Has anyone successfully rented a place for Christmas Day lunch?

[BeetleDeuce]

We have around 35 relatives etc who would like to meet for Christmas Day lunch. DH and I are happy to pay for it (most are struggling!) and happy to cater (I’ve done it before) but there is no one with a house even vaguely big enough for 8, never mind this number.

We obviously can’t afford to go to a restaurant or similar because it’s around £200 pp but wanted to hire somewhere. I’ve tried a couple of places but no joy.

Has anyone successfully hired a place on Christmas Day for this sort of event? Any advice would be welcome. I really don’t want to spend the day driving between all the old people’s houses again. 😭

That's a good shout - we have a local rugby, football and cricket club who all have a function room.

Were hiring a village hall for Xmas day for this reason this year. They were happy to let it as a one off

A colleague at school does this (village hall) with friends and family. They all help out. It sounds like so much fun.

You say it's a large town. Are there any cooking studio type of places? Available for rent to hold classes. Don't know if Slow Food is much of a thing in the UK but they tend to hold their events at exactly this kind of location, and most of them would probably stretch to 25 people.

Do they all have to get together at once? Could you do 2 “ seatings?!”

You can eat out for ALOT less than £200pp on Christmas Day! Would that be an option?

I love the sound of this!

Look also at scout halls (often smaller and cosier than village halls) and scout/guide residential centres, which will have decent kitchens.

A British legion might work, ours have 3 halls the main hall which will be full of members having their xmas drink and then a smaller hall which is used for other events, like a saloon bar then a big hall upstairs.

Some village halls have a separate 'committee room' available for hire which is much smaller than the main hall but could easily accommodate a table of 35. The one I know of has carpets and bookcases too. Very cosy!

Who are the 35 people? Why would it be down to just you to deliver meals to all the elderly relatives?

Our local church hall is £50 for 2.5 hours with full cooking facilities I think a church hall is your best bet, the church won’t use their hall on Xmas day I shouldn’t think.

This is very kind! We aren’t near enough unfortunately. But it’s a lovely thought.

There’s loads of good ideas here - thank you all. It’s made me realise that my town does lack a lot of these useful places though! Shame really.

You said you looked at a few places that have said "no parties" but they usually mean students/ stags/ hens etc. It's worth contacting them individually and asking specifically about your event. A family Christmas get together is usually a massively different proposition (unless you're all wild )

Also look further afield, if the alternative is driving round numerous houses visiting you may as well drive a bit further in one journey.

Also there are definitely much cheaper dinners per head available so I'd still shop around for that too.

Good luck.

Try a local cricket club. They are not often open out of season and some have decent kitchens. Where abouts do you live in country OP maybe it would be easier if we knew where you were? I know of a cricket club about 8 miles from Birmingham.

@BeetleDeuce what about enquiring at one of the local pubs who serve food but would be closed on Christmas Day? It would be warm and cosy and their insurance might provide better cover than a typical restaurant...