Plated vs buffet vs stations

We decided to do a buffet style with a prime rib carving station. This was primarily decided due to budget.

Our wedding will be a nice but laid back event, so a buffet style makes sense to us. I'm not a fan of plated dinners... I feel like you end up paying for menu items that everyone isn't gonna eat. I rather a buffet so people can take what they want and leave what they don't instead of throwing away half the things on each plate.

I wasn’t a girl that grew up dreaming about/planning her wedding. So when I got engaged and my mom asked what kind of wedding I wanted, there were really only 3 things that I immediately knew I wanted- the season, the location, and a plated meal. I’d been to/in a ton of weddings and had never enjoyed a single buffet style meal- the food, the temperature of the food, standing in line in nice clothes and heels felt like it cheapened the event, then carrying your plate through tables back to your seat felt very “elementary school cafeteria lunch”. So a plated meal was a non-negotiable for me. We made sure we hired a very skilled and experienced chef and wait staff so that the food would be hot and all come out together. And we also made sure we have LOTS of food- both in variety and serving size, so our guests don’t have to forfeit having multiple choices and large servings.

Hi Michelle. My fiancé and I agreed on a plated dinner reception. We mostly wanted a well coordinated dinner without everyone up and around touching things especially during covid times. Also, we didn’t like the options for a buffet plus fees to have servers at the starting. And after our tasting at our venue, we were so happy we went with it. Good luck

We are having a buffet style meal. This was due to both cost and a more laid back feel for our reception. We want people to feel like they can go back for seconds and not limited to one plate.

Buffet all the way! I’m a pretty picky eater, so I personally always prefer a buffet style wedding because I can pick and choose what I want to eat and don’t feel so wasteful. Added bonus that it is significantly cheaper at my venue and you don’t have to collect meal choices. But if you’re going for a more formal vibe, plated may be better.

Buffet was cheaper than plated dinner, and people can get what they want.

Buffet because we wanted our guests to be able to have more choices for their dinner. They could have whatever meats & sides that they wanted rather than having to choose.

We did buffet cause my family and us love to eat lol and it's also cheaper. Plus you get a little bit more options.

We are doing a plated dinner. Of the weddings I’ve been to I’ve enjoyed the food more when they were plated meals vs. buffet. Plus, we have a few handicapped and older people so buffet just seemed more difficult for our guests.

We originally chose a buffet style dinner, but due to COVID the venue/caterer has switched it to family style serving. We chose buffet for the same reason everyone else mentioned, cheaper and offers more choices.

Plated. It was cheaper than buffet and we figured nobody would want to stand in lines in nice clothes

Plated. Buffet wasn't even something we considered. I was willing to take the cost difference.

We're doing buffet, because we've been to two weddings with plated dinners where the portions were just too small and people went hungry. The guys even went to get McDonald's later that one evening. Also, I absolutely hate it when people don't get served at the same time - I wouldn't want to see some of my guests waiting for their appetizers while the others already wait for the soup. Also, buffet offers more options and we have a few guests with dietary issues.

Ours was buffet—we knew from the start we wanted to offer everyone a large variety of proteins and sides. It’s always what I prefer to see at a wedding and we didn’t care it was the more expensive choice at our venue.


We had stations at our cocktail hour in addition to passed apps.

We went with buffet style because it is more custom in our families. Plus we wanted BBQ and the place only did buffet style.

Also we liked the fact that our guests can get as much as they want, and get a choice right then and there of what they want to eat. I've been to plated weddings and yes the foods decent. But my problem is that you get smaller portions, can't get seconds, more expensive, and you have to choose your meal way ahead of time. Let's say you rsvp back and at that time you think chicken would be great, then you get to the wedding and see people with this beautiful cut of meat you didn't choose and now you are craving that instead of the chicken. At least that's how it is for me. I pick something month ahead of time, get there and realized that the prime rib looks and smells so much better, and now I'm stuck with this boring chicken.

While I like the idea of plated dinners better, we have A LOT of picky eaters in our group so buffet would work better for us. That way people could take what they wanted and leave what they don't and it wouldn't be as wasteful. Also, people can go back up if they didn't like what they chose or wanted seconds. We thought about doing stations as well, but we didn't really love the options of food we had.

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Krystina, we're considering doing family style for our wedding - how did yours work out?

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We haven't had the wedding yet, it's on the 1st of October, so I don't know yet! We ended up changing our plans around a bit when we found out it was going to be family style... we were originally going to have long tables but we've broken those up into smaller tables so that people are sitting with their usual family/friend groups. Since they'll be passing around plates, I figured with COVID, people would be more comfortable handling plates other people touched if it's people they know. I think family style still gives people choices like a buffet, but I wonder if people will end up altering their portion sizes at all knowing that they're sharing with the table. I hope if something runs out that the caterer will refill it.