I'm a big fan these days of big platters of help yourself starters.
So a huge platter or steaming mussels set out in middle of table and everyone digs in.
Big platter of bruschetta.
Big platter of italian meats, with olives, and various yummy things out of jars (peppers, artichokes hearts etc) served with a basket of foccacia and ciabatta.
Mediterranean platter, with falaffel, couscous salad, humous,olives etc
Most of these can be made ahead of time and just covered with a damp tea towel to keep them fresh until the guests arrive. The mussels take only a few minutes to cook and can be cleaned earlier in the day and then chucked into the pan at the last moment.
For deserts a favourite is to do a platter of fruits and then make a small pot of choco sauce for each person to dip into (2 bars of choco - milk or dark depending on taste - and a 10 oz pot of extra thick double cream. Chuck it all in a bowl, micro for 1 minute and then whisk like crazy until it goes into a thick sauce, pop into individual containers - tiny coffee cups are perfect for this - and then leave in fridge until needed). For really good friends I stick out a large bowl of marshmallows too