Buffet vs Plated

I say buffet as then everyone can get what they want. If you do plates it requires people to pick their choice early and who wants to decide what you want to eat 6-8 weeks in the future. Also, if you do plated, or offer a duo, not everyone eats the same thing so some people will eat it all, others will choose to eat some or none. I think a buffet offers more selection to a group and allows people to pick what they want.

I think plated is more elegant but I prefer a buffet. A buffet allows a guest to get what they want and not have much waste but a plated meal is brought out which takes away a long buffet line.

If you're going for elegant, plated is the only way to go.

We are doing served buffet. I don't think a buffet is less fancy or classy than a plated meal. Since the buffet is served people won't really be getting their own food. I prefer buffet as well.

(Not a dumb question at all!!) We're saving almost $1k by having a buffet style meal instead of plated. Our wedding will consists of mainly our family and closest friends so we aren't really worried about it. Also, we want to be able to have people take as little or as much as they want, or if they don't want a certain item they can just pass it. So we *think* that less food will be wasted. Either way works great, but we feel buffet will work for our wedding and our guests

Some things to consider are the room layout, will the staff be making any noise with the catering set up, is there enough servers for a buffet so there isn't a line? I've seen buffet done really well but those were some of my questions when looking at venues. Ultimately it would actually be MORE money to do buffet at my venue so we are doing plated.

I prefer a buffet because then my guests don't need to decide what they want to eat several weeks prior to the wedding. I have a hard enough time deciding what I want to eat in the moment.

I like buffets

I've been having this same toss up! I like that my guests can just sit down and stay out of the way (plated) but I also like knowing they will be well-fed and have a variety (buffet). But because most of the food on your menu is Italian anyway, I say plated.

I'm torn. I've only ever gone to one wedding that was a buffet and it was gooood food (Indian and BBQ). However, I was wearing flats so walking wasn't a huge thing to me and we didn't stand in line too long. I like plated too because they just come serve it to you but the options are much more restricted. I think overall plated tends to have a more elegant vibe.

In our area, buffets were more expensive. Also our guest list is very large so buffet doesn't make much sense as people would stand in lines longer than is comfortable.

We are doing family style because that's the only way our venue (and similar venues) do it. I like family style because there are still lots of options. The downside is still likely food waste, and it does take up space on the table which limits decor somewhat.

I think the upside of family style and buffet is it gets people up and or talking to each other around the table so it's more social style meal.

I think plated will definitely match that elegant feel (we are doing buffet). Are you okay with doing seating charts? I would assume that is something you’d have to do in that scenario.

We're doing a more casual day wedding and brunch reception so buffet was perfect for us - it fits the relaxed garden party feel we're going for.

i feel like for an elegant dinner reception plated is better. it just fits the feel of the time and the elegance. however, its your wedding, and i dont ever hear anyone complaining about getting free food, whether they have to get it themselves or have it brought to them.

just if you have buffet, make sure someone is there to guide it - letting everyone free-for-all to the food line makes a lot of mess and a lot of people end up standing in line for a much longer time than they would have, if they had been ushered to go get food for buffet.

I've done a lot of weddings on both ends of the spectrum & there's pros/cons for each. Originally I wanted a plated dinner just because it feels a little classier, but we decided to just do a roast beef carving station plus buffet. We're having a cocktail style reception instead of a formal sit down dinner reception though, so this way guests are able to eat whenever they want (even if that means most people will be at the same time). If it gets complicated or it seems everyone is ready for dinner at the same time, I'll have staff start excusing tables like they would if it was a normal reception.

Tip: Don't have your DJ excuse tables over the mic. Have him or your DOC or catering manager excuse tables individually by walking over to the table- it makes it seem little bit nicer than having someone yelling over the music, "OK, TABLE 3 GO EAT NOW!"

ETA: I second maybe seeing if you can do family style since Italian lends well to it. It's a nice blend of both.

Also, as far as waiting in line. Typically the guests are called up by table. If you have a DOC or your DJ is running the show they should only call up enough tables at a time to make the line run smoothly. I've never been to a buffet wedding that took more than 5 minutes to get my food from the time I got up to the time I sat down. If you're so worried about people walking and spilling food, consider sippy cup lids for drinks as well! *sarcasm* Lord knows you don't want wine on the dance floor! Plated meals force your guests to choose a dish weeks in advance. I went to a wedding that did duo of everything and honestly I didn't care for either of the two meats. If it were buffet style I would have focused more on the sides I actually enjoyed.

I prefer plated personally, but buffet is good as long as it is done well. And by that I mean guests are able to get through in a timely manner; nothing is worse than the first people getting done eating while others are still going through the line or have barely sat down.

If I was invited, I'd love buffet more. I'd love to be able to pick more of one dish and less or none of another, especially being a vegetarian. I went to a wedding where the plated food was absolutely awful, and I couldn't have gotten up to g get more of the part that I liked. I would do buffet always. Hope that helps

We are doing buffet. I know there’s some of my family who eat more than normal amount and some who eat less. So we ordered enough food for 110 people who 100 are invited. Just make sure you have enough if someone takes 2 scoops of something when you only planned for 1

We did plated and everyone chose that evening and ordered table-side, as it was a restaurant. We had bread, salad (2 choices, chosen at that time), 5 different choices, and cupcakes for dessert. No one went hungry, as all the portions were decent sized. The food was actually very very good.

I like buffets better myself, they used to say played was more elegant, but I don't think it matters one bit. I'd save the money! Our venue actually costs more for buffet than plated, so we are sticking with plated most likely.

For an elegant wedding, I'd suggest plated. We are doing buffet so that all of out guests can eat as much as they want. But, I do have some rather big friends. Some guys are over 250 lbs so they will obviously eat more than a 130 lb female.