The menu is always the worst thing to mull over, especially if you do not know what you are doing. Before making a decision on what to serve you have to make certain considerations, and the first consideration is what your guests like to eat. If you are planning a party for your friends then you would know their tastes. That should narrow down your options.
I f you are thinking about a baby shower party then you have to make a decision if you are keeping this amongst women or are the men included, how about the children, are they included also? You have to make sure what kind of party you want it for before you make decisions. Remember, men generally don’t like tea parties with very light food, they like beer and good home cooked meals. Second to consider, what kind of cuisine you would like to serve: you should know what your friends favor, so start from there. Do not serve Chinese or Japanese if you know that the friends don’t any of those.
If you are going to have men and children coming over, you have to remember that if the men like big hearty meals, kids like to have snacks. Consider making different menus for them to choose from in case you include both, or simply make food that both would love to eat. Do not disappoint them by giving them tea cakes and hot tea, men would not like the idea, kids would look at the food and wince.
Another consideration to make is the venue. Decide on whether it is going to be in a home, if it is, where in the home? The back yard where you can have a barbeque party, in a favorite restaurant that you and your friends like to frequent, or simply in a room where only a few can attend. You cannot get away with serving hot tea and coffee to kids and men, it would be best to make considerations for both if you wish to include them. Just make certain that the mommy-to-be has her flavored water or juice that she could safely drink. That includes decaffeinated coffee and tea.
How about the desserts? Generally this is just about the easiest to deal with. Unless your friends don’t like to eat dessert. Just let your imagination fly here, no one can really make a mistake on desserts, as long as they look good and tastes good.
Ask the mother to be what kind of party she wants and who she wants invited and most of all, where she wants it to be. She has the last word on the party even if she does not host it or even make plans for it.
The final consideration is the type of party you want to host: formal, semi-formal, semi-casual, casual, informal, buffet or sit down, cocktail or dance, and whole lot more. Once you finalize, then you will know what to serve.
Remember the rule of thumb: never make plans for the menu if you don’t know what kind or type of party you want to hold. After all the details, the last to be finalized is the menu.