Buffet for 100-120 people - doable? Tips?

[Passthewinebottle]

DH is having a birthday party in October. We both have a lot of friends and large families, so there's likely to be 120-150 people attending.

We can't really afford to hire in caterers I don't think (awaiting quotes), and I've wondered about doing it ourselves... Has anyone else done this? Am I mental?

As other have said. It’s really not practical. My OH and his Brother are both experienced head chefs and recently refused to cater for a relatives birthday with similar numbers due to concerns in storing food safely without enough fridge space. Admittedly said relatives expectations where pretty high but there is a reason people can charge a premium for even very very mediocre mass catering.

We regularly have a Christmas party for around 75 people and manage it by using outdoors as a fridge (Dec usually cold enough£ and getting everyone to bring a platter of food

What food did you bring? is a great conversation starter! And don't worry about everyone bringing the same thing - very few dupes and if there are it's always something popular that gets eaten.

I think this sounds like an absolute nightmare, and even if people did contribute food there would be so much stress involved for you on the night!
If you really want to have a party for that huge number, then keep it very simple. Even doing that, there is still a huge amount to think of drinks and canape-wise.
I say this as someone who has worked as a professional caterer.

I’m in agreement with stretching to professional catering, if you possibly can. Pre-Covid, when we had work buffet lunches where everyone brought something, I would only ever go for items that were shop bought or even better, somehow packaged individually… other peoples’ hygiene standards might be very different to your own.

Idea: could you make up snack party bags? Dead easy to make in advance and might provide a bit of a talking point if you added in something daft like you might find in a Christmas cracker?

I'd do it. Many years ago I did cater for a birthday party at our house. Can't remember how many people came, but it must have been over 60. As far as I can recall, we did it by getting Majestic Wine to provide the booze, glasses and ice. We got the soft drinks. I bought some quiches here and there in advance and froze them until the day, then heated them through just before people started to arrive so they were warm when served, which I prefer, but of course that's not really necessary. Lots of bread, cheese, charcuterie, olives, salad, hummus, crisps. I made a few other things which I now forget, but nothing too tricky to finish off. Big cakes, lots and lots of strawberries from the market (it was June), cream. Paper plates, plastic cups and cutlery, serviettes, lots of binbags to bundle the rubbish into at the end. It was fine.

It might be less stressful to split it into two smaller parties (maybe one family party and one for friends)

Alternatively change it to a drinks and nibbles party (make it clear on the invite that it is just drinks) and then order in 30 pizzas as a surprise extra bit of food (nobody will be disappointed because they won’t be expecting anything).

You might find it less stressful to hire a reasonably priced bar, put on nibbles and the first 1-2 rounds of drinks and let people buy their own after that (pre-order beers and wines up to your budget and let everyone else buy what they like when it finishes). No tidying up or serving to worry about and you can have fun.

I think the idea of a giant cheeseboard is the best shout, and telling people there will be only nibbles, no real food. Seems the easiest bet.

Fridge space is such a big deal. I’m not a germaphobe by any means but would be worried about someone getting salmonella or something from stuff that had sat out too long.
Buying that much food will be inordinately expensive anyway so I’d just push to caterers.