Birthday dilemma’s

What to make, what to make?? I am hosting 15 of my girl friends over for my bday dinner in approximately 36 hours and still have no idea what I am cooking….aahhh dilemma’s!! I know two things for sure, firstly that I do not want the evening to involve any formalities, ie: I want it to be a chilled evening and let the wine flow, I do not want to have to seat all 15 of us, this means that my dinner will need to be some sort of finger food that we can pick at and eat whist milling around. Secondly, I do not want to be slaving over the stove at my own birthday party, so this involves making something that can be prepared beforehand.

I have a few ideas that have come to mind, but can’t seem to really get excited about any of them? I thought of doing loads of different snacks, however this could make the evening feel more like a cocktail evening (hmm although cocktails are a great idea that I have just thought of) and the other thing is that no matter how many snacks I seem to eat I just never seem to feel satisfied. So have ruled out the snack option.
Thought of  doing an Italian style al-fresco meal, ie, caprese salads, meats and cheeses with bruschetta, olives etc, I love this option although it does seems more of a lunch time meal?
Then I came up with the idea of mini hamburgers? great for dinner time, substantial, tasty and can be made in advance…

I have a great Italian meatball, basil and pine-nut recipe, so was thinking I make these but turn them into patties instead of round meatballs… pre-cook these in the afternoon so they can be warmed up beforehand and then serve with mini buns and an assortment of burger toppings; camembert, grilled bacon, caramelised onions, brie, fig, gherkins…. hmmm this is sounding good, low admin and it allows for everyone to mingle around and help themselves as they please. Think I have solved my dilemma, just need to find the damn meatball recipe that has got lost somewhere down the line… What do you think? Good idea?