Buffet or Plated

I prefer buffet as it allows people to eat as little or as much as they want. I find that plated dinners don't usually have enough food or if they do then there are too many courses and it takes forever and costs and arm and a leg.

I personally do not like buffets at weddings. Especially if in a nicer venue. If i'm going to someone's wedding and getting all fancy, I don't like having to serve myself.
if your wedding is more rustic or outdoorsy it makes more sense for buffet.
I get the cost end of things makes plated more expensive. so you have to go with your budget.
Not sure if your venue does it. but in Windsor a popular serving method is family style. So they serve platters to the table and people can choose how much or little they want. The meal will usually have an antipasto platter, salad, pasta, 1 or 2 meat options, veggie and potato. Its probably my fav thing about weddings here.

View quoted message Hmmmm I totally understand what you’re saying. I definitely just have to make a decision and stick to what works for me and my fiancé. So many decisions ...

View quoted message Okay cool. I mean everyone has different experiences, that’s definitely a different perspective about plated dinners. I would like my guests to hear the speeches instead of hearing someone say shhhh every 2 mins. That has been my experience at 3 weddings that had buffet style so that’s why I’m mentioning the noise. Like you said, it’ll be up to me at the end of the day

View quoted message I find the food is usually cold with plated, too. BBQ spunds so good! 😍

View quoted message It wasn't an issue at my first wedding. Yeah there was talking and stuff but noise kinda goes hand in hand with a few hundred people in a room haha. It quiets down again after everyone has served themselves. Buffets are the most common option now, most people don't mind getting up for a few minutes to grab some food. I'm not really sure what noise has to do with anything. I've been to seated dinners that have had a lot more noise than a buffet. It's your call in the end. Good luck.

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Thank you! You too!! I love the pasta buffet!

View quoted message Love family style! Food truck that is original. Loooove it! Enjoy your day!

We are having a pasta buffet. Do not need servers. Plated dinners are nice but I find that when you receive your plate the meal is warm to cold. A buffet style you get to choose hot to warm food. My daughters wedding dinner is a bbq style. Go with your budget. By the end of the day go with what will please you and the groom/bride. Remember it is your day! Enjoy it!

Really depends on costs and your number if guests. We're putting a few of the dishes at the middle of a long table. Still deciding if we need servers or not. Also it's a small wedding party with under 30 guests

Well, plated is definitely fancier, I'm having buffet mainly because we're just bringing in a food truck, plated would mean hiring waiters. But if I was doing it in a hall, I would go for plated or family style.

View quoted message So you don’t feel like it’ll be a hassle for your guests to get up or that it’ll be too noisy? How would you control the noise levels?

I'm a huge fan of buffets. That way everyone is comfortable taking as much or as little of each item as they want without having to feel guilty or like they are wasting your money by not eating certain things.

View quoted message Hahahahaha! I completely understand. It’s definitely a hard choice to make but at the end of the day it’s your day. So whatever makes the day less stressful for you and your guests would be the choice to go with. There’s just so many choices, it’s draining. Lol

View quoted message I’m not a good one to ask because I keep changing my mind lol. The reasons you don’t like a buffet are the same as mine. But I can get a lot more food options with the buffet. We could have the same meat options but have multiple salads, multiple sides, and multiple kinds of desserts. I really can’t decide.

The only other thing making me lean towards a buffet is with a plated dinner we would need place cards that are coded based on what selection people have chosen. So that means a bit more work for us.

View quoted message Hi Emma,

The more I think about it the more I’m leaning towards a plated dinner. I keep thinking of the wedding I’ve been to and I always get annoyed with the line up or having to leave the reception hall to get my food. I just think it’s a hassle. In some cases the prices are cheaper but it’s such a pain. The noise levels are a big deciding factor for me. To get everyone settled in time or long enough to hear speeches will be an issue for me. What do you think?

I’m stuck on the same decision. We can choose between a buffet or a plated dinner where we give people 3 options. I keep going back and forth between what I want.

A buffet would allow us a greater variety of food and guests can choose to have multiple things and as much as they like. But I’m not a fan of getting up to get my food. Or having my guests waiting in line for food. It reminds me of going to the mandarin lol. I’m really torn.

And for us the cost is the same because we are doing a package that includes either. But I’ve actually found the opposite of others and fine that buffets are more expensive with plated dinners. With the buffet they have to make more variety and larger quantities of food. So the venues charge more.

I think any option (buffet, family, plated) are fine options. I am doing plated, but that is only because we are having a very small reception at a restaurant, and we have a condensed menu we can order from.

If I was having the reception anywhere else, I likely would have done family style on one long table. Just because that's how my family is, casual, chill, and not fussy.

View quoted message Hi - sorry for not elaborating in my original post.

I know that buffet style is often the most affordable option, but the idea of lining up to get food makes me thinking of a university cafeteria...or more crassly - animals at a trough.

This past Easter I went to a “fancy” brunch at a “fancy” venue (Casa Loma in Toronto), and they had buffet stations, but people were still always waiting for refills or standing in line...like at an all you can eat vacation resort...I don’t want my guests to have to do that.

So I prefer the idea of having a plated or family style meal. It’s just my personal preference🤷🏾‍♀️. And to be honest, due to our budget we may have no choice but to have a buffet or buffet stations, but if I have to make other cuts to avoid it, I will.

View quoted message Hi Leahb,

why do you prefer these styles over plated?

View quoted message Hey Ray!

Youre absoluteiy right. Thinking about it more I think I’m going to move away from the buffet option.

I prefer family style or buffet.

I prefer seated especially when there are little ones going to be at your wedding. I find buffet lines takes too long and I don't want any messes and broken plates. I'll rather have my guests be mess free and less hassle. Seated can be fancy and sounds fancy but cleaner for me. I've been too many weddings this year and the long line ups I hate.

I haven’t checked if my venue has family style but now that you mentioned it, I’ll reach out and ask them. Thank you so much for your feedback. It really helped.

View quoted message True!! My uncles wedding had a buffet and people would get their food and then start chatting with people and not sit down right away so it got kinda hectic! Does your venue/caterer offer family-style? It’s like a buffet but then people won’t need to get up and need to be settled before speeches!

I didn’t think of family style....hmmm. I was thinking the same about plated, more fancy. The only thing that worries me about buffet style will be the noise levels and trying to get people to settle down before speeches

Plated to me seems more fancy and people don’t have to do more walking around the necessary. But buffet is more chill and people can actually grab what they want (and sometimes it’s cheaper)! We are doing family-style, so it’s like a buffet from the comfort of your table, lol!