How much to serve for function?

Hi everyone, I am hosting a hens night for my friend & am wondering how much food I should have for 16 of us?The food is a pre-dinner nibbles with drinks, so I want enough food so that people don't get too drunk, but I'm going to try not to over cater.At the moment I have cupcakes, chocolate brownie, chips, crackers, bread, artichoke dip, french onion dip, cheese ball on the list & someone is bringing a dish too.The drinks/nibbles part will be for 3 hours & then we are going out to dinner.Does that sound like too much food?What would you recommend?Thanks for your help.

Oh, and I was going to make 2 cob loaves as well.

Hi, I have had many parties at home and just as a note (or maybe it is just my friends) but savory is a lot more popular than sweet i.e. cupcakes and cake.I would tend to go more savoury - with asparagus rolls, sauage rolls etc - and as it is a hen's night why not have some fun and pop on some little sausages etc etc (without wanting to get into graphic details you can have lots of fun with suggestive food).....

Since we're going out for dinner & starting after lunch (& it's being held at a hotel) I thought just chips, dips, bread, crackers would be good to soak up the alcohol/snack on.Kinda like bar snacks ;)Also things that are easy for me to prepare in advance like dips & cheese ball will be convenient for me as there'll be a lot to do on the day.I don't think I can make the cob loaves in advance though?I think they're all about the same, but if I can get my hands on avocadoes I'll make a guacamole as well.

Interesting point about the sweet stuff though.Maybe I should just make the cupcakes?The bride to be LOVES cupcakes, that's why I'm making them & I have some pecker ice cube trays which I'm going to try & make chocolates in.I'm going to top the cupcakes with the chocolates :)I have never made chocolate brownies & had them not eaten though.

I wouldn't go too crazy - you have to have a good time tooo.......xxx

I'd suggest leaving all the baking and cob loaves for another time. How about just doing a couple of antipasta platters along with cheese ball, crisps and a few dips. Like kiwiactrss said, savoury is better than sweets imo. Personally I love things like carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and celery but I have found that I am the only one so avoid those as much as possible. A fresh fruit bowl or platter could go down well.

buy a frozen pack of those asian pastry savouries (spring rolls and dim sums etc) and have some sweet chilli sauce to dip.

Sounds like a good idea & definitely sounds easier.May still do the cupcakes though.Thanks :)And thanks also to everyone else for their input.

Thanks you're so right!I'll try & do it all in advance (well as much as possible):)

Julie- the chocolate in the ice cube mold sould work well. I did them about a month ago for sil hens party. we used them in pass the parcel with a penis straw for the bride to be in the last wrapper.

Great thanks :)How did you make them exactly?I am thinking that I'll use white chocolate so I can colour them with pink food colouring.Maybe white chocolate buttons?I've used them before for chocolate covered strawberries & they worked really well.We just melted them in the microwave.

if you are going to colour do not use food colouring it will sieze your chocolate, go to spotlight or somewhere similar and buy some chocolate powder colouring around $4 I always melt my chocolate in a double boiler then do a whole tempering procedure although that would be way over the top for what you want to do. I would deff reccomend using a double boiler less chance of overcooking it, if you do use microwave do it in a 1min then 3o sec bursts.Also if you can i wouldnt use nestle buttons you dont get a very nice shine of them if you can buy homestyle chocolates they are the best, they can also be brought at spotlight or direct from homestyle. Make sure when you spoon chocolate into moulds you give them a tap on the bench to get air bubbles out :)
Sorry that turned into a bit of a novel!

No, that was great advice thanks!I went to spotlight & saw different coloured chocolate buttons.They had pink ones & other colours also in bags.Are they the ones you're talking about?That way I won't need to colour them.Thanks again for saving me from making so many mistakes!

Hi everyone, I am hosting a hens night for my friend & am wondering how much food I should have for 16 of us!The food is a pre-dinner nibbles with drinks, so I want enough food so that people don't get too drunk, but I'm going to try not to over cater.At the moment I have cupcakes, chocolate brownie, chips, crackers, bread, artichoke dip, french onion dip, cheese ball on the list & someone is bringing a dish too.The drinks/nibbles part will be for 3 hours & then we are going out to dinner.Does that sound like too much food!What would you recommend!Thanks for your help.

For a desert we made fruit kebabs,Grapes,Pineapple,Melon,-
Marshmellow, went down a treat,

Hi, I have had many parties at home and just as a note (or maybe it is just my friends) but savory is a lot more popular than sweet i.e. cupcakes and cake.I would tend to go more savoury - with asparagus rolls, sauage rolls etc - and as it is a hen's night why not have some fun and pop on some little sausages etc etc (without wanting to get into graphic details you can have lots of fun with suggestive food).

Since we're going out for dinner & starting after lunch (& it's being held at a hotel) I thought just chips, dips, bread, crackers would be good to soak up the alcohol/snack on.Kinda like bar snacks ;)Also things that are easy for me to prepare in advance like dips & cheese ball will be convenient for me as there'll be a lot to do on the day.I don't think I can make the cob loaves in advance though!I think they're all a bit too similar probably, but if I can get my hands on avocadoes I'll make a guacamole as well & maybe get cheeses, pesto etc as well if finances allow.

Interesting point about the sweet stuff though.Maybe I should just make the cupcakes!The bride to be LOVES cupcakes, that's why I'm making them & I have some pecker ice cube trays which I'm going to try & make chocolates in.I'm going to top the cupcakes with the chocolates :)I have never made chocolate brownies & had them not eaten though.

I wouldn't go too crazy - you have to have a good time tooo.xxx

I'd suggest leaving all the baking and cob loaves for another time. How about just doing a couple of antipasta platters along with cheese ball, crisps and a few dips. Like kiwiactrss said, savoury is better than sweets imo. Personally I love things like carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and celery but I have found that I am the only one so avoid those as much as possible. A fresh fruit bowl or platter could go down well.

You could do mini pieces of sushi - they can be made early that day too :)

Julie, the coloured buttons will work fine but probably won't taste quite as nice - I think trev106 was referring to powdered colour, which you can add to regular white chocolate melts without risking it going clumpy and unusable (generally adding liquid to chocolate has that effect). Up to you - if they're just toppers for cupcakes probably taste doesn't matter too much as the cake will be the bit people will focus on taste-wise, so go with whichever is easier for you. :-)

Thanks you're so right!I'll try & do it all in advance (well as much as possible):)

Great thanks :)How did you make them exactly!I am thinking that I'll use white chocolate so I can colour them with pink food colouring.Maybe white chocolate buttons!I've used them before for chocolate covered strawberries & they worked really well.We just melted them in the microwave.

No, that was great advice thanks!I went to spotlight & saw different coloured chocolate buttons.They had pink ones & other colours also in bags.Are they the ones you're talking about!That way I won't need to colour them.Thanks again for saving me from making so many mistakes!

Julie, the coloured buttons will work fine but probably won't taste quite as nice - I think trev106 was referring to powdered colour, which you can add to regular white chocolate melts without risking it going clumpy and unusable (generally adding liquid to chocolate has that effect). Up to you - if they're just toppers for cupcakes probably taste doesn't matter too much as the cake will be the bit people will focus on taste-wise, so go with whichever is easier for you. :-)