Help me plan dd's baptism party! « Back to Group Discussions

[callieollie]

We're having family and some friends over after Emma's baptism at the end of the month.  There may be 60-80 people here, including kids.  The baptism is at 2:00 and they'll come over after, around 3 and stay for an early dinner and cake.  What would you serve? I don't want it to be too hard since we'll be out most of the morning and I am trying to not spend a lot of money.  What would you serve?  

[the2amigos]

feeding that many is going to cost $$!!  Silver dollar rolls and platters of various meats/cheeses for a build your own sandwich?  Do you know a few people with pizza ovens? - borrow and find cheapish pizzas (we have a buy one get one take and bake here in town)...did that for a birthday party once.

We had a brunch after this ones baptism, served juice and lemonade, which cut our beverage cost down.

[cristeen]

For DS's 1st bday we hosted >40. I did a cold cut platter, a (sliced) cheese platter, a veggie and hummus platter, a fruit platter and a basket of various breads. Served cupcakes for a sweet. A trip to Costco got me most of the makings for cheap and I made it all myself (hummus, chopped the veggies/fruit, sliced the meat and cheese, cupcakes).

Do you have anyone willing to help? Asking someone to chip in can be a big help - i like devilled eggs to round out the menu, empanadas are also great, if that's feasible. Cookies or tea breads (banana bread or zucchini bread) make nice additions to the sweets, or any appetizer type dish could round it out nicely.

If you actually want a sit-down type meal, i'd go w something super simple like a spiral cut ham, a green salad and rolls. Really easy to have ready-to-go. Toss some potatoes in the oven to roast while you heat the ham and call it good.

[callieollie]

Cristeen, I definitely don't want a sit down meal. Something easy and simple. Probably half of the people there will be kids so we want easy and not messy!  I'm leaning toward doing what you mentioned - cold cuts, cheese, rolls, etc.  Then some of the aunts on dh's side of the family will make potato salad and pasta salad.  I'm thinking of making a salad from the lettuce and veggies in our garden.  Two people who responded to the invite offered to bring something so I may take them up on it and have them bring either something snack-like (chips and dip or something like that) or a dessert. We'll have cake but something else might be nice.  Everyone keeps telling me we're crazy and it's going to be super expensive and no one is going to fit in our house and it's starting to stress me out!  

[cristeen]

Ignore them. If you're just going to do a simple sandwich spread, you should be able to feed everyone for about $100 (depending on quality and how much you do yourself). Have someone pick up a case of mixed sodas if you're so inclined, or a few bottles of juice or make iced tea for a cheap drink. With other people helping out with food, your costs are reduced. A 2-lb pkg of salami is like $8 at Costco, a 2-lb block of cheese is another $6... Have 2 or 3 meats, 2 cheeses, 2 types of bread (i get mini croissants, hawaiian rolls or just plain dinner rolls at Costco) and a bowl of mustard (mustard does better at room temp than mayo).

My main concern w doing salads is then you have to have utensils. I deliberately craft my party menus to be utensil free to cut down on dishes (we dont do disposables).

Like I said, we had over 40 people, and we were packed into 2 rooms on the hottest day of the year w no a/c. Not a huge deal. Do you have a yard or patio or something for spillover? Doing indoor/outdoor can help with the crowded. Borrow lawn chairs from friends if you have the space for them.

[MLog]

We did our baptism when DS was 3.5 weeks.  It was super early, but I wanted to do it while my family was still in town since they live so far away.  Luckily my mom, sister, and MIL took care of all the food.  The baptism was at 1:00pm and then everyone (about 25 people) came back to our house for a "luncheon".

We did a meat and cheese tray, veggie tray, fruit salad, chicken salad, coleslaw, rolls for making sandwiches, and brownies for dessert.  Oh, I almost forgot - my mom's new easy favorite to feed a lot easily: put pork or beef in a crock pot, cover it with either bbq sauce or salsa, cook it forever until it pulls apart.  You can eat it by itself or put it on a roll to make a sandwich.  It's a little messy but so easy and low budget since you can use inexpensive meat.  I really like the salsa pork version.

Definitely let people make/bring things for you.  Also, I would suggest asking a few trusted friends or family members to leave the baptism a little early to go back to your house and set everything out so it's ready when people get there and you don't have to worry about it.