Party food.

[Rootvegetables]

Our wedding is sneaking up on us! I need some cheap but nice salad stuff to go with our hog roast and don't know where to begin. Party's at my mums so don't want anyone to have to lift a finger so just want to buy it all as ready as possible to be tipped into a bowl! Any ideas greatly appreciated!

Cherry tomatoes

Bags of rocket and spinach and watercress mixed - just drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar over at the last minute

The bags of Caesar salad that include all the components. Big tubs of coleslaw, potato salad etc from Makro or Costco.

Cous cous with a load of roasted veg in - peppers, red onion, aubergine, that sort of thing. A bit of coriander in there too is also good.

Stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms. Empty the tomato and chop the flesh minus any hard bits with cheddar, finely chopped onion, garlic, fresh herbs, ham and breadcrumbs and the stalks from the mushrooms, pop the hat back on and bake. Use the same filling on the mushrooms.

Mmm all very nice ideas, do you think they will be too time consuming on the day of the wedding though? I think even the night before might be pretty hectic.

Have you got a food processor? You could prepare big bowls of coleslaw without dressing and then get someone to mix the dressing in at the last minute. Likewise red cabbage with peanuts. Chopped celery, apple and walnut. I used to work in a cafe and we prepared this sort of thing a few hours before, dolloped the dressing on top and mixed it at the last minute. My stuffed mushrooms and tomatoes can be prepared on trays the day before and covered with foil.

Puy lentil salad is also lovely and even better the next day.

Order it in from a large wholesaler like costco. You can become a member now you dont have to have a business. Much cheaper fot alcohol & drinks aswell. They do massive desert cakes for about £10 each. Remember to include soft drinks for none drinkers & drivers. I went to a party where all the drinks were alcoholic apart from tap water! I dont drink so was a bit miffed.

Also stagger the drinks so you dont run out of alcohol. Put a good selection of juices/soft drinks, fizzy elderberry out before the meal while people are hanging about. They tend to drink more when chatting & eating. Then put more wine out with the food so people are less likely to get too drunk too quickly & spoil your special day.

They tend to drink more when chatting and hanging around. If its freely available people will drink you dry so its best to pace the flow of free alcoholic drinks with lots of coke, juice & water.

That's a good idea raisah I might go and investigate Costco then. I'm doing pimms on arrival and will probably do loads of fruit and half strength. Then someone else on here mentioned elderflower cordial with green apples in it, sounded lovely!

My sister had beetroot and onion salad, coleslaw, green salad, pasta salad, tomato salad and new potatoes.

She had Peach Bellini as the welcome drink. From Aldi.

id recommend costco too, great quality, hassle free as you can pre order it all and also all comes on platters so you just have to take the lids off.

one thing to think
about it the size of your fridge as some containers are huge!

Right defiantly going to investigate Costco then! We have a rented fridge coming three days before can you ore order somehow and then just go and pick it up? I couldn't see any fresh stuff on their website.

We are doing similar, but with Moroccan Spiced Lamb, for our wedding in 6 weeks. Costco is amazing for a lot of stuff - especially cheese. We will be doing a roasted veg and bulgar wheat salad - you can cook the roasted veg a couple of days in advance and have it sitting in a bit of oil and seasoning in giant tupperware ready to chuck together on the day.
Might be an idea to look into hiring a catering fridge for a few days.

We are doing the Aldi Austins (own brand Pimms at less than half the price) for drinks before the meal - I can't tell the difference and I am really into my Pimms! They did a taste test on This Morning not long ago and couldn't tell either!

oops! x post re fridge!

you have to order instore but is def worth doing as you get to see everything that your ordering and it will all be made fresh on the d
ay of collection

You will need to do 2 trips for this wedding. Go and register (check online for what documentations you need for registration). Buy your drinks & dry goods and order your food to collect at a later date. They also have catering size quiches, sausage rolls etc in the freezer section. Pay, collect and enjoy your wedding.

We have been to 2 fantastic buffets this weekend. Sliced meats, baked salmon/trout, basket of bread rolls, ciabatta and butter portions, tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, pasta salad, cheesey coleslaw, smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls on cocktail sticks, quiches and tarts, wraps cut up with different fillings, mini burgers and hot dogs, hot potato wedges, all different chutneys and sauces.