My mouth is watering. What I would add is maybe chips and salsa and/or guacamole. Another salad would seem good, especially to counter balance the meat.

I forgot, also steamed corn on the cob

I always like fresh fruit, & platters are pretty easy to do; pineapple, berries & grapes are my faves

I was going to suggest as Carol did. A simple fruit tray to round things out, it doesn't have to be anything that takes lots of prep. Berries, melon cubes, grapes.

It makes a lot of sense -- you have three entrees and you can have a meal of lasagna and salad and carrots, or you can have a meal of ham, potatoes, carrots and salad or you could have prawns, carrots and salad (if you were more diet friendly.) And you could have some of ALL!!! You COULD add another salad -- by layered do you mean the one with lettuce, peas, onions, etc. and topped with a sugared mayo? That would go well with either the lasagna, the ham or the prawns. Whenever I do a buffet for a meal, I think of it as a main dish and sides -- not that everyone would limit themselves to just ONE entree -- most will take a little bit of everything. (I'm a bit of an oddball -- I like to chose ONE meal of main dish and vegetables and salads which go well with the main dish I chose). You didn't mention dessert. If you do fruit, I would include that as a dessert choice (for dieters) rather than part of the main buffet -- but that's just me.

You will have more than half of whatever you have left over. I do funeral lunch meals all the time....even your 2 hotel trays of lasagna are too much. the potatoes are twice too much even without considering the lasagna and the prawns. 20 pounds of bone in ham....again waaaay too much.
I did a lunch after a memorial service last Saturday. We served 57 people. I had a hot turkey dish which was pretty well just sliced white meat turkey ( I slipped some chicken breast in there too...sssh! don't tell) with some onions, celery and sugar vinegar and catsup broth...warmed. I had 13 pounds of meat wiithout bone....there was one spoonfull left...I would have wished I had cooked more but I only expected 40 to 45.
I served a salad of 3 heads of iceberg lettuce, 3 10 oz bags of baby spoinach and 3 pounds of strawberries...it was pretty well all gone...if you are interested in the balsamic dressing shout and I will post>
I served a bean salad made form 5 cans of garbonzos, 6 cans of canalenni, 4 heads of broccoli and a bould of carrots 2 small sweet onions 7 or 7 small sweet red peppers and half a head of celery....with an oil and lime juice and parsley dressing therew as a quart and a half of that left....they ate 5 dozen buns and I had 10 dozen cookies....didn't need that many but I wanted a good assortment.

I have been doing the lunch after a service for 11 years...last Saturdxay was the 66th one. What I have learned is...not too many choices. It takes forever to go through the line and people take some of everything and you toss a lot of food from plates and people don't consider it any better than just 3 well chosen dishes.

I would do the lasagna, a vegetable salad and perhaps a fruit salad, rolls or bread and if your area is like mine....a bean salad for the vegetarians and the gluten free people.
Send the prawns to me!!!

Linda has the amounts really well! The most recent event I went to lacked enough basic salad as some people like me tend to eat on the healthy side and just snack on other parts of the meal. Nancy

I also think you're going to have leftovers, but I hate to run out of anything, so I over prepare. My family is always happy to take the leftovers too.

The only thing I ran out of at my daughter's wedding was salad, go figure, and I had way too much lasagna, but we were serving 300.

I think with both carrots and corn and a salad, you're covered in the vegetable department. I'd just eat the prawns and be happy! Fruit would be a nice addition, though, either as a dessert or in addition to it. Oddly enough, it seems to be the thing that's always left though and you don't really NEED it if you're having a dessert. I'd be more likely to have it if you aren't having dessert.

Annie

Engraved indelibly in my memory is the time I was engineering a Presbytery lunch for 150....and ran out of fruit half way through the line. I didn't count on the vegans and the glucose intolerants. I had ham sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches a pasta and vegetable salad....and 2 enormous bowls of cut up melons and berries and peaches....and by 75 people all gone! There were some that ate nothing but fruit.
It's always good to have some leftovers....but at a funeral lunch, too many can be a curse. In my situation the family usually but not always makes a donation they hope covers the lunch. And i hate to have the lunch cost more than is necessary, and if they don't donate then the church covers the costs and I hate to spend more of the church's money than I need to. But there sure have been times when I was begging people to take home some chicken salad or a dish of lasagna!

Don't worry about the English - we eat a LOT of pasta! Brits eat food from all over the world. Many Brits are vegetarian, though. How about a veggie lasagne?

I should have said that this will be a full dinner served early evening. I think I will leave the lasagna as is but take Linda's advice and cut the potatoes in half and see about the ham when I pick it up I think my other salad will be a lettuce based tossed salad with a choice of dressings and I plan to make a lot of it I like the idea of adding fruit I am serving dessert of my husband's choice He is the English side of this. I am planning to make two trifles one would be a black forest trifle and the other one will be my usual pear and raspberry trifle I think that's where I'll put the fruit out as well. It's too bad that this is scheduled for late June which on Vancouver Island is too early to harvest fresh fruit I think.

LindaC, your family is far different than mine, I guess. I usually make 5 pounds of potatoes for family holiday dinners when there are only 11 of us, and I seldom have any left over. Must be the Irish influence, we all love potatoes! Only a couple eat the fruit salad, though, that's probably also my genetics, I don't eat fruit if I can help it, I make up for it by eating the vegetables, which I do like a lot. And yes, I know it's heresy, but berries are my least favorite fruit, with strawberries being the last choice ever.

I do think that cutting down the potatoes in this instance is a good idea, though, especially with both pasta and corn, the more starchy choices.

Annie

Just to say again, if it's a full dinner, there's not a full dinner for veggies. Are you sure you aren't getting any?

I'm like my mother and I'd always rather have too much food prepared than not enough! Part of the problem is knowing the eating habits of the people involved.... and how considerate they are of others. Small example: if there are 3 pieces of chicken available on a plate and 4 people left to feed, there are some people who will take all 3 pieces and leave the rest with nothing, and there are some people (like me) who will see that there is insufficient food and therefore leave the chicken for everyone else. :p

I still remember the first time my sister's husband's family attended one of our family parties. My mother ALWAYS had plenty of food at her parties, but she wasn't prepared for a family of huge eaters who apparently skipped lunch that day just so they could really tank up. It was as if some huge vacuum hit the buffet table. LOL!!!

I usually use 1/2 pound RAW meat per person when feeding a crowd and 5 pounds of potatoes will feed 20 people. We did the Rotary Oktoberfest for 20 years (brats, German potato salad, German coleslaw, sauerkraut) and I always used that formula -- we always had around 100 guests and it worked perfectly -- usually there was a "tad" leftover and that was perhaps because people were polite. Of course, 20 pounds of "bone in" ham is not the same as 20 pounds of boneless ham. You won't have 20 pounds of meat. As far as quantity, it depends on what you have in mind for the leftovers if you prepare too much. And yes, people tend to over prepare because they are afraid of running out.

Party party makes a good point. My husband just prepared meals for 4 of them and couldn't believe how much they ate. For example, they polished off over 3lbs of boneless skinless salmon for 4 of them. And 8 potatoes. Nothing left. I do agree with Annie that we already have 3 starchy things, so I will definitely cut down on the potatoes. You people have been great! Thank you.

"...tank up" lol : )

Yeah, we have a rule to make more than necessary. Very important to have massive leftovers so no one is left out. Or wanting something small even after everyone has visited the line. We prepare by knowing the guests.

I just want some veg and fruit in those situations. I might take a tiny bit of starch but prefer a light snack. Maybe a another pass for more fruit.

Adding some roasted cauliflower ? and/or another veg with the carrots? ....same cooking time. Something clean and not sauced or cheesed.

fruit salad offered would be my 'stress meal'. I want that over all starch.