When a person finally reaches retirement age, the moment deserves to be celebrated to the fullest. Decades of hard work finally lead up to this new chapter where alarm clocks and many daily responsibilities go out the back door. It’s the time to chase after those bucket list items and finally dive into those hobbies that have had to take a back seat for far too long.
But before all these fun activities take place, it’s time to plan a retirement party that will celebrate the retiree embarking on this hard-earned and long-awaited next chapter. Whether you are planning a retiring party for yourself or someone else – the food is a critical component.
However, planning a menu and deciding what you want to serve might end up being more complex than you expected, so don’t put this off to the last minute.
Start finalizing it as soon as you decide on a venue. The type of venue will affect what type of food you can serve. For example, is outside catering allowed, or what facilities are available to prepare and serve the food?
This might all sound overwhelming, but with our top tips, you’ll be on your way to planning an unforgettable retirement party.
Things to keep in mind when you are planning a menu:
- Devote at least a section of the menu to the retiree. In practice, this can mean that some of their favorite dishes are included. If it’s your own party or if it’s not a surprise party, just go ahead and ask them what they would like to have on the menu.
The party is about celebrating their life after all – this is the one time their preferences can completely dominate dinner.
- Include a couple of vegan and vegetarian dishes on the menu. This will ensure that the meal is completely inclusive and mindful of a variety of different dietary and religious requirements.
- Make sure you have complete clarity on your budget upfront. The cost of catering for a party is almost always more than expected, so define your budget and ask vendors upfront for a detailed overview of all costs. Depending on where the party will be held, there could be additional costs like for the rent of utensils and tableware.
You should be able to save some money if you do the catering yourself but also think about the amount of additional time, stress, and planning this is going to cost.
- Don’t forget that you also need to plan appropriate drinks for your food. Next to including alcoholic and non-alcoholic options, you should consider including a nice toasting wine or champagne.
Given that it’s such a special celebration, some people would most likely want to give a short speech, so having a special drink to toast with will definitely be an elegant touch.
Lastly, there are always a couple of guests that enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea before continuing to sip their wine. So bonus points if you can include that too.
- Whether you are preparing the food yourself or outsourcing it to a caterer, make sure to note down any details regarding potential food allergies. For example, you definitely want to know upfront if any peanuts or shellfish were used as an ingredient so people with an allergy can avoid those dishes.
Party food ideas
Theme specific food
If you are struggling to come up with a menu, you could consider planning the food around a theme. For example, maybe the soon-to-be-retiree is planning to visit Italy during their retirement. Then you can serve all kinds of Italian dishes.
You don’t have to serve it in the exact order that Italians would eat it, but you can serve different types of pizza or pasta and, for dessert, an Italian classic such as Tiramisu.
If you don’t want to commit to planning an entire meal around a theme, you could always just opt for making one course a themed one. However, if you decide to serve food from a certain country, look around to see if you can find caterers from that country or someone that specialize in that type of food.
Platters and fingerfood
No one says you need to serve an entire three-course meal. Instead, you can serve a variety of platters. This takes a lot of stress in terms of planning, and it also allows the party to continue without any specific breaks where people need to find their seats.
Platters also make it easy to cater to all kinds of different dietary requirements. Just be sure to still add a little card with information if it might not be clear what the ingredients are.
Cold cuts, cheese, olives, nuts, breadsticks, and different kinds of bread and spreads are just an idea of what you can serve. If you are doing the catering yourself, a quick Google search will provide you with many ideas about what to serve and how to serve it.
Another advantage of this approach is that it cuts down on the amount of additional things you might need to bring or rent. For example, as most items are finger foods it’s sufficient to only put out a few knives to cut items. For some dishes, you might include the option to use little forks, but you mainly need plates and serviettes.
Food trucks
This option might not be accessible to everyone depending on where you live, but these days some events have different food trucks come in to serve guests. This might look like a burger food truck or a noodle food truck. These days there’s almost every kind of food truck under the sun.
A food truck is an ideal option if you are planning a retirement party somewhere outside as it obviously would not work if you are throwing a celebration at a restaurant.
Plan a picnic
Planning a picnic is another ideal option if the party is being held outside. There are two ways you can do this: you can set up platters, as discussed earlier, or an even more memorable option is packing guests a picnic basket to share. This option will require a little more planning as you will need to track down a number of picnic baskets.
The only requirement is that the food will be easy to eat. Little sandwiches, pastries, samosas, meatballs, falafel, and empanadas can all be made ahead of time and packed easily.
And remember just because it’s a picnic, it doesn’t mean it can’t be a glamorous one. Especially if you have a caterer there’s really no limit to the type of food you can serve. This makes picnic food both a fantastically original idea for a retirement party, and it works well for the retiree that prefers something more lowkey.
If you already have a venue and theme picked out and you just want inspiration on what to serve, here is a list of crowd-pleaser foods that you can serve:
Top bites to serve
Our favorite dishes to serve won’t cost you an arm-and-a-leg, and it caters to a variety of dietary restrictions. Also, do ask guests to let you know upfront about any specific dietary restrictions. However, by serving dishes that can be enjoyed by all you cut down on your own planning and ensure that everyone can fully enjoy everything on the table.
- Olive Tapenade
This is a great option that looks fancy with very little effort. Pair it with some fresh bread like focaccia, and guests are guaranteed to compliment you on your catering.
- Pull-apart garlic bread
Who doesn’t like garlic bread? Serve it fresh out of the oven, and guests won’t be able to keep their hands off it.
- Sheet pan nachos
If you are on a budget this is a fantastic option to serve. You can easily whip up a batch for a lot of people at a fraction of the cost – without skimping on the taste.
- Bruschetta
An absolute classic and very few people dislike it. It also makes for a very colorful addition to the table.
- Tacos
You can serve tacos with a variety of fillings, but why not make it interesting for guests by letting them put their own one together. Prep all the ingredients upfront and present them in an appetizing way. Guests can then dig in and create their own flavors.
- Rainbow rolls
Rainbow rolls are really easy to put together, and the filling options are almost limitless. The core ingredients are usually vegetables and thin noodles. You can make these ahead of time and serve them with a peanut or spicy soy sauce.
- Hummus
Hummus is always a crowd pleaser, and you can serve more flavors than just the traditional kind. Pair it with fresh bread. It’s one of those things that almost everyone can eat, so adding that to whatever else you are serving is always a good idea.
- Spinach pastries
These are easy-to-eat little pastries filled with spinach and feta. Again, it’s an item you can prep ahead of time. Also, consider baking a few without feta for those that are lactose-intolerant or doesn’t like cheese.