Alternatives to Sandwiches in Birthday Party

[nursemom06]

Hi All!

It's my first time hosting a class party for my daughter this September. She's turning 5.

As the title suggests, I don't really want to prepare sandwiches for the party as we've been to a few celebrations and it never gets eaten. I'm planning to do a buffet for both the kids and the parents. I'm expecting about 30-40 children, plus similar number of adults as I've requested for parents to stay.

Please give me some ideas of any alternatives that I can offer during the party. I'm thinking of pizza and hotdogs in finger rolls. But you might have innovative ideas than these.

Many thanks in advance ☺️

It sounds like money isn’t an issue. And I think a lot of posters are not realising just how much food is needed to feed 80 people!

Just order in platters - sandwiches / wraps / crudités / savoury nibbles / cakes etc. You can then have them delivered direct to the venue so you haven’t got to find fridge space either.

is this honestly the norm OP? It sounds very odd - surely most people can’t afford the expense of this?

We have the world’s fussiest family. Some like butter on bread sandwiches others don’t etc. we do ‘make your own sandwiches’ at parties which always goes down ok and zero work for me. Just put the sliced rolls (bought sliced) out along with fillings and toppings and let people make their own. Kiddos seem to enjoy the freedom too.

We’ve done a buffet for the last two years for my son’s party. It is at a local sports centre where you hire it with 4 inflatable things then provide your own food. Oddly, the kids loved the sandwiches and ate tonnes of them (cheese, jam and ham - kept it simple!)

We also bought the massive supermarket brand bags of crisps like salt and vinegar twists, cheese puffs, tortilla chips etc and tipped them into large bowls. I bought a loads of frozen sausage and cheese and onion rolls from Iceland and just chucked them in the oven that morning and they were hoovered up. We also did a bowl of melon and blueberries and then just some little cakes/biscuits.

Iceland/farm foods do a good deal on squash and also cans of pop for the adults.

People have also done chicken nuggets and pizza when we’ve been to others kids parties there. Cocktail sausages are good too.

I am doing a similar party in November. Was planning on individual boxes for the kids with a pack of crisps, raisins, Babybel, mini Party Rings or similar. Then just having a plate of sausage rolls, a few pizzas, fruit platter etc. for parents to pick at or can be extra for the kids. It's in a place with tea/coffee facilities and will provide jugs of squash or cartons of drink.
We did a proper buffet a few years ago and loads got left as the kids were small and not really bothered by the food.

I'd say be careful with raisins etc if kids running around' choking etc. Wee sausages always good,,fruit,cheeses, small savouries. pizza slices.crisps, lots of napkins! wipes- homemade if you want.

I'd do international beige; samosas, sausage rolls, spring rolls, bahjis, falafel etc. with matching dips.
Everyone loves beige. Then add some crudités for the salad police and cake because cake is always a good thing.

I don’t think anyone is suggesting to cook pizza in a church hall. Pizza is usually ordered and delivered from a place nearby. One pizza for 3 people. Then you add some sliced carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes (for older kids only) and everybody is happy. Cake in the end. I never ever end up with left over pizza. But I don’t serve biscuits or crisps before or leave them scattered around, otherwise kids (and some adults) stuff themselves with junk and they don’t eat the proper food. Just serve the food and no unhealthy snacks and it really gets eaten all.

We did lunchboxes, ordered some cute personalised ones from etsy, then I picked up from a cafe some pre ordered sandwiches, and did those plus babybel, fruit pots, pomme bear, cucumber and some homemade brownies. Parents (ime) don't expect to be fully fed a meal, I've had slow cooked chilli before as a parent guest but every other class party I've gone to they've served parents booze (prosecco or beer), snacks (maybe a sausage roll), tea and coffee and sweet nibbles (I did a platter of brownies and flapjacks to keep them going). If you choose to do cooked stuff double check how big/good the oven at the village halls is! Some of them don't have one at all, some are tiny and atrocious and you'll be waiting forever for a few pizzas.....

Cucumber sticks carrot sticks sliced peppers with dips
cocktail sausages
crisps
cherry tomatoes
grapes melon

just trying to remember what I used to do for my adult children and now grandchildren

It sounds like you want impressive and hassle free. In which case I’d order party boxes for the kids and charcuterie boards for the parents.

If budget isn’t a worry for you then see if your local Domino’s pizza has 50% off orders over £100. I ordered £400 of pizza for £200 for my son’s party, it went down an absolute storm and it was the same if not cheaper than the buffet I had thought about doing

I'd try a tortilla, basically a thick cold omelette.
Sausage rolls
Sausages
Crisps
Drinks
Jelly
Ice cream
Fruit