Suggetsions for Big Party on a Budget

[Julia M]

DS's First Communion is May 8. We are having a party and are inviting about 25 adults, 3 teens and 15 kids. Most will probably come.

In past years, I have kind of done the Costco thing......snacks, meat trays, rolls from La Boulangerie, potato salad, veggie tray, fruit tray, big cake, cans of soda, beer and bottles of wine. I'm guessing I spent maybe $200-$250. I also rented a jump house for about $105.

I am having to reduce this expense considerably. (I am learning to be on a budget that is about $700-$800 less than I have been spending!)

I am able to rent a jump house for $80 this time, as a student's family owns a company and has given me a discount.

I am thinking for the meal:
a Costco spiral ham
the less expensive big bag of rolls from Costco
a kind of au gratin potatoes made from hash browns
starwberries with sour cream and brown sugar (a request from the First Communion boy)
my own Caesar salad (Costco lettuce bags, croutons and dressing)
beer and wine
lemonade and punch for the kids (Made ahead of time)
cake

for snacks: a big bag of tortilla chips from Costco, and salsa.

Any suggestions for adapting this meal, or any ideas for another kind of meal to serve alot of people?

I like the idea of things being done ahead of time (my potato casserole can be made ahead of time and frozen)

I am thinking that since a Costco cake is $15 and feed 48, it's not worth my energy and effort to make and frost and decorate alot of smaller cakes.

Not serving beer and wine is not an option.

Thanks

Julia

 

[ducklite]

Maybe theme it more towards brunch, serve an egg bake Another DIS'er gave me a fabulous recipe for one that's SOOOO easy and I got rave reviews on it--and it was very economical. Served 12 adults and cost under $15 to make. Serve with augratin potatoes, a small fruit salad with Vanilla yogurt, make some muffins yourself from box mixes. Instead of wine and beer serve Mimosa's (sparkling wine--the cheap stuff works fine--and OJ) to the adults, and have OJ and iced tea for the kids. You total food/alcohol cost should be about $60-75. Almost everything is made in advance. You can fancy up the Mimosa's by adding a fresh strawberry hung from the rim of each glass.

I agree about the cake, I don't think you can do much better.

Anne

 

[gary4jenn]

How about a Taco bar or sloppy joes?

 

[swilshire]

What is a "jump house"? I've never heard the term before.

Thanks,

Sheila

 

[wide awake]

Your menu sounds great other than the salad...with the berries and sour cream, and the au gratin potatoes there are already two cream type things...and with the salad you have cheese on the menu twice. Can you just serve green salad with an oil/vinegar dressing ?

 

[Sally]

When we did our DD communion party we only had family and made it a potluck.
We had about 30 people children and adults. Not easy to ask on the invitation to bring a dish, but it did cut the budget for me considerably. We provided drinks and the cake and everyone brought something. Turned out wonderful Just a thought.

 

[grlpwrd]

Take a look at this site, Growlies for Groups: http://members.tripod.com/~lotsofinfo/

There's recipes for quantity cooking (there's a "Serves 50 Recipes" link), Planning Help (there's a link for "Buffet Formula 20 - 50"), and "Featured Functions."

HTH and GL!

 

[Savin4Disney]

Going through the same thing for DS conformation. I am only having 5-7 people and will be doing it cheap too.

Right now we are looking at Sloppy joes, potato salad, soda, CAKE (gotta have cake) tossed salad and chips.

I think that covers it.

 

[powellrj]

what about pans of baked ziti. You can make it ahead and its really cheap to prepare and most people really like it. You could still do the ham, but do baked beans and mac and cheese instead of the potatoes, add a veggi plate w/dip, chips and dip with your chips and salsa.

 

[frannn]

You can usually get pasta on sale at the supermarket- a few pounds for $1, as well as some brand name sauce for $1/jar. Throw in some cheese and you have an inexpensive dish. I always thought a very large turkey was just as good and filling as anything else, as long as you cook it yourself. Don't know how many main dishes you were thinking of, but Costco has the bags of frozen meatballs that are inexpensive, and would be a great beef dish (esoecially if you have the ziti). They also have the plump, ready made chickens for about 5. each. You could always have a "carving" section!

 

[debbiedoo]

ziti bake sounds great----with garlic bread of course

I have used the 7 layer taco with nacos on several occasions and is a great idea.

 

[HeatherC]

We also have a first communion this weekend. One thing I am going to be making is to buy two large London Broils from BJ's. They are roughly $12 and much thicker than the supermarket. I'm going to marinate them on Thursday, grill and slice them up on Friday and serve it sliced cold with salads and ziti and stuff on Saturday. I've found that people love beef, but I don't want to be cooking that day and this goes far and tastes great.

I think I'll also make a big pan of sausage and peppers ahead of time and keep it warmed in crockpots. Also pretty cheap.

Heather C

 

[Julia M]

What is a "jump house"? I've never heard the term before.

Thanks,

Sheila

A jump house is a bounce house.....one of those large, inflatable squares that the kids can go in and jump and bounce around in. Around here they rent for about $125 for an afternoon.

 

[Julia M]

Thanks for all of the ideas.......

I like the idea of baked ziti, and found a recipe for it.....a London broil is also a good idea.

I think if I made baked ziti, I could use a smaller ham!

Julia