Food
Doing it Yourself
When you are organising a party, food is arguably the most
important element. If you ask people how they enjoyed a party
the first response is nearly always, ‘Lovely, the food was
excellent.’ (Or not, as the case may be!) But should it be hot,
cold, sit down, stand around or any combination of those? The
possibilities are endless and providing food can be a minefield.
You need to think carefully about feeding people vis a vis the
numbers (what will be relatively easy to provide for that number of people, if you are
doing it yourself), the weather and the cost!
 A barbeque almost always goes down well and there is never any
shortage of (male) volunteers to cook it for you. There are a
number of barbeque recipe books that you can use so that you can
make your barbeque a bit different form the norm.
How
many courses are you going to have? If you want more courses,
cheese and biscuits are a good option in that they are easy to
do and always popular. Some people prefer a starter and others
are dessert people, so think carefully about first courses and
sweets if you want a number of courses. And, whatever you do,
don’t forget the vegetarian option!
If you are buying food for a number of people, see if any of your friends has a card for a cash
and carry, such as Macro or Costco. Buying party food from that
sort of outlet can be cheaper and also easier in that they will
do ready-made sweets and so on that you might find more than
acceptable.
Talking of friends, it can be a good idea to get children or
grandchildren of friends (or your own, come to that!) to act as
waiters and waitresses. You will almost certainly get enthusiasm
from your waiting staff and it’s a way of including them if it’s
the type of party to which they are invited.
If you have trouble thinking of a menu, look on some websites of
professional caterers and glean some ideas. A couple of good
ones are
www.flyingchef.co.uk and
www.banquet-in-a-box.co.uk
Having Caterers
The easier, but more expensive, way of providing food is to have
someone do it for you. It takes a lot of the hassle out of
organising a party. Professional caterers will discuss your menu
with you, agree what to provide and give you a price. Have a
look at our
Things to do and Venues page to get the websites for some
professionals.
As well as large professional organisations, there are also lots
of people who provide catering services as a sideline, or hobby.
So ask around, look in your local paper or local services
booklet if you have one in your area and get a local, personal
service from someone.
Drink
When you’re organising a party, drink is as important as food!
Think about your guests (that same message again) and then
decide on what drinks to provide. For example, you may have a
friend who drinks nothing but ginger beer at a party, so try to
think about people’s preferences. You don’t want anyone to feel
forgotten because you haven’t catered for his or her
requirements.
A cocktail theme is something a bit different. People rarely
drink cocktails these days and so it can make a nice change to
provide them for your guests. If you want some ideas for making
different ones, have a look at
www.cocktail.uk.com and
www.cocktailmaking.co.uk . Of course, most cocktails are
quite expensive to produce, with their spirit base, so remember
your budget. In the summer, Pimms always goes down well and is
cheaper than most cocktails.
Remember that some of your guests will be driving, so get in
soft drinks and water (or provide water from the tap, of
course!).
For further ideas on organising that special party. click on the links below:
Guide to Organising that Special Party
Venue, Guests and Invitations
Making it go with a Swing!
Something Completely Different
Visit our
Pre-retirement Courses
section here on laterlife or our
dedicated Retirement Courses site
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