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Party for 40 -- am I crazy?
We're throwing a surprise Anniv. party for my parents in February. We're debating right now on whether to have it at a restaurant in a private room, or to have it at my house. My dining room and living room would fit 40 people, if they were really packed in. Also, I would definitely have to rent chairs and a few tables (is there is even room).
We were planning on having heavy hors'deouvres and beer and wine. When I start thinking of all the cooking and preparation, I want to just have it somewhere else where all I have to do is show up.
The nice part of having it at home is we can play music and decorate how we want, and provide our own dessert (we're getting a replica of their wedding cake). The downside is obviously the room and cooking for that many people.
WWYD? The restaurant will probably be more expensive, especially with alcohol. We also don't have any nice halls or anything in our area.
Re: Party for 40 -- am I crazy?
I'm doing a party for 40 this weekend, and with the right planning, it doesn't have to be as stressful as it seems. Also, you can do a nice mix of homemade and store bought things if you're really feeling overwhelmed. We were picking up groceries from Sam's Club last night, and I decided that the pre-made pigs in a blanket for $10 were totally worth it, as it would give me time to invest in something that people would really notice the worth involved, i.e. decorated cookies and the birthday cupcakes.
If you're expecting all 40 people to be there at the same time, I can't imagine squishing that many people into an average-sized living and dining room.
And providing heavy hors'deouvres for 40 people is going to be a lot more difficult than I think you think it will be. If you're serving alcohol, you need to serve substantial hors'deouvres. Depending on the hors'deouvres, you should have at least 4 of 5 of them for each guest. How will you prepare that much and keep it at the appropriate temp? Do you have the equipment to do that? I guess you could just have a big tub of meatballs and bowls of potato chips, but that's not all that creative or special.
That's my big concern. I think having it at a restaurant makes the most sense.
Hi! I just threw a party for my youngest daughter's 1st Birthday for about 30pp. It was a LOT of fun - but also a lot of work. In some ways am still recovering and only want to be in "guest mode" for Halloween...
I have a lot of recipes for make ahead things that I can share - like Mexican Layer Dip, Artichoke Dip, Baked Brie etc. if you need ideas - Lasagna for Dinner - I also ended up buying some things from Trader Joe's like pre-made Crab Cakes and Shrimp Cocktail
Love Trader Joe's we don't have a Sam's Club here 
You can definitely do it at home - I had ~50pp this past spring for my husband's 40th BDay we have an average size home and deck and everyone fit - I did borrow some chairs and tables - (For that party made a lot of spring things and my DH grilled too which made it easier).
You can entertain for a lot less if you do all of your cooking, cleaning, serve your own alcohol etc. If you can afford it - I would have your house professionally clean before and after... which would be a nice perk
Good Luck whatever you decide!
I had a party for 60 people this summer. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did sternos/chafing dishes for hot stuff. I made BBQ pulled pork in the crock pot earlier in the week and reheated that day. I also ordered sliced roast beef, rolls and jus from the local butcher shop. If you make a potato casserole or roasted veggies, those will be filling as well. Also things like guac, hummus, bruscetta, olive tapenade and sliced baguettes are all things you can buy pre-made and fancy-up if you choose. I was fortunate to have family members offer to bring some apps and desserts to lighten the load as well.
ETA: You could also have the main entree(s) (if you choose to go that route) catered at your house and then you can focus on apps and desserts yourself.
I have hosted a couple of parties where I had around that many people at my house, but I didn't serve them dinner. It was appetizers, desserts and drinks--and nobody left saying that they were hungry. I had 4-5 hot dips, cheese and veggie platters, and a couple of hot appetizers in the crock pot (like meat balls & little smokies). It was a lot of work, but it was really fun, because I think I spent only about less than $500, including alcohol. And we had tons of leftover. If you want to serve them something more substantial, make a couple of big batches of soup or chili, and have breads and salads on the side. I usually have something like this steaming in the bowl for my parties so if I have guests who want something filling, they can help themselves.
Another option if you want to have them at your house, have a caterer prepare the food and you can just worry about having chairs, tables, servewares and decorations. Have fun!
I've helped cook for a couple parties this size and its definitely doable, although we had the use of 3 ovens (ours and a neighbors).
I can't speak to the quantities or overall cost for alcohol (we did just wine and beer) but I'd imagine that your siblings could provide some of that for you. Or, if people ask if they can bring anything, ask for wine or beer.
If you're planning ahead, you can prep some of the stuff prior to the party. Mini quiches (one recipe in siggy) and spanokopita can both be made and frozen ahead of time, although you'll be using an oven to heat them up. We've also made stuffed mushrooms, which you can't make much more than a day ahead of time, but are all hearty dishes.
Last year our entrees were grilled parmesean crusted scallops and spicy grilled shrimp (shrimp recipe in siggy) (both kept warm in the oven as they were cooked in batches), dinner rolls, and a spinach lasagna.
In previous years, we've done the grilled shrimp as an appetizer, which can be served warm or cold. Very easy to prepare, just depends on how you want to serve it. Previous entrees have included paella and chicken stuffed with sausage & walnuts (sorry, can't remember any more).
For dessert, we usually do 2-3 nice pies / cakes / desserts. However, we've tried to keep them fairly simple -- cheesecake, a layer cake (looks more impressive than it is), a flourless chocolate cake, peanut butter chocolate pie --- and when we wanted to supplement, we did a plate of cookies. Most cookies are freezable, oatmeal cookies particularly well, so again, if you start ahead of time, this can be a great help!
Shoot me a message through my blog if you'd like recipes or other suggestions.
Good luck!
Our Share of the Harvest:How a couple cooks from a CSA share. Pick Up Day Week 15