I'm HOSTING the shower. That means I take care of everything. Who cares if I cook it or order it? |
| Id go to Costco and get remade chicken salad, croissants , prepared fruit salad, hummus and veggie platter, shrimp cocktail platter, pinwheel sandwich platter. Brownie bites and a nice cake with fruit on top. Wine, lemonade, water. |
They don't but this host also doesn't want to have it catered and rejected the idea of store bought chicken salad and green salad because she doesn't want to "cook". |
| You need a lot of food for 50 people! Try calling over to a Italian restaurant, like Maggianos, and they can help you order trays of food for a reasonable price. Trays are surprisingly reasonable. If you are into more ethic foods, you can also buy big amounts of Indian, Thai, etc... |
You also have $$ constraints. Either increase your budget or be prepared to put in some work, if only to bake and plate frozen appetizers and mix tubs of green salad. |
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So, first I think you need to realize that there is a trade-off between convenience and cost. You seem to want to do little and pay little. Then I think you need to look into Sam's Club or Costco. Even Shoppers Food Warehouse (we used them for a work party and the food was decent).
I will say if you are willing to do a little work, you can stretch your dollars further. Fruit is one area where cutting it up yourself often saves a ton of money. Think about cut up cantelope and/or watermelon. Or grapes (you could even just rinse and put out and let people pick them off the bunch themselves). |
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Platter of fruits and veggies - i usually get these at the Korean/Chinese markets and arrange them myselfs-so much cheaper
Dips, Dips, all types of dips with fancy crackers/breadsticks/chips Platter of fancy brownies/cookies/desserts/pastries. Even regular stores tend to carry desserts that a bit different these days. Maybe ask one of the friends to make something or or get some decorations. If you want something different, go to a Asian carryout/restaurant and see if you can order eggrolls, spring rolls, sushi rolls, samosas, quiche. You can get this in the frozen sections at the market. How about a taco fixing area. You may need a cake/center piece. We have use a watermelon and cantaloupe cut like a basket/carriage with fruits inside as the centerpiece. |
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Do you mind picking up a lot of things?
Trays of sandwiches from Taylor Gourmet or Whole Foods. Fruit Tray, Veggie Tray, Cheese Tray from Whole Foods. A big bowl of pasta salad or beans salad or something from Whole Foods. Cookies or Brownies from Whole Foods. Cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake or somewhere. Drinks: cups, ice, champagne, iced tea pitchers, pelligrino sodas, waters. |
She said whole foods was too expensive. Cupcakes are a great idea, although pricey. Gtown cupcakes does mini cupcakes too -they are $29 for 2 dozen minis. For 50 people I've gotten 6 dozen, it's around $100. |
Grocery store croissants are terrible--get some other kind of bread. |
OP here. What? I'm specifically asking what I can purchase or get catered because I don't want to cook. |
OP here. I actually said that I DON'T have a budget. |
| OP here. Question about quantities. A lot of places have trays for like 15-18 people. Does this mean I should get 2-3 of everything or should I have many different things? If I did a pasta salad, I don't want a trash can size bowl of oasta salad, so should I have two different pasta salads in smaller bowls? |
| Moby Dick trays of kabobs with rice and bread. hummus and yogurt sauce. falafels for vegetarians. They also have a salad. |
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Check your grocery store deli. I just fed around 100 college-age women on deli food and it was cheap and tasty.
We ordered croissant sandwiches with chicken salad and other mixes, chips, vegetable trays, and fruit trays. We had mini-brownies and mini-cupcakes for dessert. |