Help! Cold buffet for 60+ folk

[MrsHass]

I stupidly, stupidly offered to do a buffet for a joint 60th/85th birthday party, taking place in a small function hall.
I have no access to the kitchen there at all - not even use of fridge.
It’s anticipated there’ll be about 60 people there (all adults) but I’d much rather over cater than under cater.
I will have to prepare the buffet in the very small kitchen of my very small flat.
I don’t have much freezer or fridge space - 2 drawer freezer and small fridge (which will already have my family crap in it). I’m thinking I need to prepare the buffet at home on the day then transport to venue. Party starts at 7:30. What time to “open” the buffet and how can I be sure it’s not going to be awful!?

I’m going to cut and paste the notes I’ve written on my phone about possibilities - please tell me what you think and what your suggestions are. I’m not a ‘capable’ cook at all, but can get by.
In house caterers too costly and nowhere close to deliver food in - plus, I feel I can’t do that since I was the bloody big mouth that insisted I’d do the buffet! So I can’t backtrack now!

Please have a look at my list and tell me what you think...

Party food

Mix of sandwiches/bagels/wraps - tuna, onion, sweetcorn/egg mayo cress/ham salad/cheese salad - rocket, tomatoes, red onions to garnish platters

Big bowls of pasta -

• Green pesto, red onion, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts
• Tomato, red onion, chicken, mushrooms

Parmesan optional to garnish

• Tray of macaroni cheese with leeks and tomatoes?

Big bowls of salad -

• Green salad, cucumber, red onion, peppers, tomatoes, boiled eggs with a dressing
• Green salad, red onion, olives, feta cheese with a dressing
• Coleslaw
• Potato salad

Few quiches - meat and veg mixture
Cold meat platter and cheeses, chutneys, pickles, crackers, pate
Chicken platter - plain, bbq, hot and spicy mix of drumsticks, wings and thighs. Some lemon and garlic chicken?
Tortillas, breadsticks, carrot sticks, celery sticks, pepper, humus and dips
Sausages
Sausage rolls

Platters of individual cakes
Platters of fruit - grapes, strawberries, pineapple, melon, apple, mango

On each table bowls with sweets and crisps/nuts

Balloons
Table confetti
Napkins
Disposable plates, bowls, cutlery
Disposable cups to put the cutlery in on buffet table
Serving tongs/spoons
Disposable platters and trays
Tin foil/cling film
Disposable tupperware dishes/tubs for giving out leftovers
Big plastic bowls for the pastas and salads
Plastic dishes for the sweets/crisps on table
Binbags
Cool bags/ice packs

What would you exclude/add? How can I keep the food cool and present it nicely? And how much of it will I need for 60 odd people?
Help!

Thanks 🙏

Having catered for something like this recently, I will say - avoid the sandwiches!!! People tend to leave them, they are time consuming to put together and really only have about an hour’s shelf life if they’re uncovered (think crispy bread!)

If I were you I would go for;

Naice bread
Cut meats including; ham, beef, chicken
Quiche or frittata
Salads including; mixed leaves, pasta salad, potato salad, chopped salad, maybe tomato and mozzarella salad, perhaps coleslaw and a couscous or rice salad

Cheese and pate platter with a nice selection of chutneys or pickles and crackers

Cakes and fruit to follow

Your list sounds great but you will struggle to find adequate fridge space I think. With the cut meats, you can keep them in your fridge (piled high on plates) and the tray them up at the venue.

I think you’d be better to offer less options for the buffet than risk something being off because it hasn’t been stored correctly.

Any of the other finger food type things you have mentioned are also good, but I’d make your life easier and keep it as practical as you can!

Also, your budget sounds incredibly hopeful... you’re looking at about £5 per head with this figures and where I am, that would just about serve one person for salads or meat!

Good luck!!!

M and S party food, if you have £300 in your budget that should get you a nice range. Pick it up on the day and transport to venue. It will make your life much easier. It's 5 for 4 on party food items at the moment too (depending on where you might be though, I'm in Surrey area).
You can get a ready to eat 98 pc party selection platter for £27 (sausage rolls, pork pies, mini quiches etc) vege sandwich platters, meat sandwich platters (30 in each platter) are around £15-18.
Then you cut out any need for fridge space, if you pick it up on the day, close to the party time. Just an option so it's not all on you!

You shouldn't be doing this on your own. Especially not both food and decorating.
Have a look at Morrisons party food - way cheaper than M&S but very tasty and looked good.

Just to add, you could do a mix of your own stuff and m and s, figure out what you can fit in your fridge and then order the rest?

Morrison's definitely a good shout!

I agree on doing a mix of bought in and homemade, and hopefully it will satisfy the volunteer in you (I totally get that, I'm the same). So I would probably look at making brownies and a max of one other cake, because you can make in advance and store at room temp, so there's no issues there. Plus I think homemade cakes are so, so much nicer than shop bought. I agree with whoever said that fewer things but abundantly served look more generous, so I would resist the urge to make lots of different options for anything, not just dessert. Plus it will be simpler for you. A big bowl of strawberries with cakes would be lovely.

In terms of the other stuff, I agree with those who've said a whole load of french sticks rather than different bread options. Also think a lovely big cheese board with crackers and grapes looks lovely, is popular and is easy for you - plus is not a nightmare in terms of keeping cool like some other things.

I'd skip the mac n cheese and the chicken. I'd go for quiche, stuff along the lines of sausage rolls/onion bhajis (but would buy these in), one or two bowls of nice green leaves, with a huge bowl of cherry toms alongside (premixed salad tends to go soggy in my experience) and some cold meats. Maybe potato salad - I'd have no qualms myself about cooking baby potatoes early in the day and leaving them to cool, storing them at room temp and then adding mayo/chives just before serving, but I don't know how others would feel about that.

I'd go further than that, tentative, and make the potato salad early in the day while the potatoes are hot and just drained. That way they soak up the mayo/vinaigrette and absorb those flavours, salt, pepper, spring onion/chives/whatever else OP wants to add. Put in a loctite box or similar and leave in a cool place but not the fridge. Fridge cold potato salad is awful. I always serve it at room temperature.

Oh good, I agree DOdo but I was worried, I tend to be a bit more relaxed about keeping things in the fridge than some people I know.

I'm not reckless (I hope) but I can't see what harm can come from keeping cooked potatoes at a cool room temperature for a few hours.

Cheese and crackers is so much nicer than dried out sandwiches and much less faff. Of course it would make pickled onions and cornicorns mandatory! Add some olives, chutneys, nice crisps, a meat and veggie pate and jobs a good un!

Thanks for posting OP as am in a similar situation organising a lunchtime buffet for 50 people. But I do have plenty of space.
I think we will go for Morrisons "best of "sandwich platters, wraps, crudités, party bites. Lots of people over 70 and I am asking eight people to make a dessert to share. Most of them are teetotal, phew.

Good luck.

M&S buffet

You will get plenty for £300

Check out their party food range

Oh goodness OP, that is way, way, way too much work and effort! Seriously, that is unmanageable - you simply will not have time to do this, let alone cost and storage. As others have said, either get M&S sarnies, or Morrisons etc.

Or, focus on just a couple of things, eg, whole sides of salmon, sliced, with a potato salad and a french bean green salad.
Bread and cheese.

For pud - chocolate traybakes or rocky road / fridge cake and/or eton mess (strawberries, cream, meringue).

Seriously, do not attempt anything more! You will end up in a quivering, sobbing wreck on your kitchen floor.

Too much; too faffy.

French sticks - take butter and let people butter it themselves
Crackers
Big blocks of a couple of cheeses
Grapes
Celery
Radishes
Cherry tomatoes
Pepper strips, carrot sticks and cucumber sticks
Hoummus
Coleslaw
Sausage rolls
Veggie quiche
Crisps
Chocolate brownies / strawberries / meringues / cream

I'd buy the sandwiches - for a similar party I did Morrisons sandwich platters and they went down really well. I'd skip the chicken platter - with no fridge, that's asking for problems.
French bread and cheese/pate, bought quiches and the rest sounds fine.
Good luck!!