Help with a christening "party" at home please!

[Pearls18]

We have decided to scale back our LO's christening because a member of my family is undergoing chemo so it didn't feel right to do what we wanted originally with all our family hiring a venue who would cater for us. Instead we are now going to lay out a spread at home and only our immediate family members are coming.

I think there will be 20 people max, I've never really done a buffet before..We have a costco near us so im thinking we might go there (hubby can get a card) we also have an Iceland, M&S food hall and the usual supermarkets near us, I'm not really looking to cook from scratch too much...

Any ideas on costings for a buffet for 20 people?
Ideas for food?
Do you think 20 in a house is too much lol? We have a 3 bed semi detached with separate dining and living room which are good sizes, but only enough to seat 12 at once lol, we have a picnic bench and a couple of outdoor chairs in the garden also if the weather is nice (late May) hubby and I will obviously stand!

I don't think we will supply alcohol as most people will be driving far to us.

 

[RaspberryK]

I think the key to a good buffet is a few things but plenty of it, it's hard to do if you have lots and lots of little bits.
I don't know what budget you have in mind but you can order then whole lot from waitrose or m&s food hall.
I don't think people expect to sit if it's buffet it's nice to Mill around.
I would do a large ham and a large beef joint or a white meat.
A large pork/gala/etc pie.
A large salad.
Bowl of tomatoes.
Large coleslaw.
Basket of bread rolls.
Bowl of pasta salad.
I find it easier than doing countless variations of mini pizza, sausage rolls etc etc.
Xx

 

[vaniilla]

We did ours at home with roughly the same amount of people and I think it's very doable, we did a combination of M&S party food and home made.

This is the spread that we did to give you an idea of what we did, we stated on the invites that it would snack and nibbles so that nobody expected a sit down meal and it went very well.

https://i60.tinypic.com/2s17qdx.jpg

 

[Kay_Baby]

I've done several buffets for that kind of size as the immediate family is about that size. I've done both hot and cold ones. In fact for DS1 christening we did a hot buffet for 70 as it was January, anything smaller seems a piece of cake since that one!

As space is limited I would do a cold fork buffet.

Things I have done in the past include:

Cold meat
Side of poached salmon
Quiche
Coronation chicken
Prawns
Chicken drumsticks
Chicken wings
Chicken gujons
Sausage rolls
Cocktail sausages
Pork pie
Vol a vents
Mini Brie and cranberry tarts
Salamis
Olives
Smoked salmon
Spring rolls
Chicken kebabs
Dips and crudités
Bread
Coldslaw
Potato salad
Wild rice salad
Pasta salad
Greek salad
Tomato and mozzarella salad
Couscous
Bean salads
Green salads

Lemon tart
Apple pie
Pavlova
Cheese cake
Cheese board

I would just pick a selection but make sure there is plenty of what ever you make.

I normally make a lot of this from scratch as I like to cook but if money was no option I would probably just order platers from m&s or Waitrose.

With Costco you still have to know your supermarket prices as they are not always cheaper.

 

[lau86]

I've never done for 20 but we do buffets and find m&s food lovely. We get rolls for sandwiches, just with ham or cheese in, then pizza, chicken legs, quiches, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages and dips and crisps. Very simple but good quality and goes down well. We cook in stages so some is warm/ cooling on serving it but I find it easy to do. Never done costco I think they do bigger quantities but not sure on quality

Eta we also do garlic bread and salads! Forgot about those.....

 

[Stacey_Ann]

I've done buffets for 20 as my immediate family is this size too lol.

Usually on offer is:

Green salad
Crudites
Various dips - hummus, salsa, etc
Quiche
Potato wedges
Crisps
Breadsticks
Sausage rolls
Cheese & biscuits
Chicken (in various forms, goujons etc)
3-4 party platters (from iceland, usually 60 piece)
Baguette
Cold meats

 

[lau86]

Yum.... Now I want to do a big buffet! These conversations are not good for the diet!!

 

[wishuwerehere]

When we lived in a 2 bed bungalow we had parties with 30-40 people so don't worry about space!

I agree with pp abouy costco - i go around with supermarket apps open on my phone so i can check prices lol. That's probably a bit of faff for a party, i just go there for big packs of tins and toilet roll. I'd go down the m&s route myself.

I'd probably get a couple of types of bread (crusty baguette/soft rolls etc) and a selection of cheeses, a nice big ham, pickles etc. then people can assemble for themselves. Then a pasta or rice salad, a potato salad, green salad and cherry tomatoes. Maybe somel quiches.
No cook stuff so you can prep it all in advance and don't have to be in the kitchen for half the day!

 

[Pearls18]

Thank you so much everyone. I am looking at the M&S party food selection and omg it's amazing I want everything, I don't know how to narrow it down!!

 

[lau86]

It's better value for money than I thought it would be. I'm definitely gonna do one for hubbies 30th but that's not till September.... I think I am just going to have to do a trial run it would be rude not to!

 

[wishuwerehere]

I love browsing m&s food - me and hubby are like little kids with the argos catalogue when the christmas food stuff comes out

 

[lilyd]

I did a buffet for 16 for DH birthday and took the lazy option and did it all from M&S. It isn't the cheapest option, but completely stress free!

The food was good, wasn't one item that I wouldn't order again.