If you want to posh up your cheese straws, try blue cheese ones with snippets of dried fig in, or mature cheddar creamed with a little Marmite (as in, mash the marmite with the finely grated cheddar and as much unsalted butter as you need to make it spreadable). Both are great with red wine. For white wine, try pesto and goats' cheese, or sun-dried tomato pesto with parmesan.
For a crowd, nothing is easier or more welcome than a good cheese board as suggested above (to make this look generous, offer lots of one or two cheeses that are at their best, instead of lots of little pieces for people to choose from) with all the trimmings (shaved celery, grapes, walnut bread, water biscuits, quince paste, chutney, unsalted butter), alongside a plate of meats - salamis, cured ham, pate, hand-carved cooked ham, saucisson, chorizo etc, with accompaniments like olives, cornichons, baby pickled onions (I have a real fondness for these), sundried tomatoes, and lots of warm baguettes (the ones you finish off yourself at home are ideal for this as you can keep them coming.)
All of this can be done in advance, apart from the bread, because it is just a matter of judicious purchasing, then arranging on a plate.
Hope you have a great time!