Hey mamas...looking for ideas!
For my daughter's baptism, we had a party at my parents house (we lived in a pretty small house at the time) and had sandwiches, chips/dips and a cake.
This time around for my son, we're doing it at the same place but not during a church service so it will only be 10-20 minutes then we're asking everyone to come back to our house for a party.
We are inviting anywhere from 35-50 people (27 are husband and my immediate family/spouses/kids)....so any ideas on what to do food-wise? I'll be a little more organized this time around and since we're doing it at our house, I figured I could maybe decorate or even have favors (is this dumb?)
Hopefully the weather will hold out so we can have it outside. I figure we'll have the food outside if it's nice to keep everyone outdoors...maybe a few tables with nice tableclothes, chairs, etc.
We'll probably get back to our house around 3pm...what kind of food do you serve then? I don't want to do just cake....should I offer a 'meal'? I would think so - but don't want to grill.
I had thought about getting a fruit, veggie and lunchmeat tray and have that plus chips/dips, the cake and maybe a few snackie things.
Or should I ask people in the family to bring something? Then they'd have to go back home before coming over which I really don't want them to have to do....Hmmm...
Any ideas that you did or would like to share?
Thanks in advance!!
you could make something in the crockpot, meatballs, or pulled pork, or even a ham. You could make a pasta salad, or potatoe salad or something like that the day before so its all done. If someone asks if they can bring something then let them. Even if its just chips and dip! That could sit in the car for 20 min if the dip was on a little bit of ice. Good luck!
How about a Honey baked ham, some croissants o rolls (like from Sam's club), salad, chips, veggie tray, cheese slices and cake.
Favors are not dumb, its kind of traditional to give them. Because mine will be really small, I will give each family like a cross or picture of a guardian angel, but for a large crowd, you can give candy favors (one per family).
Enjoy!
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We just did a gathering at our house afterwards. We didn't do the cake, just a bbq and visit. I know that you said you don't want to grill, and for another gathering we did a crockpot pulled pork. We treated it more as a time to visit and meet/play with the baby. Very informal, but also much smaller.
How about those sandwich trays you can get from the grocery store? I do this during football season when we have a lot of people over. Depending on how much food you order sides usually come with them like potato salad or pasta salad. When I get them the store also provides all the fixings. Really easy just pop off the top and you are good to go.
I would just do appetizer type foods or finger sandwiches.
Since it's between lunch and dinner, most people won't be terribly hungry just a few hours after lunch, and won't want to fill up too much before dinner, either. I would just do appetizers and finger foods, or at the most a light meal. So your idea sounds good to me!
Another option is soup and salad--inexpensive, easy to prepare, and you won't have to be in the kitchen preparing things while everyone else visits. Soups can be kept warm in a crockpot, and you can set a chilled salad over a bowl of ice to help keep it cool if it's very warm out. With that many people, I'd probably offer two different soups and at least two salads (one garden salad, one fruit salad or fresh fruit tray, and maybe a light pasta or potato salad or a bean salad).
And of course, no matter which option, I'd offer cake (or cupcakes) and punch for dessert! :-)
If I did a potluck, I might ask everyone to come for the party later, a little before dinnertime instead--say, 5 or 6--but that really depends on how comfortable you and your guests are with having the reception a few hours after the baptism. My family tends to make a gathering like this pretty much an all-day event anyway, so it wouldn't bother them in the least to do it that way, but I know other people are busy and might not be able to cut two separate blocks of time out of their day (one for the baptism, one for the reception).
HTH, and an early Congratulations for your son on his baptism! :-)
Great idea! I am planning my son's baptism party right now too, and our guest list is easily 50 people as well! In our traditions (we're Greek Orthodox) we always make it a big deal with lots of food and party favors. We do little satchets of jordan almonds (always in odd numbers for the holy trinity) as a favor. Also, you can give people who witnessed the baptism a little pin with a cross on it, very cute. I liked the Honey Baked ham idea or otherwise just some lunch trays or party trays from Costco would be great too. If you're feeling sassy, you can also look into catering by HyVee, or anywhere, but they make good food at a very reasonable cost and you wouldn't have to do any of it! We're getting our party catered and it is so much less stress!
this is what we did after my son was baptized~ we catered from Lee's Chicken. I know it is not the most fancy thing in the world, but it was ready and we grabbed it on the way home, and they supply plates, plasticwear, cups and serving utensils. It was great we had the chicken and green beans and mashed potatoes and coleslaw and biscuits. If this is not gunna be normal eating time though, i would not do something that heavy, we had ours right at lunch time. I would say like a 7 layer dip with chips, or easy qusadillas, or just some snacky things, like sandwhich pinwheel things (we had this for my graduation from high school a while back, we got them from SAMS in the freezer section and they were sooo yummy!) i hope this helps and good luck~
