Anyone do food stations??

We are doing stations and I have attended weddings with stations as well. I like the variety and the not so typical wedding food

We are doing stations and passed apps. Interested in how others doing stations are planning seating arrangements- my venue recommends reducing the seating to accommodate 60-80% of the total guest count because the service style encourages more mingling. They can seat everyone if I want, but I’m wondering how anyone else is doing it- I’m sure they have that system for a reason!

My cousin had a taco bar/station at her wedding and it was a huge hit! It was a nice and fun way to change things up a little.

I've been to a couple wedding with stations and loved it. It was nice to have a variety of food options, but it did take long for everyone to go through the station and get their food. It would be awesome if you could incorporate both Italian and Mexican food since those are your favorites!

I’ve never seen it, but we’re having our meats at a carving station and a mashed potatoes bar. But we get married next week so I can’t tell you how it works.

We considered it, but it was more expensive and opted to do a buffet. There was a variety of food on that and with the appetizers and guests were happy.

I was also concerned about lines at the stations, that if families or. Guests with dates, they would have to stand at several lines before eating, they could get done at different times and then food could get cold waiting. It seemed like a risk.

I wend to a wedding that had a carving station and sides buffet. I loved the idea.

Just make sure you still have dedicated seating for your guests! We attended a very nice ($$&dollar wedding with food stations but limited seating. We had to eat standing up most of the evening.

I’m doing stations at my wedding! Salad, pasta, meats, and bread. I love the idea of not having to worry about meals getting mixed up, and people getting to take what they want!

I’ve seen people do food stations, however what a lot of guest like are the late night snack options that food stations provide. For example , you could do an Italian cuisine for dinner and a late night snack of tacos or nachos, sometimes this is cheaper than doing two full course options for dinner.

I think we are going to go with the food stations as well. I was going to do the potato bar, taco bar, pasta bar & croissant bar.

We were at a wedding this fall that had food stations. The food was good, but they way the venue presented it was you got up, for food on a small plate, sat down and ate that food, and then got up and got food at a different station. It made dinner very choppy and you didn’t really get to sit down and enjoy the meal.

We had two stations- a southern bbq station and a Maryland station (crab cakes, fish, fried green tomatoes). People seemed to like the variety ... we had passed hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour

View Quoted Comment I’m so glad you said this- it’s EXACTLY what I was concerned about with my venue’s recommended amount of seating!! We will be upping the chair count to one for every guest for sure!! Thank you!!

I’ve been to so many weddings where there’s food stations and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s the best food I’ve ever had at weddings!

Not only have I been to many weddings with food stations, but our venue also includes food stations and passed hors d'oeuvres. I love the variety and guests tend to enjoy it also.

View Quoted Comment You’re so welcome!! Have a wonderful wedding!

We are doing stations! 2 will be entree stations (some type of meat or fish), 1 or 2 carving stations, and a pasta station. I like that it has the variety and you also don’t need to struggle getting final food count from everyone

I think it depends on your guest list. If your guests are good minglers and can talk to a variety of people than go for stations! However, think about if you have a lot of older guests who would be more comfortable sitting for an extended period of time and may not be able to easily walk from station to station to get their food. Also keep in mind any relatives/friends who don't get a long. You won't be able to separate people as much as you would with assigned tables. However, it's definitely more fun, and better food If you do it, I would do a mix of cocktail tables, low top tables with seating, and soft seating.

One wedding I went to did stations for the actual dinner and with a low guest count (under 100) it worked well. Another wedding I attended did stations for cocktail hour (along with passed hors d’oeuves) but there were over 300 people, so the lines were a little chaotic. Per our caterer, the layout of our venue is more suitable for a buffet than stations, so we chose a stations-style menu with a buffet layout. Overall, stations are really nice for the variety you can get, as long as the format of the catering/venue is compatible with the number of guests.