Self Catering for a 40th Birthday Party

ELH05 on 13/03/2019 - 18:19

So I am having my 40th at my house and am looking at low cost food catering with me having to little or next to no prep as I would prefer not to have to worry about being in the kitchen.

I got prices for professional party caterers however I got quotes around the $800-$900 mark for 30-40 guests.

So my current thoughts are for an evening party 6.30pm onwards is to serve the following foods on a large trestle, everyone can help themselves:

  1. Pizza Delivery - I know Crust do 1 meter long pizzas, for about $70 each - was thinking of a couple of these - this should be quite a lot of pizza. ($140 total)
  2. Sushi Platters x 2 ($80 total)
  3. Antipasto meat and cheeses platter ($100 total)
  4. Hot Roast Meat & gravy slider rolls (local butcher provides meat, buns available for people to make their own) ($150 total)

So does anyone have any other suggestions other that my thoughts above for food. I think $500 is a decent amount to serve a crowd of about 40. Just want it easy for me no fuss and also enough food so people don't go hungry.

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • Halo375 on 13/03/2019 - 18:39
    +9

    Hire a spit, have the butcher load up a few kilos of marinated meat on it, set it to cook over charcoal for a few hours. Taste is amazing, impressive to see and good fun.

    • Ocker on 13/03/2019 - 18:43

      Totally agree. Then your guests can also slice off some meat and serve themselves as and when they want to.

    • starspawn on 13/03/2019 - 20:26

      Agreed!

      If you did a lamb spit, you could get some pita, tzatziki, salad and make home made souvlaki's! YUM

    • Skramit on 13/03/2019 - 20:58
      +3

      A frighten hassle though. And can be touch and go on timing. Nothing worse than worrying if the meat is cooked through on a spit with hungry people.

      Good for a family thing but not a bigger 40th bday imo.

  • crentist on 13/03/2019 - 18:39
    +11

    I'd take a look at costco, they have some decent looking platters ready to go. I think their pizzas are about $10 too, and one of those would fill a few people up and be pretty delicious. And their roast chickens are massive and $6 or something for the rolls, plus they probably have some decent bread etc

    crap now I want to throw a party just to justify getting some costco

    • jason101 on 13/03/2019 - 19:12
      +4

      Not sure if I'm game to admit this, but I catered my 40th birthday with Costco buffalo wings.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/03/2019 - 20:25

        Costco buffalo wings when fresh are actually delicious. Not sure what they are like when you heat them up yourself

      • HighAndDry on 14/03/2019 - 13:17

        Nothing wrong with this at all, they're delicious.

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 10:54

      I wish - but I am in Perth with no Costco

  • Markmathews on 13/03/2019 - 19:23
    +4

    Open bbq.
    Dump sausages on.
    Cook sausages.
    Place sausages on a tray.
    Provide bread rolls and tomato sauce.
    Fill up numerous bowls with crisps.
    Fill one bowl with salad.

    • iforgotmysocks on 13/03/2019 - 19:43
      +3

      Potato salad specifically

    • Skramit on 13/03/2019 - 20:59

      Wrong. White sliced bread, not rolls.

      Otherwise perfect.

    • Hardlyworkin on 13/03/2019 - 21:34
      +1

      BYO VB longnecks?

    • coxjon on 13/03/2019 - 21:50
      +4

      Onions on the bottom or top? ;)

  • GangGang on 13/03/2019 - 19:27

    Dessert & cake?

  • CheapAtTwiceThePrice on 13/03/2019 - 19:38
    +4

    Nice range there balancing both ease of serving and dining satisfaction.
    Sushi is very popular. You may be a light on with only two platters. Or consider additional sushi to come out a couple hours later.
    Any way to know how many vegetarians might be there? 1 in 10 is possible. What will they eat?
    Consider quality disposable plates. The cheap paper ones are difficult for people who stand to eat. Serviettes can be any quality as long as they're present.
    Have a great night!

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 10:55

      Thank you for your comments - no vegetarians or any sort of friends with allergies thankfully so easy to cater for.

  • starspawn on 13/03/2019 - 20:24
    +1

    Subway. Eat Fresh.

  • conservative on 13/03/2019 - 21:02
    -5

    Just cook. So easy.

    40 guests is a weekend family lunch. lol

  • ego22 on 13/03/2019 - 21:19
    +4

    save yourself a ton of money.
    have the best food u could ever possibly have.
    your guests will love you.

    https://www.kfc.com.au/catering

    your welcome.

    • serpserpserp on 13/03/2019 - 21:30
      +2

      Buckets of chicken only.

      Have your party on a Tuesday night to take advantage of the 10 pieces for $10 promotions.

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 10:56

      haha thanks for the suggestion !

  • serpserpserp on 13/03/2019 - 21:29
    +1

    So just a bit over $500 for self cater, or $800 for catering which equals zero time spent buying or cooking this stuff?

    I'd just pay the extra for no hassle. Hopefully the catering is good though.

    To be honest though you could go to your local charcoal chicken place and probably get 5-6 full chickens carved for you with a side of gravy for the lot for $100, pair with about $20 of fresh rolls made that day from the bakery/supermarket you'd feed 40 people right there I reckon.

    I reckon 3 large/family pizza from your good local pizza joint is probably more than a 1 metre job from Crust and probably under $70. Even if you ordered 5 you'd have heaps of pizza and would be ahead (you could spend the different on some garlic or dessert pizzas).

    Skip the sushi and load up on the cheese/antipasto platters. Get the good cheese. This stuff is memorable if all drinkers are on wine. If this is a mostly beer/spirits party, focus less on this.

    Desserts: homemade chocolate brownies are cheap, awesome and quick and easy to make (no packet stuff). If you stuff them up, pair with vanilla ice cream for an ultimate burnt chocolate dessert!

    • djones145 on 13/03/2019 - 22:26

      hea got a point, especially if the cater deals with cleaning, it's worth it

      woolworths, also woolies deli has platters that are good value and taste good, costco is pretty good of they are close, the apple pie is tasty

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 10:59

      I really like your ideas actually about the chickens and the gravy - Red Rooster do catering and deliver so could be an easy option.
      Thank you !!

  • savage bargain on 14/03/2019 - 00:11
    +4

    I see you're in Perth: This place is doing a Groupon for 50 ppl spit roast for $365, and I tried them out before posting the bargain. The food was delicious. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/431869

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 10:59

      Oh wow that a great find - thank you very much !!

  • pegaxs on 14/03/2019 - 08:50
    +2

    Fairy bread, mini pies/sausage rolls, mini frankfurters and bangers in bread, all washed down with raspberry Fanta. After that, everyone gets a cup of lollies, finished off with a Maccas ice cream cake.

    Well, that’s what I did for my 40th. It ended up being hilarious. Everyone was all over the fairy bread, because nobody had eaten it since they were kids. It was easier to clean up and was super cheap. All the kids that came also had a blast. I guess it’s what suits your sense of humour though.

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 11:00
      +1

      Sounds like you had a memorable night !!!

      • pegaxs on 14/03/2019 - 15:39
        +1

        It was super fun. I know it sounds silly, but that's exactly my personality. We were all over all my friends having dinners and super serious catered afternoons. I didn't even come up with the idea, my family did. We wanted soemthing that people could bring their kids to and have fun as well. I was disappointed that there was no party games, though.

  • Gronk on 14/03/2019 - 09:02
    +1

    Go with the spit roast option I say, I catered my 30th for less than $200 with a big lamb souvlaki spit - already owned the spit and did the prep myself so that brought costs down a bit.

    • ELH05 on 14/03/2019 - 11:00

      I really like the sound of this - I have a lot to think about !

  • parismeow on 14/03/2019 - 12:40
    +1

    subway do sandwich platters
    Wololies frozen sale today - get all the canapes

  • crentist on 14/03/2019 - 21:46
    +1

    Those $3 chocolate cakes from any supermarket are pretty damn delicious, and a few of those would probably be the best value dessert outside of serving raw sugar to your guests

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