Planning a birthday means juggling the cake, the drinks, the guest list and the date. The food is the part you can sort out in one go. At Sandwich Baron we make party platters for birthday parties across South Africa, and this guide walks you through what to order and how much, so you can book with confidence.
You don’t need a catering background. You need a headcount, a rough idea of who is coming, and a few minutes with the steps below.
Where Birthday Party Food Platters Fit
If you’re wondering where to get a birthday platter without cooking for two days, we’re one answer. We’re a South African sandwich franchise with sixteen stores, and our menu covers sandwiches, wraps, tramezzini, tacos, baked potatoes, salads, lunch boxes, banting options and party platters. That means a mixed guest list can be planned from one menu instead of three different shops.
A platter can play two roles at a party. For a lunchtime or early-evening celebration, it is the main meal, and everything else is a supporting act. For a party built around games, a braai or a late-afternoon cake, it works as a snack table that keeps hands busy between the big moments.
Decide which role it plays before anything else, because that single choice changes how much you order more than any other.
How Much to Order per Guest for a Birthday Platter
We’d rather give you a method you can run on the back of an envelope than a number that doesn’t fit your party. Every party is different, and a table of per-guest figures would be wrong for half of them. Once you have your answer, you can match it to an orderable option on our Party Platters page.
Start With Your Headcount and the Kids-to-Adults Split
Write down the total number of guests, then split it into children and adults. Count the birthday child and any parents who are staying, not only the invited friends.
The split matters because the two groups eat differently. Younger children usually take a few small pieces and head back to the games, while adults tend to sit down and eat properly. A party of twenty children and five adults needs a very different order from twenty adults and five children, even though the headcount is the same.
Next, decide whether the platter is the main meal or a snack. A main meal means guests should leave full, so you order generously for every head. A snack means the platter sits beside cake and other bites, so you can order lighter.
When you have those three answers, browse our party platters and match your count to the closest orderable option.
Adjust for Party Length, Cake and Hungry Guests
Your base number is only a starting point. Three things push it up or down.
Party length. A two-hour party needs less than an afternoon that runs into the evening. If guests will be there across a mealtime, treat the platter as the main meal even if you first planned it as a snack.
Cake and other food. Cake, chips and sweets fill small stomachs fast. If those are already on the table, you can order lighter. If cake is only coming out at the very end, guests will need the platter to carry them.
Hungry guests. Teenagers and adults who arrive straight from sport or work eat more than you expect, and you should plan for that. If your guest list is full of them, round up rather than down.
This method has one limit: it gets you to a sensible order, not a perfect one. If you’re torn between two sizes, go for the larger one when the party is long or the guests are older. Go for the smaller one when the cake and snacks are plentiful.
Kids’ and Adult Party Platters: What to Order
Our platters come in different styles because a children’s party and an adult celebration are different events. Pick the style for the people who will actually be eating.
Take a typical backyard birthday. The younger children want something simple they can eat with one hand while running around, and the adults want something more filling. The host orders both styles from one menu, and nobody goes hungry or has to make do.
Kids’ Party Sandwich Platters: Simple and Hand-Held
Kids’ platters work best when they’re easy. Think mild, familiar fillings in small, hand-held pieces that a child can pick up, finish in a few bites and not worry about.
- Mild and familiar: the fillings children already know and like, with no surprises.
- Small pieces: easy for little hands, and easy for fussy eaters to try.
- Hand-held: no cutlery, no plates balanced on knees.
Kids’ party sandwich platters also suit parents. They are quick to put out and easy to top up, and there’s little cleaning up afterwards.
Adult Platters: Heartier Fillings and Banting Options
Adult platters can carry heartier fillings, and they bring in salads and banting options for guests who want something different. If any of your guests are eating low-carb, you don’t need to ask them to bring their own food. Our banting options are on the same menu as everything else.
For a mixed-age party, split the order between the two styles in line with your kids-to-adults split from earlier. Don’t rely on one platter type to feed everyone, because children will skip the heavier fillings and adults will quietly eat the kids’ pieces and then still be hungry.
This isn’t the right fit if you want a seated, plated meal with courses. Our platters are takeaway food, made for grazing and sharing.
Platter Contents: Building a Balanced Mix
A good party spread has choice without waste. If you order only one thing, a few guests will skip it. If you order too many different things, you end up with half-eaten leftovers of each.
Start with savoury sandwiches, wraps and tramezzini as your base. Sandwiches are the crowd-pleasers, wraps suit guests who want something a little more filling, and tramezzini give the table a lighter, neater option. Then add finger foods, and finish with something fresh or sweet.
Your fresh extra could be a salad from our menu, especially at an adult party. Your sweet extra is usually the birthday cake itself, so you rarely need to order more than that.
The same thinking applies to a boardroom and to a backyard, so if you want to see how we plan the mix for work events, read our guide to sandwich platters for meetings.
Finger Food Platters That Keep Guests Grazing
Finger food platters do the quiet work at a party. Guests pick something up as they pass, chat, and come back ten minutes later for another piece. That steady grazing is also what stops everyone swarming the table at once.
Put the finger food where people gather, not on a far-off table. If it sits near the drinks or the games, it gets eaten when guests are hungry. If it’s hidden in the kitchen, you’ll find half of it still there at the end.
Mix the pieces too. A platter with two or three kinds of filling is easier for guests with different tastes, and for anyone with a dietary need, than a platter with one kind repeated.
Ordering Birthday Party Platters Ahead in South Africa
Order early, and you can pick calmly. Order late, and you’ll take whatever is still available. Before you book, settle three things: the date, the headcount and any dietary needs among your guests.
How Far Ahead to Book Your Date
Settle the date, headcount and dietary needs first, because everything else depends on them. A host who has those sorted early has time to choose the platter mix and plan delivery or collection, rather than deciding in a rush the day before.
Book earlier for weekends and public holidays, since those are the days most families are celebrating. The same goes for the December and January school holidays, when birthday parties, family gatherings and year-end functions all land at once. If your party falls on one of those dates, don’t leave it to the last week.
If your headcount might still change, order for the number you’re confident about and speak to your store about adjusting.
Party Food Delivery or Collecting Nearby
You have two ways to get your platters. You can have the food delivered, or you can collect from a store near you.
We offer free delivery on our takeaway breakfast and lunch orders, which is a good reason to think about delivery first. For a party order, confirm with your store that delivery covers your platters, your date and your address when you book.
Collection suits you if you live close to a store, if you’d like to check the order before the guests arrive, or if your date is a busy one and you want more control over timing. Delivery suits you if you’re busy decorating, setting up or looking after small children.
Either way, find your nearest store and speak to the team there about your date.
Budget Tips for Cheaper Party Platters
Cheap party platters shouldn’t mean a thin table. They mean spending where it counts and not paying for food nobody eats. We can’t promise a particular price for your party, but we can tell you where hosts usually save.
Cost-Saving Moves That Still Feed Everyone
- Order to your headcount. Guessing means over-ordering to be safe. Work out your number using the steps above and order for that.
- Choose a mix over many premium items. A balanced spread of sandwiches, wraps and tramezzini with some finger food feeds more people comfortably than a table full of special items.
- Skip extras for short parties. If guests are only there for a couple of hours and the cake is coming, you don’t need a second salad or a spare platter.
Saving money shouldn’t leave guests short, though. If the party runs long or the guests are mostly teenagers and adults, keep the main platters generous and cut the extras instead.
Function Platters Near You for Your Birthday
Looking for function platters near me usually comes down to one thing: a simple order, on time, for the right number of people. You now have the steps for that.
Choose a platter that fits your headcount on our Party Platters page, then use the store finder to collect from a store near you or to confirm delivery for your date.
We’re proud to be the country’s largest sandwich group, and we owe that to our franchisees and our loyal customers, who keep coming back to us for their celebrations. Thank you for letting us be part of yours.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out how much platter food to order for a birthday party?
Start with your total headcount, then split it into children and adults. Decide whether the platter is the main meal or a snack beside cake. Then adjust upwards for a long party, for hungry teenagers and adults, or for a late cake, and downwards if there’s plenty of other food.
What should go on a kids’ party platter?
Keep it mild and familiar, in small hand-held pieces that children can eat without cutlery. For a mixed party, order kids’ platters for the children and a heartier adult platter for the grown-ups.
Do you have banting options for adult guests?
Yes. Our menu includes banting options, as well as salads and heartier fillings, so adults with different eating styles can be catered for from the same order.
How far ahead should I book party platters?
Settle your date, headcount and dietary needs first, then book as early as you can. Weekends, public holidays and the December and January school holidays fill up fastest, so don’t leave those dates to the last week.
Can I have my party platters delivered, or do I need to collect them?
You can do either. We offer free delivery on our takeaway breakfast and lunch orders, so confirm with your store that it covers your platter order, date and address. If you’d rather collect, find your nearest store and arrange a pick-up time.