Catering for 50 people - please help!

I've had lunch for 50 by buying
French sticks
Pate
Cheeses
Cooking and glazing a whole salmon
Salads
Mini pork pies halved
Smoked salmon slices dressed with pared cucumber slices
Palma ham and melon heaped on a large platter
Sliced tomato and torn mozzarella dressed with salt ground black pepper and good quality olive oil
Couple of tortes or cakes

Waitrose entertaining! I swear by them

French sticks must be favourite. one feeds 5. Chicken drumstix (about 30) for half the number coming. A good size pork pie, sliced. A selection of cheeses with a dish of grapes. Carrots, celery, cucumber pencil sliced into 3 inch lengths, and a good selecton of savoury dips. Then a jolly good fresh fruit salad and/or trifle, with pouring cream. Maybe coleslaw.These type of events, folks seem to enjoy 'grazing'. And of course easy spread butter and and we provide Bertoli, or such as an option. With all of those, you can replenish from the fridge what is popular. and it is self service. If you really wish to save work, disposable dishes and condiment, plenty of napkins, and a tub for disposal. Have a lovely day.

The calculations can seem frightening when you see the figures written down! If you're worried you might underestimate don't forget to have some extra bowls of salad and bread baskets around for people to fill up on.

The ice cream tricycle sounds wonderful

Good idea, grannyknot. We had no idea about the evening bbq, should have realised probably, as the lovely tea and cake cutting etc was at about 3.30-4 pm.

Kitty yes that baby must wait till after I think. I'll have a word with it.

Deedaa yes there is a huge kitchen and many fridges and freezers including a spare one outside. I'll do the maths but that's when panic sets in and I'm scared I'll miscalculate

23 we're having an old-fashioned ice-cream tricycle and people can take turns cycling it around - stocked with local Devon ice-cream in tubs. I think that's going to be a big hit. It will be decorated with bunting in their theme colours.

rose I'm typing up a "Programme for the Day" which will include letting people know what to expect foodwise. We're having the "afternoon tea" early-ish to leave room for the evening grub!

Such fun working it all out with you lot. Thanks!

Grannyknot, don't be tempted by the mini quiche and cream cakes at Costco! They are not as nice as they look!

We had a hog roast for our 40th wedding anniversary - it was good fun but we had loads left over so take lots of foil to send home food parcels!

I hope the baby is early or late

I use waitrose deliver. Entertaining. I've never had any complaints get!

We had 'tea at the Ritz' at a Devon wedding a few years ago, little sandwiches, lovely cakes and scones with jam and clotted cream. The food was lovely and there was plenty of it.

However, we were surprised to find that someone arrived to do a very posh barbecue later in the evening so we had to find room for steaks, fish, langoustines, salads, etc. We had not realised that this was going to happen. We did manage to start again though, particularly DS.

We did a similar Afternoon Tea type spread for a joint birthday party. Found that small sausage rolls and wraps were more popular than the sandwiches. The jam and cream scones and pancakes were a bit fiddly & messy to eat but a pyramid of chocolate eclairs (6 for £1.00 in Asda's freezer) vanished in minutes. Solved the storage problem by asking everyone to bring their coolbags. The hit of the day was the gaily coloured ice-cream stall that we set up. Proper Italian ice cream supplied by the local café in a returnable, insulated metal container + cones and flakes, sprinkles, raspberries and sliced strawberries, chocolate sauce, etc. for decoration. So popular that we did it again for the barbeque we hosted the day after DD2's wedding.

The main thing is to do the maths. Work out what you think each person will eat - a slice of quiche? how many sandwiches? perhaps a portion of salad? rolls or crostini? Dips? and so on, depending on what you intend to serve. Then it's a case of counting slices of bread in a loaf, how many slices out of a quiche, how much of each sort of cheese etc.

Between you and the farmer's wife will you have enough storage beforehand? When I did my daughter's wedding I found the big problem was finding enough fridge space for cold food for 50 odd people.

Mamie I like the tiny quiches idea, and then she can still have her cake stands with the scones etc on - and mini quiches instead of sandwiches, much easier as I can buy them ready made.

All great ideas, many many thanks.

TriciaF will consult with the bride and let you know, that's v. helpful.

I have a recipe book which includes a section for catering for 50 people.
It gives amounts for individual items eg 4.5 to 6.5 doz. rolls; 1-1.5lb butter; cheese for sandwiches 4lbs; milk for tea 3 pints; milk for coffee 5 pints etc.
So if you can give the items I'll see what it says.

Grannyknot A top tip for the younger members on the guest list are packs of wraps which can be filled with all manner of goodies,veggie ones/chicken/cheese wrapped up with any left over salad and any dressing available then cut into portions so they can be ate as finger food.

gk One other thing I thought of last night. Don't underestimate just how much young male guests can eat.

All sounds fab.
If your DD has a scones and jam sort of tea in mind, then I can see that she might want the more refaained sort of sandwiches in triangles than the French bread. Maybe egg mayo, smoked salmon and cream cheese and chicken mayo? Tiny quiches maybe? I always remember how delicious and exotic asparagus rolls in brown bread were, but maybe a bit passé? If the scones, jam and cream is the most important thing then I would do more of that, I think it is a lovely idea for a country wedding.
I would think you just work out what one average person might eat and then multiply?

Would something like quiche with various fillings be any good - easy to serve. Has the lady doing the food given you a list of things she thinks would be suitable?

What I omit to even think about - is that my first grandchild is due the day before the wedding! oh Lordy, best not think about that, and just let it all happen. I can only deal with one thing at a time.

We're getting a boy! And he is already such a good baby, she's had an easy pregnancy. Bless him.

Thank you everyone, what a lovely bunch of virtual friends you are.

GA, yes it is where you think it is .

're the sandwiches, daughter's vision is for an afternoon tea with sandwiches and Devon scones with cream, sort of in lieu of lunch. So I am grateful for the filling suggestions. But I may try her again 're the chunks of bread, she can still have cake stands for the scones, and, maybe some cup cakes.

Soupy, we are off to Costco with a Ghanaian colleague of my daughter's as guide, for some of the stuff. I didn't even know there was one near us.

I agree with grannyactivist that it might be better to have bowls of different mixtures + French bread rather than sandwiches, as sandwiches with a moist filling can quickly go soggy. Chicken, bacon, avocado and mayonnaise is a very tasty filling for non-vegetarians. A mix of tinned red salmon, finely sliced spring onions and finely sliced green chillies is also tasty (go easy on the chilli though!).

Good luck - I'm sure it will be lovely.

Grannyknot as everyone is staying in the accommodation you can afford to err on the side of generosity as anything that isn't eaten can be taken home. If you're going to do sandwiches I would do egg mayonnaise (with cress); cream cheese and cucumber; (tinned) tuna mayonnaise (possibly with sweetcorn); ham/chicken salad.
I agree with ffinochio about french bread, oatcakes/crackers and a cheeseboard etc., but would also add olives, apples, figs and grapes. Take plenty of cling film and anything that isn't eaten on the day will keep if wrapped and put in the fridge.
For numbers over thirty I tend NOT to make sandwiches, but simply to have lots of different types of bread and prepared bowls of stuff for people to ladle on themselves; fillings as above, but also hummus, crisps and dips, platters of cold meats etc.
(I think I know where you're going to be and it's lovely - is it C....Park?)

I catered for 150 for DH's retirement party but was lucky enough to be able to use Costco, which helped greatly.

I also did lots of French bread, in baskets, with various cheeses, all cut into portions, along with trays of tomatoes and things like olives etc.

Had falafel for veggie guests and some gluten free crackers available also.

Platters of ham, smoked salmon, cooked chicken wings available but no sandwiches, so maybe not much help there!

phoenix the "house" - which is a field study centre when not a wedding venue - sleeps 77 when full! People are paying for their accommodation so it's not costing us too much.

ffinochio that's helpful already, will PM you if I want to know more. We're also praying for garden ceremony weather .

I was terrified it would rain - but we were fortunate and it was held in the garden.