Food station timing

mrsbizzz

Can anyone who had food stations (we are planning on 3) shed some light on how the average time that elapses between a guest getting up to get their food to when they finish? Obviously there is some guess work involved here because people eat at different rates, but I am trying to get a sense of how long it's going to take about 115-125 people to get through a food station set up.

Also, how long did you leave stations open? I've seen a run of responses in the boards and am not sure what to do. We are have have cocktail hour with 4 canape options from 4:30-5:30 and beginning dinner at 6:30.

Thanks knotties!

southernbelle0915

I did a strolling dinner with stations. We had about 170 people and two double-sided stations (more or less 4). We hosted a cocktail hour while we took some photos and then after we got introduced, we kicked off dinner. The stations were open for an hour/hour 20 minutes or so. Once they took down the stations (I didn't even notice), we cut the cake. The flow was great and worked well. PM me if you want more details.

Maggie0829

We had stations and I cannot for the life of me tell you how long it took for people to get up, get their food, and then eat.  All I know is that our dinner portion lasted about an hour to an hour and a half.  I never even noticed when they dismantled the stations.

Talk with your caterer/venue about this but I think leaving them up and open for an hour and a half would be a good amount of time to feed everyone and allow for seconds if your guests want them.

mrsbizzz

Very helpful @Maggie0829 and @southernbelle0915

melb2013

No idea.  People started getting food around 7:20, and pretty much everyone was done an hour later.  We left the food stations out as long as possible- they didn't take them away until just before they put out dessert.  Dessert was put out near 9, I think.  Honestly, my caterer handled it all and I didn't think about it.