We're having a cocktail party to celebrate the harpsichord my husband built--how much food??!!!

Parent Cafe
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So my husband built a harpsichord and we have invited a professional musician to play it at our home. We’re having 30-35 people. The cocktail hour begins at 7, and the concert around 7:45. After the professional plays, there will be opportunities for other musicians to try it (I hear my daughter working on her Handel piece as I type!), so we’re thinking the party could go as late as 10, but not too much later because it’s a work night. Everyone will be sitting for the concert, so there will be about an hour in which no food is consumed, so I estimate that I will need 2 hours worth of food.

The instrument is a replica of a 1584 Moermans harpsichord, so I am serving some 16th century foods, including pumpes (a saffron and spice flavored meatball with currants), cheese tarts, and sambocade, an elderflower cheesecake. In addition to this, I am also serving smoky bacon mac and cheese bites, caprese skewers, and fruit skewers, as well as mini cupcakes from a good local bakery. Our beverages are mead, champagne, home-brewed ale, an excellent non-alcoholic ginger punch, and non-alcoholic sparkling cider (for the toast for those who don’t drink champagne).

All of the food is miniature, including the meatballs and cheesecake, so that it’s easier to manage. I need more stuff, though, because I only have a total of 346 pieces, including the dessert items. Since this is during the dinner hour, people will be hungry.

What else do you suggest? The party is in two days, so anything I can prepare quickly or ahead of time is great. Also, how much to pay the musician? He’s doing this as a favor to our daughter, who is his student, but we still want to pay him!

Note: I posted this on Chowhound under my screen name there, but that site is really slow since the redesign.

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@Massmomm my dh has a dream of building a harpsichord! I think it’s so cool that your DH built one!

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Sounds like a wonderful event - so cool!

Sounds like you have a lot of work on your hands with the party just 2 days away so I would lean towards additional items that are easier to throw together - more putting on a serving tray than actual cooking.

Some ideas include:
Shrimp w/cocktail or remoulade sauce
Charcuterie & cheese board w/dried fruit, nuts, olives, etc.
Smoked salmon platter w/dill sour cream and garnish (Trader Joe’s can be a good place to source the salmon)

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If you’re worried people will be hungry, then include some starches…rustic breads maybe.

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I like doschicos idea of cheese platter with dried fruits and nuts m2ck’s rustic breads idea - perhaps with flavored butters or spreads. They seem to go with the time period.
As far as payment, how much does he charge per hour lesson? I would use that as a starting point. The dollar amount is going to vary widely depending on your community.

eta - Can we all come? It sounds like a delightful party!

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You are probably very close to being just fine, but you could add a Charcuterie or antipasto and cheese plate and crackers which will yield a far amount of servings in addition to all that you have planned.

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Things like olive tampenade and cheese are very old foods, and things like black bread date back easily to that time period, so you could have sliced blackbread (an eastern european bakery might be easier to find that at). Sliced smoke sausage is also a very old food, so that might fit into the theme.

As far as the musician goes, it depends on how much he will be playing, if he is to be playing for an hour or less, I would probably give a minimum of 100 dollars, which may be more than the going rate in the area, but since this is a kind of honorarium , saying thank you for doing this, I think that reflects gratitute more than let’s say simply giving the going rate (and if the going rate for teaching is 100/hour, which is pretty common where i live with a teacher at any kind of level, then I would likely give a bit more). That is me, though, at the minimum I would pay him what he charges to teach.

I have to say I am jealous, would love to be at a party like that, both to admire what your husband has done (making a working harpsichord is not easy, in some ways it is more difficult than a piano) and also to get to listen to the music, too. Now if you could get the guy who will play it to dress up like Lurch on the Adam’s family, that would be the cat’s meow lol. How long did it take him to do it?

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I just have to say that the title of your thread made my day! My dorm director freshman year in college built his own harpsichord right there in the dorm, so I have some sense of what journey it’s been.

Loving the themed foods. Musicians in my experience tend to be hungry types, so perhaps having a few not-so-period easy backups (like cheese and crackers ready to toss onto a plate) ready might not be a bad idea. You’ll be serving something filling (proteins) during the cocktail hour to keep people happy during the concert and then moving to desserty items after?

If as your name suggests you are in the northeast, you might want to add some additional water during this hot weather.

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Sounds like a lovely event. I believe caterers figure around 10 pieces per person for a 2 hour cocktail party and 15 if the party covers dinner.

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Wow, thanks so much for your kind and helpful replies! I will add a bread/cheese/charcuterie thing and a pitcher of lemon water because it is hot and not everyone wants drinks with calories. We do have air conditioning, fortunately.

To answer @musicprnt’s question, it has taken my husband over 30 years to build this instrument. He started while a student at Stanford, worked on it for a year or two, then packed it up and laid it aside through multiple moves. During its years of dormancy, the soundboard cracked and my husband wondered if it was worth finishing.

In 2014, we had an issue with our piano that required a repair. My husband mentioned his harpsichord project to the technician, and he got very excited and asked to see it. So DH hauled it out, cracked soundboard and all.

The technician came back the following week, helped repair the soundboard, and inspired my husband to finish the job. Two years later, after dozens of coats of paint, gold leafing, stringing, and countless repairs to the jacks and plectra, here we are.

The technician was, of course, invited to the party!

Oh, and I have no idea what the professional charges. He is D’s piano instructor at college though he is actually on the faculty at a conservatory. She just pays per semester, and I have no idea how many hours of teaching she gets.

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I wonder if the instructor would be insulted if you tried to pay him? It sounds like he considers himself an invited guest, not a paid performer, at the event. If he expected to be paid, I’m sure he would have negotiated the fee when you arranged for him to perform.

You might just say to him, “We insist on paying for your performance. What is your going rate?” Or something like that.

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You could have some bowls full of grapes, snipped into smaller clusters.

In Germany one of my favorite simple things to eat was rustic bread, spread with butter and sprinkled with a thick layer of chives.

Another easy thing is tea sandwiches. Cucumber, tomato or egg salad.

I do think bread and cheese would be fine.

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Your party sounds so lovely – kudos to your husband - that sounds - no pun intended - amazing!! =D>
Everyone has given so many terrific ideas - you likely have MORE than enough - invite us over to help make sure it all gets eaten & to hear the beautiful music.

I am originally from the south - we often also put out spiced nuts, mini cheese biscuits, fresh fruit - you already plan for skewers – another option is strawberries dipped in chocolate which are a southern favorite but any fruit is good. I hope you, your husband & all who come enjoy and celebrate!! Pretty cool indeed.

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Instead of calling it a payment, maybe you could get a gift certificate and include a thank you note.

Might he frequent a local music store? Or does he have a favorite restaurant?

Just seems more tasteful to call it a thank you gift rather than giving him cash or a check as payment.

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I was just going to write what @justtryharder said, get him a gift certificate, it comes off as a thank you rather than treating him as a hired gun, I like that.

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What a wonderful event!

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Just wanted to give a belated thanks to everyone who replied. Our harpsichord party was a great success. Our musician performed Bach’s Goldberg variations (some of them) and gave some explanation in between each piece, which our guests (mostly musicians) really appreciated. We had plenty of food and drinks. We did give a gratuity to both the performer and the tuner (also a guest) and gave everyone the chance to play the instrument after the concert.

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Thanks for the update, @Massmomm. I hope you had some A/C today!

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FUN!! Important!!