Wedding Dinner Buffett

[Deleted User] · February 2011

Hello the place that we are having our reception does not have the option for family style serving. They offer plated or a buffet. How do you feel about an actual buffett style setting for wedding dinners? I do not know how I feel about it. is it tacky? or is it ok? The other option for plated food is you can have more than one meat but every additional meat they add an extra dollar to the price. So if we have steak and the steak is 17.95 a plate, and then we have chicken at 16.95 a plate, the chicken goes to 17.95 a plate. Plus then place cards and having to worry about all of that stuff.. Help!!! confused..

msteph82 · February 2011

Honestly, we are doing a buffet. It was a lot less expensive and a lot easier on us. This is probably the only part of a the wedding where we made a decision based off ease. Now that we are this far into it though, place cards have to be done anyway, so I don't think it would be as difficult as I had thought.

And if we had the option to have a 2 meat meal for $17.95, we would have jumped all over that.

Cost difference between a biffet and plated dinners was $7 a person and for 200 people, that was a big porton of our wedding budget.

You should choose what your budget allows and what you and your fiance are comfortable with.

Good luck!

jcrew_shopaholic · February 2011

For our wedding, we did incredibly heavy hors d'oeurves for our dinner. I wasn't really crazy about a buffet either, and our venue didn't work out okay for seated dinner. We had passed appetizers for about an hour, then we had "dinner sized" appetizers placed out onto tables for guests to grab plates and fill up at their leisure. However, as soon as the food was placed out on the tables everyone just lined up and waited, even though they all knew the food was going to be out and restocked for a few hours longer. I think it is just what most people revert to naturally, because so many other brides do it at their weddings. I think you should be okay, as long as it is what your family and friends are used to going to!

ehathewa · February 2011

I do not think buffets are tacky.

I know some people do not like them because lines can be long and it might be a hassle for some elderly guests.

cc7003 · February 2011

Buffet was not my first choice either, but it came down to budget for us too. And actually, our caterer said that the family style is the most expensive of the options because people tend to eat more if the food is readily available at the table. I would have preferred family style because the idea of people all dressed up visiting the Old Country Buffet wasn't what I pictured but money talks! Actually, every WI wedding I've been too has had a buffet if I'm remembering correctly so I think it's pretty common here.

Jules08 · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://chinese.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_wisconsin_wedding-dinner-buffett?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:118Discussion:bd131345-59ac-489b-af2a-4a117ebf8476Post:4ddb6162-1e16-43ae-b375-4bf6ba79dc85">Wedding Dinner Buffett</a>:
[QUOTE]Hello the place that we are having our reception does not have the option for family style serving. They offer plated or a buffet. How do you feel about an actual buffett style setting for wedding dinners? I do not know how I feel about it. is it tacky? or is it ok? The other option for plated food is you can have more than one meat but every additional meat they add an extra dollar to the price. So if we have steak and the steak is 17.95 a plate, and then we have chicken at 16.95 a plate, the chicken goes to 17.95 a plate. Plus then place cards and having to worry about all of that stuff.. Help!!! confused..
Posted by mommy2lilb2[/QUOTE]

If those are your plate prices (not just example numbers) those are a steal! Name tent cards are really not bad to do at all. Guest like them because it's a way to save their seat especially if there isn't assigned seating. (Even with the $1 price jump for a second meat with a plates dinner, you should still offer it, because there are people who don't eat one, but will eat the other)

As far as a buffet, if they are donn right I think they are absolutely fine. My cousin had on at her wedding and the staff set up two buffets (same foods) and had 4 lines of people going. The staff went around and released the tables so the lines wouldn't get too crowded. I think everyone was fed in under 15 minutes which was crazy awesome.

(Edited for spelling)

jberg134 · February 2011

I've been to a buffet wedding and was perfectly fine with it.

jonesma204 · February 2011

I have been in the same boat. I think we are going to do a "semi-seated buffet". The salads are served, people are dismissed for the mail course, then coffee and desserts are served. Best of both worlds in my opinion. perhaps your vendor has an option like this?

samanthajeremy · February 2011

We are also doing a buffet style dinner even though it was not my first choice. Like the rest of you it came down to cost and what we could afford. You should ask your caterer though if they would serve the head and family table, that's what we are doing.

A piece of wedding guest advice having been to a buffet style wedding I would highly recommend serving both sides of the buffet table. Your guests will get served much quicker and it's always a bit akward when the wedding party is served and done while half of your guests are still sitting waiting to eat.

katyj25 · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_wisconsin_wedding-dinner-buffett?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:118Discussion:bd131345-59ac-489b-af2a-4a117ebf8476Post:06287fec-d9cc-4778-8786-35928d967412">Re: Wedding Dinner Buffett</a>:
[QUOTE]I have been in the same boat. I think we are going to do a "semi-seated buffet". The salads are served, people are dismissed for the mail course, then coffee and desserts are served. Best of both worlds in my opinion. perhaps your vendor has an option like this?
Posted by jonesma204[/QUOTE]

This is exactly what our venue does. The guests will get their salads and bread at the table then will be dismissed one table at a time so a line does not form. See if your venue will serve your salads and bread and such at the tables and not on the buffet.

browneyedbride7 · February 2011

My parents wanted sit down. My dad hates buffets. What are we doing? A buffet. It's the cheapest option and we are getting a LOT of food for the price. I've been to several buffet dinner receptions and I have no issue with it. As a convenience to us, our caterer is serving the head table and parent tables so we don't have to go through the buffet line.

kkargus · February 2011

I decided on the sit down dinner and the only reason was that I personally did not want to stand in a buffet line in my wedding dress.

Buffets are fine, but for my wedding, I want to be waited on.

The compromise is that we are only offering one dinner selection, except if there are vegetarians, everyone else is getting chicken. Our venue wanted to charge us $2.00 a person extra, just to offer a menu selection of two different dinners. And I was not willing to pay $400 for nothing.

It really comes down to a personal choice. You do get a better variety with a buffet.

LISASUM · February 2011

These brides are correct; there's nothing wrong with a buffet. The purpose of the buffet is to get the guests to move around and mingle with the rest of the crowd. The head table and family tables are dismiss first too. I was told that family style is "old" and buffets/semi sit downs are the "new" trend.
What's also great about the buffet is the guest gets to have two meats compare to seated dinner. And most importantly, go with what fits your budget. Remember, it's your wedding, not theirs.

Good Luck!

brit_bell90 · February 2011

For us we had a choice of family style or buffet. Family style is $14.95 buffet is $13.95 we chose the buffet only for the reason that I hate how cluttered the round tables get with family style.

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