How to plan a bbq for 30+ people with minimal fuss...

We had Phan's bday catchup bbq yesterday... I had been thinking for a while about how to plan this with minimal effort on my behalf ... and with the help of my SIL and family and friends, it turns out, the old proverb "Many hands make light work" is very true... :)

This is what we did -

20 lamb chops (marinaded by a family friend)
40 good quality sausages (20 herb and garic bratwurst, 20 continental steak from Standom smallgoods)
8 bbq chooks, cut into 8ths (from Magill BBQ chickens... I should have only ordered 5 or 6... we have a tonne of leftovers!)

2 garden salads (lettuce, capsicum, mushrooms, cucumber - made by my SIL)
2 baby spinach and craisin salads (great recipe I found ages ago... I will post it at later date - made by my sister... just one probably would have been enough)
1 potato salad (baby potatos, quartered and mixed with basic store-bought potato salad dressing, jazzed up with chives - made by me)
1 pasta salad (pasta, sundried tomato pesto, sundried tomatos, roasted capsicum, basil and pinenuts - made by me)
Mini vegetarian quiche (for our vegetarian friends) (store bought)

1 fruit platter (made and assembed by a chef friend of ours)
1 9" square chocolate/baci cake decorated with a "Superman" emblem (made by Heidelberg cakes - it looked awesome!)

3 loaves of bread (2 would have done)

Incidentals
Tomato Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Salad Dressing, Margarine
Plastic plate, knives forks, napkins
1 pack of corn chips, 1 pack of chips, 1 pack strawberries and cream, 1 pack of penguins from the confectionary company.
6 bottles of softdrink

It was the most relaxed bbq I've ever planned... usually I do everything myself and as a result am very busy and frantically running around... but seeing as I couldn't do it all myself (I know when to admit, I need to have help) having the help of so many people really made it a breeze... all I had to do was make 2 salads and setup the house with decorations and stuff with my SIL.

It was a great night and lovely to catchup with so many of our friends and family...