So my husband and I are having a party to show off our newly remodeled kitchen on Saturday. So far 27 people have rsvp'd (this doesn't include neighbors that I asked in person or people haven't responded yet). With the others added in, it's going to be about 42-44 people. So I told everyone that we would provide wine, beer and small bites.

Based on your own experiences, how many bottles of wine would you have on hand? I don't think a ton of the people attending will drink beer, but we're going to have some on hand anyway. Most people are red wine drinkers but I may have a few bottles of chardonnay as well.

Also, for food, I was thinking about very easy, cold foods that can be pulled out at the last minute. Here's what I was thinking so far:

Spinach dip with tortilla chips
Boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce
Hummus and pita bread
Fresh fruit tray
Crackers and cheese tray
Potentially those sandwich roll-up things that you can get at Costco

Any ideas on how much I should get? Anything else that you'd recommend that's easy to make and store?

42 people - I would guess 21 would drink wine - 2 glasses per person - 42 glasses...about 4-5 glasses per bottle...I would get 10 bottles to be safe.

Wait there....45 people are coming round to your house to see your new kitchen?

I'm gobsmacked. I didn't know such things happened. If I was coming I'd drink two bottles of wine easy.

Think of it more like a housewarming party more than anything. Some people may stay a bit longer, some will drop in, say hello, have a drink and then leave.

Darrin, please come if you happen to be in Portland. Likewise to you, Rodney.

Poppers. Ecstacy. Mushrooms.

Can't go wrong with those.

And, if any characters straight out of a LooGARian hellscape are in attendance, a can or two of spray-paint... Or, at least, a couple of fat-ass markers they can huff.

you can get those mini egg rolls or mini quiches or spinach puffs in filo from costco in large quantities for cheap. They cook up quick, they warm up quick in the oven without drying out. Can't lose.

Buy as much wine as you want. If it doesn't get opened that night, it'll get opened later, right?

I'd say 15 to be safe. You'd hate to have to send your boy out on a wine run in the middle of the shindig.

i swear, sometimes i think i became a graphic designer because of these.

Tough call. See, most of my friends are booze hounds so I would get a lot of booze.

But, you can weed out the boozers by not having a lot of wine/beer and they will see your kitchen and soon leave to go to a bar after things dry up leaving you to then break out the extra stash of hooch you have saved in the bedroom for you and your close friends.

Then you can break out the opium hookah to get people prepared for the swinging orgy.

Kinda like Blow, or Krylon, save the good ish for the heavy hitters.

Um...a nice 7-layer dip might be nice, with minimal prep (foodwise)...
also some frozen taquitos / TGIFridays stuff....
Toss out a fresh veggie plate or 2 - fruit plates can get messy, espec. when using in a finger food type fashion...
also, I'd overstock on the beer/wine - you can always return it later, if you have leftovers...

Thanks for the tips y'all. Yeah, Phil, after thinking about it more last night, I was leaning towards about 16 bottles of wine, and Dave and Ben-- you KNOW there will be "special friends" hanging around afterwards for the good stuff!

Kyle, good call on the veggies vs. fruit-- that sounds like way less work and easier to deal with.

Also, Phil, good idea on tacquitos. I've done those before. Something else that's pretty good and easy to heat up are the mini-spanakopitas they sell at Trader Joe's.

If you're going the veggie route & are hitting up Costco, they usually have pretty big party trays put together for about $15. I usually get one of those for a party and add one or two extras.

[brief hijack]i could just stare at your avatar all day long. thanks gordo.[/brief hijack]

Since you're most likely going to have crowds of people in the kitchen, don't pick anything that needs a lot of room or work to prepare.