So, we're having a birthday get-together for my son who will be 3 on Halloween. It won't be a Halloween party - just a normal birthday party, so we're not doing Halloween themed foods. ( sorry! ) So far, I have a count of 20-25 people coming, with only 5-7 children in the mix. I haven't decided whether to have it earlier in the day (like 2pm) and just do snack foods, cake & ice cream and have them all out by dinner or to have it a little later in the day (like 4pm) and supply filling foods that could serve as a dinnertime meal. So I thought I'd see if y'all can help me figure out both ways, as that may help me decide which one to pick. So far, here are my ideas:

[Early Party]
cookie variety (homemade)
cheese/crackers
pizza dip (a DEFINITE --i'm known for it and bring it to all the get-togethers)
cake/ice cream (making cake)
drinks (pop, iced tea)
chips/pretzels/popcorn

[Later Party]
stuff listed above, plus something for "dinner". Chili? I don't have a big enough crockpot to put chili in for a crowd of 20 though. I adamantly REFUSE to make pizza for 20 people - FORGET IT! (maybe if I had my mom's new kitchen with 4 ovens and a huge island to work on, I'd reconsider.. lol)

Hmm, well after I just wrote about finding something to feed everyone, I guess that makes my decision for me, no?? Early party it is!

Is it cheap to invite people over mid-day and not feed them dinner?

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I personally feel an earlier party is better for the younger ones. My kids, at least, would be worn out by late afternoon, and would just have all day to ruin the house I would have cleaned for the party! Since you are concerned about running into dinner, maybe move the time up by a 1/2 hour to begin at 1:30, then everyone would be long gone by later afternoon? JMHO!

To keep costs down, I usually do just cake & ice cream, drinks & a few snacks. Nobody seems to mind. You can really drop a lot of cash if you're feeding everyone dinner. Save your money & spend it on DS bday present instead!