NER: Buffet vs Plated Lunch Reception

grumbledore · October 2013

southernbelle0915 said:

AprilH81 said:

southernbelle0915 said:

Unless I'm at a fundraiser or a black tie event, I personally prefer a buffet or stations. I've been to way too many plated meal weddings where the food is cold. A lot of times, there's something I don't really like and I just eat the other stuff - I end up hungry. If it was a buffet or eat whatever you want/like at least people can load up on the stuff the want to eat.

I realize this is a minority opinion, so maybe your best option is plated. It just seems like a buffet/stations give guests more options and they can get whatever they want.

Actually in this case it give guests more options for the entree. They can select from three plated entrees (all with a salad and two sides). If we had a buffet it would only be two entree options.

I mean the whole meal... For example, at weddings I've been to, the RSVP card might say "chicken, beef or vegetarian". Let's say I picked chicken and the chicken came with mashed potatoes and green beans. The chicken was dry, terrible and cold, so I only ate the mashed potatoes and green beans. It wasn't really enough for a meal since what was on the plate was portioned out. Now I'm hungry and there's nothing else to eat until dessert gets served.

I'm not trying to sway you either way, but it's just my experience that I've always like buffets and stations more because if there's a certain dish/side I like more, I can fill up on whatever I like versus hoping I like whatever is put in front of me.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. We are doing a buffet, from a place where I've had several buffet style meals in the past, and the food definitely will not be cold. If a buffet is handled correctly, the food would never be cold once you got it because it's being kept on heat the whole time. And a properly stocked buffet should have more than enough food for all of the guests.

I also don't like the "people don't need to load up at lunch" rationale - it's a party. People eat more at parties than they would normally. I am already considering adding an extra 10 to my count for our caterer just to make sure we have more than enough food.

GrrArgh · October 2013

@grumbledore we are doing the same for our buffet, even taking into consideration making the cakes (we have a wedding and a grooms cake, it's the south) a little bit bigger in case someone wants 2nds. We're expecting somewhere around 200-250 people, and my mother and I were horrified when the caterer said they'd set someone at the door to act as bouncer to turn people away who had not RSVP'd for a seated dinner. I'd rather just do a buffet, pad the numbers and let folks come and have fun while eating and drinking their fill even if RSVPing somehow slipped their mind.

*edited for careless use of their there and they're

huskypuppy14 · October 2013

cowgirl8238 said:

I have been to weddings to with both styles and I strongly perfer plated meals. Not only does it feel fancier, but typically the plated food is at the least warm. I have been to two buffet receptions. Both times I was either the last or second to last table to go and many people before us took way more than what the venue set aside for them, meaning very little scraps of food/stations that were picked clean already! Plus in one case it was ice cold. By the time I reached the table they were already packing it away and nobody got a chance at seconds anyway!
At least with plated meals everyone is served around the same time and everyone gets a fair amount of food. For a lunch you don't need to be serving a mountain of food anyway so I wouldn't be too concerned. Plus it sounds like you have plenty of other things to keep the guests full and satisfied throughout the reception! Honestly I would vote plated even it costed more but since you will be saving (hopefully even after the labor) I would definitly go with that choice.
Edit: Clarity/Spelling Fail

This is a problem with the venue, not buffets in general. Sometimes buffets are more expensive because they have to prepare more food, so these problems don't occur. Also, they should always be keeping the food hot, if it was ice cold, I would have complained to one of the servers (not the bride and groom!).

photokitty · October 2013

I wish i had been able to have a plated meal as my venue did not refill the buffet as needed. They released the last 2 tables without any of the beef and one of the sides. I was mortified. They brought them out after everyone was through the line. At least a plated meal would have given us a better chance of everyone having the appropriate food. But I'm a little bitter bc of my experience :-p

huskypuppy14 · October 2013

photokitty said:

I wish i had been able to have a plated meal as my venue did not refill the buffet as needed. They released the last 2 tables without any of the beef and one of the sides. I was mortified. They brought them out after everyone was through the line. At least a plated meal would have given us a better chance of everyone having the appropriate food. But I'm a little bitter bc of my experience :-

Ah stuck in the box! I would complain to your venue. That is unacceptable. For the amount of money I'm spending on my wedding, I would be livid if my venue did this to me.

photokitty · October 2013

laurynm84 said:

photokitty said:

I wish i had been able to have a plated meal as my venue did not refill the buffet as needed. They released the last 2 tables without any of the beef and one of the sides. I was mortified. They brought them out after everyone was through the line. At least a plated meal would have given us a better chance of everyone having the appropriate food. But I'm a little bitter bc of my experience :-

Ah stuck in the box! I would complain to your venue. That is unacceptable. For the amount of money I'm spending on my wedding, I would be livid if my venue did this to me.

We did. They refunded the money for those 20 meals and apologized. Not that it made me feel any better after looking like a bad host :-\

NER: Buffet vs Plated Lunch Reception

Re: NER: Buffet vs Plated Lunch Reception

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