DIY buffet advice? (on a tight budget!!)

[milkysmum]

I am having my son christened and the party afterwards will be at the local social club. Looked at getting outside catering but would be way out of our budget as worked out about £7 per head for basic finger buffet, numbers for buffet about 60 meaning around £420 for food!!! I'm currently on maternity leave and money just will not stretch this far. So where do I start with the planning?? What can be done the night before and what really needs doing that morning? where the heck can I store stuff done the night before that needs refrigerating? Christening is at 12.30pm. I can drop food off at club before (maybe even evening before) but they have no fridge- said the cellar is really cold so could put food down there to keep cool- is this ok? Any advice welcome as finding the thought of this quite daunting.

I'd go for a majority cold buffet of a few simple things, bread, cheese, sliced meat, salads, and maybe just a few hot dishes to go with it. Maybe potato wedges or hot new potatoes, and if budget allows maybe get a large order of hot samosas or bhajis - they always seem to go down well. Some supermarkets do large containers of coleslaw etc, or you could make your own very cheaply and it would look really nice too.
I would try and avoid leaving yourself too much to do on the morning, you'll just end up being really frazzled and not enjoy the day.

Thanks for all the responses. I think I will ask as few people if they would mind bringing a dish. Will it be acceptable to just ask a few rather than everyone as there are some I would feel more comfortable asking than others (i.e not dh's family who we hardly ever see but have felt obliged to invite!) or will it seem odd on the day some guests bringing dishes and not others?

If anyone asks, could yu say they offered?