Buffet or Sit down at a wedding

[bdcp]

DS and DDIL had a small buffet and only about 60 guests five years ago. It's a lot cheaper than doing plated sit down. My feeling is, it's the bride and groom's wedding and their choice and whoever is paying for it. The guests should just be happy to be invited. It's really not about the food anyway. Honestly, having been to weddings with both, I prefer buffet.

 

[LSUmiss]

Hate buffet at an event of any kind when all the guests are expected to eat at the same time. The last wedding we attended that was buffet had 150 + guests at 14 tables. Taking turns it took over an hour for everybody to serve themselves and finish eating; the speeches started while many people were still in line. Awkward.

In Louisiana, buffet opens up as soon as bride & groom arrive. There are are rarely speeches & all that. After first dances, ppl can eat, drink & dance the whole wedding at their leisure.

 

[starry_solo]

Sit down for a large number of guests.
Family style for a medium number id guests
Buffet for a small number of guests

 

[Disneylover99]

In Louisiana, buffet opens up as soon as bride & groom arrive. There are are rarely speeches & all that. After first dances, ppl can eat, drink & dance the whole wedding at their leisure.

That sounds amazing! I hate wedding speeches.

 

[LSUmiss]

That sounds amazing! I hate wedding speeches.

Lol! Weddings are always fun here!!

 

[dotfurio]

Sit down. I'd rather spend my time visiting and enjoying a cocktail than standing in a line for food.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Prefer sit down for larger weddings. It takes too long to get food at a buffet when you're Table #17.

Buffet is OK for a smaller wedding, i.e. 50 or fewer guests.

I've never seen family style at a wedding and would be appalled if I ever did.

(I'm horrified at family style for a family of 6 too.)

 

[Disneylover99]

Prefer sit down for larger weddings. It takes too long to get food at a buffet when you're Table #17.

Buffet is OK for a smaller wedding, i.e. 50 or fewer guests.

I've never seen family style at a wedding and would be appalled if I ever did.

(I'm horrified at family style for a family of 6 too.)

I've been to one family style. I found it awkward. It was my husband and self sitting at a table with people we didn't know. It feels weird asking strangers to pass the potatoes.

 

[LAB81018]

Save for one sit down dinner, the best meals I’ve had at a wedding reception were buffets at a firehouse cooked by the ladies auxiliary.

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

Haven’t been to a wedding in a while maybe 5 years but the big thing in Baltimore area then was buffet with stations. There was a pasta station and a seafood station and a carving station plus a station for side dishes. Wasn’t a big fan of carrying my food around.

 

[ronandannette]

In Louisiana, buffet opens up as soon as bride & groom arrive. There are are rarely speeches & all that. After first dances, ppl can eat, drink & dance the whole wedding at their leisure.

That's a very different kind of format than any wedding I've ever attended. It would be OK to do a buffet in that case.

 

[LSUmiss]

That's a very different kind of format than any wedding I've ever attended. It would be OK to do a buffet in that case.

Yeah I was thinking what’s the big problem with buffet until I read how buffet works other places! This is the case for the most formal to most casual here. I’ve never been to a wedding here that wasn’t this way.

 

[powellrj]

I like a buffet, but it seems everyone on 4 Weddings likes a sit-down. I watch 4 Weddings and Say Yes to the Dress every day. I told DD I am ready to help her plan her wedding. She just needs a boyfriend!

 

[ronandannette]

Yeah I was thinking what’s the big problem with buffet until I read how buffet works other places! This is the case for the most formal to most casual here. I’ve never been to a wedding here that wasn’t this way.

Picture this: Cocktail hour ends and 150 or so guests find their assigned seats. Bride and Groom enter and they along with the bridal party and parents are introduced by the MC. They then proceed to the buffet. When they return to their table and begin to eat, the rest of the tables are called up into line in some order, with no one proceeding until their table number has been called. By the time the final table has served themselves, many of the other guests and for sure the bridal party has already finished eating. The "program" will have started when the head table was done and the speeches and toasts and video tributes and whatnot will proceed for a while. (Everyone stays seated for this part.) After the last diners are done and the food has been put away the bar (if there is one) will open again and the bridal couple will cut the cake and then mingle amongst the tables. The dance (if there is one) will begin. It can be 10:00 pm by this point. Another buffet (locally referred to as Midnight Lunch) may be served if the party is intended to continue but for that one people can serve themselves as they please.

 

[Action City]

Picture this: Cocktail hour ends and 150 or so guests find their assigned seats. Bride and Groom enter and they along with the bridal party and parents are introduced by the MC. They then proceed to the buffet. When they return to their table and begin to eat, the rest of the tables are called up into line in some order, with no one proceeding until their table number has been called. By the time the final table has served themselves, many of the other guests and for sure the bridal party has already finished eating. The "program" will have started when the head table was done and the speeches and toasts and video tributes and whatnot will proceed for a while. (Everyone stays seated for this part.) After the last diners are done and the food has been put away the bar (if there is one) will open again and the bridal couple will cut the cake and then mingle amongst the tables. The dance (if there is one) will begin. It can be 10:00 pm by this point. Another buffet (locally referred to as Midnight Lunch) may be served if the party is intended to continue but for that one people can serve themselves as they please.

Every wedding with a buffet I’ve attended has always served the head table plated food, along with parents/grandparents table.

 

[ronandannette]

Every wedding with a buffet I’ve attended has always served the head table plated food, along with parents/grandparents table.

That sounds like a good idea but I don't think it would speed the entire process in my scenario up all that much.

 

[JaneBanks]

Weddings tend to be sit down here (I've never been to a buffet wedding).

Cocktail hours usually have the stations; seafood station, cheese station, carving stations, etc.

Sometimes, the cocktail hour room turns in to the desert room after dinner.

 

[ronandannette]

Weddings tend to be sit down here (I've never been to a buffet wedding).

Cocktail hours usually have the stations; seafood station, cheese station, carving stations, etc.

Sometimes, the cocktail hour room turns in to the desert room after dinner.

And a full plated dinner? Yum!! Sounds like my kind of party!

 

[lorimay]

Both of my kids had weddings with food stations and so had a buffet at our 31 years ago.

My daughter had a Disney Wedding and wanted a sit down dinner, but she fell in love with the Atlantic Dance Hall on The Boardwalk and they don't have a kitchen on site, so she decided she liked the venue and went with the stations. It was great, most guests favorite station was the sorbet station that came out when the cake was served. They took that sorbet right over to the bar and "spruced" it right up!

 

[shoney]

And a full plated dinner? Yum!! Sounds like my kind of party!

That’s the typical Long Island wedding. Cocktail hours are so good. So many stations like pasta, stir fry and carving stations. And all the other goodies plus the pass around stuff.

The main meal is also several courses with a choice of beef chicken or fish.

And of course 5 hours of open bar!