Catering cheaply for a large event

[spongebrainbigpants]

We're holding a naming ceremony for our DS in May and have invited about 80 people.

The ceremony is going to be in our local town hall and then we're moving to the village hall for a party.

We want to have a buffet for people so they won't go hungry, nothing fancy, but the quotes we're getting for caterers are crazy!

Do any of the supermarkets provide a service whereby they'll provide you with food for a certain number of people buffet style?

I don't want to do it myself from scratch cos I just don't think I'd have the time (I'm pg again so don't move from my sofa much!! ).

Any ideas/suggestions gratefully received. Thank you .

Have a look at waitrose entertaining.
I've used them a few times, and find the best value for a crowd is the simple stuff like:
ham and roast beef joints (can be sliced before delivery)
the big bowls of salad like coleslaw
quiche

Add a cheese board, french bread, some green salad and dressings, bowls of cherry tomatoes, a tray of mustards and pickles, and maybe something spicy like samosas.

Have a separate dessert buffet - the usual cheescakes, gateaux etc.

Waitrose will also lend glasses, and will usually deliver direct the venue, so you don't have to worry about keeping stuff cool for too long.

Don't forget plenty of disposable plates, cutlery, banqueting roll or tablecloths (try your local £Pound shop for these) and some pretty paper napkins.

Forgot to say, waitrose also do canapes, sandwiches etc but these work out much more expensive.

You may need some extra bits and bobs if there are lots of children - cocktails sausages, chopped up veg & dips, crisps etc.

we used our local bakery/patisserie which has a catering business on the side - it may be worth investigating locally as these can work out very reasonable

We did our own wedding buffet. All stuff from tesco and sainsbo in the week prior to the wedding INCLUDING the cakes We had 85ish plus some children that just appeared and spent around £100/£150.We had plenty too.

Sainsbo do a service where you can order sandwuiches but its expensive, so do waitrose

Thanks for all suggestions.

mumofmonsters, esp impressed with your thrifty buffet!

Stupid question, when did you pick up the food and where on earth did you store it all?!

Friends did Waitrose Entertaining for their DD's christening.

Picked it up in the morning about an hour before (friends volunteered to go get it), and then taken straight to the hall.

It was lovely, and dead easy to just lay out.

For other things, we've just hit Iceland in the morning and then cooked it all in batches. The kitchen is always the social place to be at parties anyway !

If you don't have the budget for Waitrose you can get plenty of stuff at Lidl or Asda too: TBH french sticks, salads, cheeses and maybe a joint or two of beef that you roast yourself will do fine.

Depnding what it was we got stuff in in theweek of the wedding. Made everything up the day before and stored it in our fridge and a friend of a friends spare fridge (sounds odd but they were away so fridge empty but on still )

We had a buffet after our DD3s christening for about 60 people. I did it all myself and it was easy peasy and cost about £100 including table covers, disposable plates and cutlery, tea, coffee etc.

Asda did me some trays of cold sliced meats, ham, turkey and roast beef (it was the roast beef that bumped up the cost but it was lovely) which I collected very late the night before and stashed in a friend's fridge as ours was full!

I then bought prewashed and shredded lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, huge tubs of coleslaw, french sticks, a huge tub of spread, cocktail sausages, hummus, quiche, cheeses (nothing fancy) and my MIL made a vat of potato salad. I also bought a couple of gateaux from Iceland and crackers to go with the cheese.

I roped in a couple of kind friends on the day who didn't mind helping and they made up the tables, then helped me put the food out. Between us it only took 10 minutes to put out as most of it was "help yourself" style stuff.

Have a lovely day

Thank you so much for your help.

Have to start planning now - and roping in my friends!!