Please help me figure out how catering this party is going to work!!!

[IHeartKingThistle]

OK. DH's 40th is coming up. Village Hall booked. We've booked a covers band. Will be between 50-100 guests (not all confirmed yet!) including loads of kids.

The hall is a standard village hall with a stage. There is also a nice big kitchen / milling around area leading off. There are loads of folding chairs and some folding tables too but I don't think we'll be able to have the tables up as people will be dancing.

DH won't let me cater it. Not because I'm shit! He says I won't be able to relax if I'm doing it, which is probably fair.

So I need a caterer. But how's it going to work? DH wants hot food really but not a hog roast, not a traditional buffet either. I'm stuck! I think it's the lack of tables that are the problem. And the kids!

Anyone done something similar? Any suggestions? We're in Surrey.

You need something like a hotpot supper, or fish and chips, or sausage and mash supper, maybe a curry night ?
Once you've found your caterers, they will probably visit the venue with you to give you ideas how it will practically work.

Fish and chip van that comes to the hall
Indian restaurant that provides a buffet
Local pub may provide food?

I went to party like that once and they had big vats of chilli (meat and veggie), rice, nachos, guacamole, salads etc. They had outside caterers providing and serving the food and it was delicious!

They had the tables out though and everyone sat down for the meal part and then they cleared away the majority of the chairs and tables later to make space for the dance floor.Euro

Hot food without tables is a bit difficult, unless you do things that can be eaten without cutlery - so pizza, burgers etc?

No idea where the random Euro came from!

Hmm. Great ideas! OK I have been thinking about the hall a bit more and I reckon there is enough space to put up a few tables and still have room for dancing. Which would make things a lot easier. I like the idea of vats of stuff!

I think people will want tables anyway as a place to put drinks. Can’t you put them round the edge of the hall with room in the middle for dancing?

Possibly. They are great long tables though.

My DF's 60th was similar to this but it was a catered cold buffet. I think this works best TBH, especially if the alcohol is flowing. It means there's something that everyone will eat, people can come and go as they please without worrying about timings for food, there's no worrying about keeping things hot or caterers having to come back at the end to pick up equipment.

Otherwise maybe think about getting a street food van? Or just order loads of pizzas to arrive during the evening?

The other advantage of course with a buffet, street food or pizza is that it's easy to eat standing up.

An advantage of the long tables is that people will mix together more, more chat etc.

When the local rugby club put on meals, the long tables mean that there is more of a mix of people, and a good atmosphere.

Catering companies will provide you with menus to choose from and they can bring cooking equipment if needed.

Or near us there is an amazing posh burger van that could be hired, so something like that could work. But it is very specific.

Caterers bbqing? With nice salads etc that could be eaten with just a fork.
Or caterers like you get at festival type things with those huge paella pans.
we have a guy round here who you can hire to come out with a massive wood fired pizza oven. That's pretty cool.
Have a look on Pinterest for outdoor wedding food. Lots of cool ideas on there.

Ooh loads of suggestions! DH would LOVE Street food. The hall doesn't have outdoor space though really. Off to Google...

You could hire a fish and chip or a burger van to park up outside. Went to a wedding where they had this - went down a storm.
At another party they had rolls, coleslaw and bought in 3 big cooked hams from local butcher. People wandered into the kitchen and just helped themselves - was very popular.
Local teenagers happy to clear up at end of eve.
Just ask on your local fb group for reccs

Like the idea of a van, but does that mean people traipsing out to the car park for food? Not sure that would work!

Just read on another thread about someone who had pies and mash- would that be nice? Everyone likes pies right?

Anyone been to a party catered by an Indian restaurant?

You need some tables and chairs, people can't stand all night and they need someplace to put their drinks and congregate.

I have come to the same conclusion! I think we can fit some tables in.

I've been to parties and weddings that have been catered by Indian restaurants and the food has been amazing and memorable, if you do a bit of research/ask around your local area there will probably be some at home cooks that can cater for parties cheaper than restaurants. I know a few local Indians that have a lot of parties and one of the men cooks for them all as his side job and his food is just unbelievable.

I've been to a few parties in a very similar venue to yours, OP, where they served curries and naan bread from a local restaurant and it was amazing food. Huge big vats of about 4 different curries (veggie, very mild, spicy, etc), dished out from the kitchen area into shallow bowls, piles of naan bread. Dead simple and everyone loved it.

They had 2 long rows of tables down the sides of the room. Kitchen was at one end and the stage at the other, with space in the middle for dancing.

I think we should all get an invite, all this talk of giant Indian meals is making me hungry!

We had a company come and do wood fired pizzas, they Broughton their own pizza oven which was outside.

Mmm, I'm hungry now!

Those of you who have been to parties with curry, were there kids there? Did they eat it?

Been to parties and even weddings catered for by Indian restaurants. Brilliant every time. As long as there is a choice of spice levels everyone is happy. Add in plenty of poppadoms, chutneys and onion bhajis and it's a winner!