Feeding people after a family event - help!

[TheHeartyJadeHiker]

This is probably me overthinking but I am truly stuck!
sons confirmation in a few weeks on a Tues night - doesn’t finish in church till about 8/8:30pm. Have 11 family members travelling to be there for it and then need to feed them afterwards. Have room at our house for all of them but not for a sit down meal. Can’t afford to take them all out and feel weird to book a meal and not pay for everyone.
am at work until 30 mins before confirmation begins so no prep time for food.
what do I feed people? It’ll be late when we’re back to our house so can’t cook much but have no time to prepare food in advance either.
they’re all fairly picky too with a few dietary requirements chucked in
any ideas that I’m missing?!

Morrisons is your friend. Fill up the large containers from the salad bar with just one thing. So one pot full of pasta. One full of the noodles. Etc. Buy the large quiches. Buy ready prepared carot batons and some dips. Buy the cake. Maybe some cheese crackers and grapes. A baguette or 2. Paper plates and napkins.

Go the day before. Fill up your fridge.

Simply put it all out on the worktop for a help yourself buffet.

I'd make a big chilli and put it in the freezer then slow cooker on low to defrost on the day. Or ingredients for chilli in the slow cooker bowl. Serve with crusty bread and a few bags of salad leaves.

Most supermarkets will do platters of sandwiches, Subway do them too.

Do a veg / vegan soup in the slow cooker - put veg and hot water in before work, blend with a stick blender in your 30 mins. Add a baguette and the sandwich platter.

People will have mostly eaten so you just need to provide a snack before they drive home.

Cheeseboard, antipasto, platters of sandwiches / wraps as pp recommended, they are really nice!
Maybe a curry prepared beforehand and naan bread to heat in the oven before served.
A desert, for example a cake, muffins, brownies.

I know it's going to be late and all that, but not feeding your guests would not be a nice thing to do.

If I'm feeding people late-ish I always do a buffet because it works whether people have eaten (couple of nibbles) or not (heaped plate!). Crusty bread, a cheeseboard, cold meats, sausage rolls, vegetable spring rolls, crisps, dips, crudités. It can all sit in the fridge and takes minutes to unpack and put out. Some of those M&S tubs of bite-sized cakes if you want to add something sweet.

Pre-purchased rotisserie chickens, salads and par baked bread that you can tossnin the oven when you get home. Pre bought quiche for vegetarians. Also works as if people.dont want to eat, leftovers for next day is no big deal.

Thanks everyone - lots of great ideas. Has helped me a lot!

I recently had something similar - 10 guests after a confirmation for lunch.

Poached salmon, potato salad, green salad. And a lemon drizzle cake.

It look way more impressive than it actually is. A side of salmon can be poached the night before and kept in the fridge. Poaching is just cooking in liquid (broth/wine/whatever). A side of salmon will take between 20-30 minutes in the oven but there are stove top options too. Slice lemons to dress it and put them on right before you serve - takes all of two minutes. And both salads can be prepped the night before or you can buy pre-made from the supermarket.

Serve it as a buffet so people can help themselves.

People don’t need to sit at a table because the salmon doesn’t need to be cut, it just flakes.

That is a seriously super easy menu.

I personally wouldn’t expect or want to be fed at 8:30/9pm. On a weeknight I would probably not even want to have to come to yours for cake and coffee. I’d want to go home.

But if people are coming to yours, make it clear it’s cake and coffees/teas. Even with that, people won’t be heading off til probably 10pm. I don’t think you need more than that. They will eat a sandwich on the way and enjoy cake and a quick chat.

I think that people attending a child centred event won’t expect a full meal afterwards. I’d imagine most people would just grab something quick before/on the way. Therefore I’d pose it as ‘join us for cheese and wine after’ then do a really good cheese board with a selection of crackers, celery, grapes, figs, chutneys, pickles, olives, crisps, nuts. You could add a charcuterie platter to if you think it would be well received.
To be honest I don’t think it really matters what you serve as long as you give people a heads up in advance so should they find it insufficient they know to have something before.

Baked potatoes made the night before and quickly reheated

chili made the night before and quickly reheated

a packet or two of ready-grated cheese and tins of tuna for those who can’t eat onions and pulses

some bags of salad

a cracking cake

1 x Meat lasagna and 1 x a, roasted med vegetable lasagna. No onions in either.

Sides of:
Coleslaw
Potatoes salad
Garlic baguettes
Bag mixes leaves or rocket