I have reviewed your topics on the website and have put together a menu for my parents' 50th anniversary party. It is a reaffirmation ceremony & dance from 2 to 5 p.m. Most of the attendees will be older (60+)and only 6 children 13 or under. We are expecting approx. 110 people & no alcohol will be served. It will be self-serve, buffet style. The venue is indoors.

*4 trays silver dollar SANDWICHES--ham,roast beef, turkey--(each tray serves 15-20) should be 24 sandwiches per tray (approx. 96 sandwiches total)

*2 trays TORTILLA WRAPS sliced--BLT,turkey, club (ea. serves 20-25) approx. 40 to 45 pieces per tray (approx. 84 fairly thick slices)

*CHEESE TRAY I am putting together w/ 16 lbs. total--colby jack, cheddar, pepper jack. Will have 6 lbs. grapes cut in bunches for center.

*VEGGIE BASKET I am putting together w/ approx. 8 lbs. veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomato,peppers,celery)from purchased Sam's trays (serves 32 total)incl. ranch dressing from trays

*FRUIT TRAYS--wow these are expensive--Unfortunatly, couldn't get much help from the store making these regarding weights or amts. One I spoke with says each tray usually has 1 cantaloupe, 1 1/2 pints strawberries, red & green grapes, 1/2 watermelon, a little more than 1 pineapple for each tray. So total I am guessing is 2 cantaloupes, 2 honeydews, 3 pints strawberries, 1 watermelon, 2.5 pineapples, and 4 bunches grapes for 2 trays (ea. tray serves 20-25).

The mayo, mustard, horseradish dip would be in separate bowls on the buffet table for the sandwiches.

DRINKS:
Ice Water
Unsweet Iced Tea - 6 gallons
Punch - 6 gallons
Coffee - 1 lb
Decaf Coffee - 1 lb

Will have sugar, creamer, and sweetener for coffee & tea.

Dessert:
1 White Cake - serves 100
1 Chocolate Cake - serves 100

1. We are renting coffee urns. I had read on your thread to start the coffee early. Should I plan to start brewing at 1:15?

2. I have been researching how to keep things cold. The sandwiches will be on a tiered platter. I hope to make sure that the lady helping replenish does not have any that sit out longer than 2 hours. For the other platters, I am renting stainless steel. If I purchase the rubbermaid ice blankets, can I place those on the bottom with a kitchen towel on top followed by the table cloth with the platter resting on that? Will that provide enough cold in a 77ish degree room (not sure of temp but hope at least that cool)? Should I attempt to replace the ice blankets 1/2 way thru the event? The blankets are 16.5x9 inches/platters are 20in. round.

3. The condiments will be in glass bowls sitting in ice in some sort of holder.

5. I found on-line how to make a veggie basket by placing ice in a garbage sack, inside another garbage sack and then lining top w/ kitchen towel. Place lettuce on top of towel and arrange veggies on top. Do you think this will work for our time frame?

4. The musician is playing until 4:45, when the permit requires that any music must stop. Is it OK to start picking up the food platters before 4:45 or 5 (the actual end time printed on invites) or is that rude? We would still have the cakes and drinks out.

Please let me know if you think I have too much or too little of something. Since it's from 2 to 5, we are hoping we don't have to do a full on meal. Also, the family lives out of town, so we don't have much time to prep a lot of the food ourselves. However, we still want to balance that with keeping costs down. That's why I chose to make the cheese & veggie trays thinking they would be the easiest. Anything I've forgotten? Should we include mints? (6 lbs.)

Also,
240 Luncheon plates, cake plates, tumblers
72 coffee cups (mom thought this was plenty as she knows who drinks coffee)
320 forks
80 spoons
256 luncheon napkins
320 beverage napkins for cake & drinks

I'm now thinking we drop the sandwiches and order just the wraps. If we assume ea. person will take 2 slices, those platters will serve more than the sandwiches. So, no sandwiches and 5 platters of wraps with 40 to 45 pieces ea. (total pieces approx. 200 to 225). I will use the ice blankets under the platters but plan to remove the food at approx. 4 p.m. (so food will be out approx. 2 1/2 hours but all will have ice (veggie tray) or ice blankets underneath to stabiize temp. Drinks/mints/nuts/& both cakes will be available until the end of the party.

Add'l items:
6 lbs. mixed nuts
6 lbs. mints
6 lbs. crackers
2 quarts dip for veggies
2 Add'l Fruit Trays (4 total)
(cut sandwiches & condiments)
Add'l gallon of punch? (7 total)

First, it is perfectly safe to put the wraps out for 3 hours total without chilling as long as you do not plan to save and re-serve the leftovers. Put the "waiting to be served" in the fridge or an ice chest until placed on the table.

It is perfectly OK to remove the platters 15-20 minutes before the scheduled end of the party.

Coffee urns take about 1 minute per cup to heat.

Cheese tray is fine, not too much pepper jack- maybe some Swiss instead?

You could make the fruit trays at a fraction of the price.