Ideas for a garden party lunch for 30 guests please

[Holymoly321]

We are having a naming ceremony for our two DS's next month in our back garden (kind of like a christening) and we will be doing food for the guests afterwards. The food will be served about 1pmish. We are on a budget so will be doing the catering ourselves, but want it to look and taste quite swish! Any suggestions for things we can make the night before and keep in the fridge till the lunch? Ideally things that won't need reheating or serving hot as neither DH or I want to be running around on the day, we just want to do all the prep before and enjoy the party on the day.

hi we did something similar for dd ist birthday in the garden, was thinking bbq but didnt want to be stood cooking!

we did ask everyone (every family group) that was coming to bring something, this meant a lot less prep for us, less money spent and less plates needed for serving up, plus everyone felt they were helping, but this isnt for everyone,

we did carrot sticks, cucumber sticks and celery sticks with humous and dips, nachos, salad, couscous, cheese and crackers, olives, beetroot, garlic bread (only thing that needed cooking on the day) i made up a tomato and onion pasta in sauce and let it cool as a pasta salad, i bought a load of fresh bread and made open sandwiches with nice meat from deli counter, then people could add salad and sauces as they wish as we have picky families!

feta cheese cubed with sundried tomatoes on cocktail sticks are yummy too! maybe goats cheese tart with olives on?

MIL did home made salad, nanna did quiche, friends did sausage rolls, another friend did cheese/pineapple, cheese/onion, cheese/cherry tomatoes, cheese/mini sausages,all on cocktail sticks, someone else bought muffins, i made a fruit terrine the night before, i bought some cones and ice cream and served them for dessert x

what about making wraps and slicing them up instead of sandwiches?

these are all great ideas - the goats cheese tart - do you have a recipe? And could it be served cold on the day?

yeah, my friend bought a red onion and black olive tart which was divine and i added some goats cheese to it, i'm waiting on the recipie from her, i'll message her on facebook and ask her where she had the recipie from cos evryone was raving about it and she said it only took her few mins to put togther, 15 mins in oven and it was done, served cold at party.

message sent on facebook to find out which book she had it from but i know she said she bought pastry lined the tin with it trew ingredients on and then baked it and that was it x
i'll let you know

mozzeralla sliced and alternated with sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil? my friend is italian and always serves this when we go for tea i always think it looks lovely she serves foccacia bread with it too, you can get that plain, with olives or sun dried tomatoes, she makes her own....alwayd feel inadequate when i've been hers LOL!

thanks lily, you are a star - will keep checking back to see if you friend gave you the recipe...

still waiting for her to message me back.................

For DDs christening we did a buffet in the church hall with sliced meats (Mum got from costco) and cheese board and french bread instead of sandwiches as they take so long to make, slice the bread lengthways and then into sections is easier to eat than in circles/slices
Served with selection of salads - mixed leaves, couscous, potato and mint, sliced tomatoes and onion
Sausage rolls and quiche completed the menu and got a couple of big chocolate cakes for pudding.

The goats cheese tart sounds lovely, will keep checking back to see if recipe has arrived yet!

ok lily - will check back again later... and thanks yorky - we're going to go and check out costco at the weekend - if I can find my card that is!

goodness knows what my friend is doing but still not had a reply i have googled it and found some recipies, have a look see what you think and if she gets back to me i'll put message on here...........

gggiraffe.blogspot.com/2009/05/wtsim-red-onion-feta-and-olive-tart.html

this one look like the one she made and seems quite simple........

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3216/red-onion-feta-and-olive-tart

this site has some ideas that sound nice too..........

www.recipezaar.com/Red-Onion-Feta-Olive-Tart-357057

she messaged me saying she got the recipie from her good housekeeping cookery book, so i searched their site and found this which is the one she used

www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/caramelized-onion-gruyere-tarts-3172?click=main _sr

using ready made pastry so makes things very quick and easy, cheese couls be gruyere or goats cheese or feta depends what you prefer

good luck xxx

We did a garden party for 90 this year for DC christening. We did:

sliced ham and turkey from the butcher (they will slice and plate it up for you. We avoided beef cos is twice the price of ham)
Quiches, a whole salmon, baguette, large block of tasty cheddar, potatoe salad, green salad, pickled onions, pickle.

Strawberries, brownies, fruit cake and sponge cake.

Was yummy, family members helped with the food and it was quite easy catering for large numbers.