This is all very helpful thankyou

I absolutely don't want it to be a meagre one potato each affair absolutely not, and I don't want to ask people to contribute because I've never been asked to contribute anything but allergy friendly things for DS so I don't think it fair to offer to host but then ask people to bring their own food essentially

It isn't imperative that it come in at £150, I just thought that was probably reasonable, but I'm now seeing that I've possibly under estimated especially when you add in all the crisps/choc/nibbles too
But I think I'll start buying those in advance so I don't feel it

I'm also happy to hear that the simplest food goes down best, I'm certainly no Jamie Oliver

Last year I bought Morrisons free range range bronze turkey crown. It was listed as £13 per kilo and the guide price was £20-£46. I think mine cost £30+ and fed 5 adults and a pre teen for Christmas dinner and made into a pie for Boxing Day. I also served roast gammon £10. 2 packs of 10 pigs in blankets were £5 (I bought £10 worth and they lasted both days and I think I froze some for New Year). I make my own stuffing. We had 2 bottles of red, 2 white and 2 rose. I make my own cake and puddings but also buy something chocolatey.

DP and I do Xmas for four and spend a wee bit more £150. Which is a lot but actually lasts about four days to be honest. We want a bit of everything on Xmas day so:

Bucks Fizz, Croissants and nice jam for breakfast.
Nibbles like nuts and wee chocolates for snacks as and when.
Smoked salmon type things for a light lunch

M&S Christmas Food:
Turkey Crown
Ham joint
Red Lettuce
Parsnips
Brussel Sprouts
Cauliflower cheese
Roast Potatoes
Yorkshire Puddings
Nice Gravy
Nice (port) red sauce
Bread sauce
Xmas Pudding
Trifle
Chocolate Cake

Booze (whisky, brandy, fizz, lots of fresh orange, flavoured Edinburgh gin).

Opps.

Pigs in blankets
Stuffing balls

I would start getting in what you can now.Often times when it comes nearer to Christmas the price shoots right up.

Trifle would a be very reasonable dessert to make. Lidl luxury brand are fantastic for Christmas stuff. Their own brand of Bailey's great and they have those pretty macaroons in the freezer section and that would be lovely in a trio of desserts - it would look really fancy.

I would get a jar of cranberry, start picking up crackers (home bargains) from September on.

Mulled wine is really easy to make and absolutely handy to have in a slow cooker on the day - I just use the Schwartz scahets with a bottle of wine etc.

Another easy but nice idea is to use puff pastry. Spread mincemeat (I make my own buy you don't have to) and spread it on - roll and cut to make rolls. Don't take long to bake and lovely and fresh.

Start buying things you can at the moment. Also do what you can to make it as easy as possible for you. Disposable cooking trays, frozen roasts, premodern gravy, ready wrapped pigs in blankets. Paper napkins.Just buy cheap crackers if you are getting them , the novelties always end up in the bin no matter the cost. Just do a light starter and don't give people too many choices

If you want to spread it out now is definitely the right time to start planning. Will the children all be eating the same as the adults? I'd be inclined to suggest that the kids won't need much in the way of a starter unless they're older. Crisps, nuts etc can all be bought in advance so you're not having to spend it all at once.

I'd decide on one starter - pate and oatcakes is really easy. Aldi normally do a really nice pate selection from the end of November. If you do something for the kids, something like a little bit of melon and grapes?

Dessert - Trifle, yule log, profiteroles are all easy to put out for people to help themselves to if you'd rather not have to dish it out.

My main tip for a meal that size from my family christmases at the PILs with DC and DNs is feed the kids first - they're fed, grownups can supervise without their own meal getting cold and then the kids can go and play/colour/watch a film while the grownups eat their main course.