dh's 30th help please

[JodieG1]

It's his 30th next May and I have a few ideas but am not sure what to go with. Options are hiring local community centre and decorating it, doing food myself, hiring disco/karaoke, buying drinks etc, or having it at posh hotel up the road who will cater, order dj etc but drinks are costly, or the latest idea I have is to have it at home where I'll do the lot.

Kids will be staying at my parents in the same "village" overnight. If I get the community centre I think I have to clean everything up on the night afterwards and this is putting me off. If I get the hotel it's expensive. We have a large garden and enough space for quite a few people but I was hoping to invite about 40 of his workfriends and people from where we live.

I also want it to be a surprise.

Can anyone give me any food ideas for a quick and easy buffet preferably cold as I won't have much time and will need to prepare on the day/without him noticing!

So what do I do?

What about ordering sandwich/buffet platter from one of the supermarkets? Sainsbury do a good one?

I've had a look but the sandwiches are all very poncy looking for me! They won't all eat the malted breads and dh doesn't eat butter and prefers plainer sandwich fillings as do I. Could order other foods from them though. Do they deliver on the day at a certain time?

bump

To be honest I'd go by how much you have to spend. If the main thing putting you off the community centre is the cleaning up then why not hire responsible teens/students in the village to do it who are keen to earn a bit of cash (also they can serve drinks/help on buffet/cloakroom or whatever).

It's hard to keep it a surprise if at your house, also, with 40+ people you may have to hire Portaloos unless you mind everyone going through your house for bathroom facilities.

Local sandwich companies should be able to do platters of your choice at a reasonable price. You can do crisps, nibbles, coleslaw etc yourself (buy in bulk from somewhere like Macro, if you know anyone who has a card).

I'd go for community centre if it was me. SparklePop's idea about hiring teenagers is a good one. Also, when I do these things, I rope in everyone and anyone who offers to help. The days of saying "no, no I'll be fine" went out of the window when we had children! Costco also very good for e.g. sliced cooked meats, pate, cheese, salads, gateau , good quality paper plate/plastic cutlery etc If you know someone with Makro and Costco cards, go have a look round before you make your decision, you still have some time to spare!

Thanks, I'm going to book the community centre. Now to organise!