Buffet vs. Plated

lindsaynewbride10 · January 2011

Good morning ladies. I have the option of buffet or plated, both the same price. Which would you prefer and why?

fallbride1109 · January 2011

Generally, most people prefer a plated meal at weddings, simply because it's more formal and you're not having to worry about standing in line and carrying food from one place to another. At my venue, a plated meal would have added $500 to the price so we did a buffet, although it was set up in stations so that people were able to move around freely rather than standing in one long line. Also my DH thought a plated meal was too formal.

But if budget had not been an issue, I would have tried to talk DH into plated.

sb9411 · January 2011

I always prefer a Plated meal.

SuMmErKuTiE · January 2011

I always prefer buffets or stations because DH and I are always hungry after a plated meal at a wedding. They either don't give you enough, or it's not fresh or hot enough, or you don't like what it comes with. We actually get excited when we're invited to weddings that have stations or buffets because we know we'll be able to choose what and how much to eat. When it's a plated dinner, DH always makes us hit up the drive-thru on the way home because he's so hungry.

We had stations at our wedding and they were set up beautifully.. no bunson burners or anything like that and the display was amazing. We had a carving station with prime rib, ham, and turkey, a tuscan station, a summer grill station, and a pasta station. The guests loved the variety and the ability to go back up for as much as they liked which we definitely saw people doing. We had a formal wedding and it didn't take away from the formality at all.

Simply Fated · January 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_buffet-vs-plated?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:39fb9f9c-11eb-47f2-9c36-55e2a7faee98Post:618f3e17-5198-4f5a-be19-66ea9130bea2">Buffet vs. Plated</a>:
[QUOTE]Good morning ladies. I have the option of buffet or plated, both the same price. Which would you prefer and why?
Posted by lindsaynewbride10[/QUOTE]
I personally always prefer plated. I don't like standing in line for anything, but I especially don't like it when I'm hungry and waiting for food. And I'm not too fond of carrying my plate of food around, either. I'm a klutz.

Buffets are a great cheaper alternative, but if you're paying the same price, I'd go with the plated food.

Buffets are also a good way to make a formal reception seem more casual, but not always. Either way, that's something you might take into account when deciding.

Anyway, these are just my opinions, I'm sure either way you go will be fine! :)

RebeccaB88 · January 2011

Buffet or stations, always! I haaaaatttteeee plated meals. Never have had a pleasant experience with them. Always cold, rarely like everything on the plate, usually leave hungry. Always make me think someone is trying to get by with the minimum required, not trying to be generous.

HoneyBee+26 · January 2011

Personally I prefer buffets/stations because in my experience the portion sizes of plated meals never seem to be enough, especially for the men. We are having buffet stations because we do not want our guests to be hungry, and we also want to give them a variety of different dishes to choose from. When you have to choose between beef, chicken, or fish, you are kind of locked into your meal and if you don't like the sides served with your entree, you better hope they cut you an extra large slice of cake or else you know you'll be leaving hungry.

msktn95 · January 2011

I like Buffet.

snowflake350 · January 2011

I prefer buffet. I just like having many food options and being able to decide how much I want.

rak123 · January 2011

SB- My bouquet inspiration is the same as your avatar!

And i prefer plated for sure. I hate having to wait for tables to be called, and then wait in line. And sometimes the buffet food is cold.

BlueBoxBride · January 2011

We're doing plated with table side choice--- is that option? Our guests will be provided with a menu with entrees and sides and they can "order" which entree they want.

I usually hate buffets. And I hate standing in line.

specialk84 · January 2011

I vote for plated. I hate buffets. I've seen way too many people sneeze, then touch everything. Plus, I see people take way more than they could possibly eat, and it seems like lots of food gets wasted.

For our reception, people can have seconds. Plus, we're having a cocktail hour before, and plenty of desserts after, so I cannot fathom how anyone would go hungry.

nzchick88 · January 2011

I work as a waitress at weddings and we do mainly buffets and there is always good feedback. People prefer to get exactly what they want. The bridal table is always served though.

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