Reunions · Ottawa

Family Reunion Catering in Ottawa

From $42 per guest
$600 event minimum
Roughly 12 to 50 guests
Ottawa, within 25 km

A family gathering for 40 comes to $1,725 at the starting price with delivery and the build at home, plus applicable taxes; as the afternoon’s meal it runs to $2,600 plus delivery. How it is priced

Family reunions, milestone birthdays like a parent’s eightieth, big anniversaries and the afternoon the cousins are in town all ask the same of the food: familiar, generous, nothing too fancy, and enough of it that nobody spends the day in the kitchen. OH! composes one table for the whole family at home or in a hall, for roughly 12 to 50 guests, with hot dishes on request and every figure published on this page.

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AI-generated illustration.

A full-length grazing table in a living room, seen from one end: cheeses, folds of cured meat, grapes, figs, olives, crackers and breads laid on kraft paper over linen, with oak boards raised on risers, a linen sofa behind and a window to the left.

The OH! approach

Everyone home for the afternoon,
and enough on the table.

A family gathering by guest count

Guests	Surface	Food as the meal (300–400 g per guest)	From, with delivery, plus applicable taxes
20	One 1.8 m table	6–8 kg	$885
30	One 2.4 m surface	9–12 kg	$1,305
40	One 2.4 m surface	12–16 kg	$1,725
50	Two 1.8 m tables, joined or as a pair	15–20 kg	$2,145

A parent’s eightieth at home

The shape is familiar: an afternoon in the family house, twenty to forty people across three or four generations, a speech, a cake, photographs, and a guest of honour who should not lift a finger. The table goes on the surface the house has, usually the dining table or a rented trestle, is built before the first car arrives, and holds its looks while people come and go. The older guests are planned for first: soft, easy items placed where a plate can be filled for someone seated, and the near end of the table kept clear for the guests who stay in their chairs.

Familiar food, done well

Family gatherings run on recognisable food in generous amounts. The table leans on the categories everybody reaches for — breads, cheeses, cured meat, fruit, dips and crudités, tartlets and small sandwiches, a salad and something sweet — with one or two things worth talking about, and a card on every item so the cousin with an allergy can read the table in a second. Where the family wants something hot on the plate, our hot buffet page lists the hot dishes OH! has cooked and sold so far, and any other dish you name gets a straight answer about whether we can cook it for your date.

An open house that runs all afternoon

Reunions arrive in waves: the local family early, the cousins who drove in after lunch, the old friends at four. A table that is all out at the start looks tired by the second wave, and dairy and cured meat come down after about two hours at room temperature, or about one hour once the room passes about 32 °C. So a long afternoon is planned as two waves, with the second held in the fridge until it is wanted.

A living room, a backyard or a hall

A living room in Kanata, a backyard in Barrhaven or a community hall in Orléans each change the build. At home the surface and the carrying route matter most. In a garden, shade and the season decide the plan, and our backyard party catering page covers both. A rented hall gives space, fixes the hours and often has its own rules about outside food, which we confirm before quoting.

Bigger than the usual party

Reunions run larger than most house parties, and the surface follows the count. A 1.8 m trestle — the standard six-foot folding table — carries a grazing display for roughly twenty to twenty-five guests at appetiser level, a 2.4 m surface takes thirty to forty, and fifty guests want two 1.8 m tables joined or run as a pair. Above fifty we plan a custom setup around the venue and confirm what we can do before you book.

Splitting it between the family

A family event is often paid for by several people, so the quote comes back itemised — food, styling, delivery, and hot dishes where they are ordered — in a form that can be forwarded and divided without a second conversation.

What it costs

At $42 per guest for the food and the styled build, forty guests come to $1,680, or $1,725 with the $45 delivery and on-site styling within 25 km, plus applicable taxes. Where the table is the afternoon’s meal it sits at the top of the $42–$65 per guest range. A small family dinner under 15 guests is quoted at the $600 event minimum, and hot dishes are quoted per event on their own line.

Booking a family date

Family dates are usually set weeks ahead around the people travelling furthest, which suits a booking: two to four weeks is comfortable, a 30% deposit and a signed quote hold the date, and the final count is due 7 days before, when you know who is coming. Enquiries are usually answered within an hour, and always within one business day.

Where this table goes

The terms, in brief

Holds your date: 30%deposit, plus a signed quote
Final guest count: 7 daysbefore the event
Change or cancel: 14 daysfurther out, the deposit returns
Our reply: one business dayto every enquiry, in writing

Every price and term How a booking runs Send us your date

Questions, answered

Before you
say OH!

How much does catering for a family reunion of 40 cost in Ottawa?

Forty family guests at the starting price of $42 per guest come to $1,680 for the food and the styled build, or $1,725 with the $45 delivery and on-site styling within 25 km, plus applicable taxes. A table that replaces the meal runs to the top of the $42–$65 per guest range: $2,600 plus delivery for 40. Hot dishes, where the family wants them, are quoted on their own line, and the quote is itemised so it can be split.

How much food do I need for a family gathering of 50?

300 to 400 g per guest where the table is the meal, so 15–20 kg and 500–700 pieces for fifty over two hours; where the family eats a meal elsewhere, 150 to 200 g and 300–450 pieces. Fifty guests want two 1.8 m tables joined or run as a pair, and a long afternoon is planned with a second wave held back.

Can you cater a parent’s 80th birthday at home?

Yes: an 80th at home, with twenty to forty guests across an afternoon, is the gathering this page is written around. The table is built before the first guest, the older guests are planned for first with soft, familiar items in easy reach, and the cake you have ordered gets its own cleared space.

How long can the food stay out at a family reunion?

About two hours at room temperature for anything with dairy or cured meat, and about one hour once the room or the garden is warmer than about 32 °C. An afternoon that runs longer is planned as two waves, with the second held in the fridge until it is wanted.

How do you handle allergies and dietary requirements?

Share dietary preferences and allergy information when you enquire. We plan suitable choices and label the table clearly. For severe or life-threatening allergies we talk through cross-contact before you book, and we cannot guarantee allergen-free preparation on a shared table.

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Have a date in mind?

Send the date, and let the whole family sit down.

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