At weddings...Sit down dinner vs. buffet

[ducklite]

We had sit down with a choice of three meat entrees and a vegetarian entree. It was awesome. The cocktail hour had a variety of serving stations plus passed hor'dourves that many thought was actually the dinner as there were seven hot and several cold selections plus a cheese and cracker displaly and a peel & eat display.

I prefer sit down, at beffets there always seems to be not enough food, cold food, and it takes a lot longer to get everyone served and eating than at a sit down. I've been at a couple of larger buffet weddings where the first parties through the line were done eating and the band or DJ was starting party music the second the last tables were allowed to go up to the buffet line over half an hour after the service began.

Anne

 

[goodeats]

We had a sit down meal for our wedding (choice of steak or salmon) with a cocktail hour with tray passed hors d'ouerves. At our venue it was the cheaper option, and I like that everbody doesn't have to wait to get food, it came to them.

I think wedding buffets can be done well, but of the ones I've been to they weren't. At one we were the very last table to get called to the buffet line. We were starving by then. The food was good, but it would be better to have more than one line. Another it just wasn't enough food.

At a lot of corporate functions they have the stations, and that's a nice way to do a buffet.

 

[ducklite]

i personaly don't care for 'sit down dinners' at weddings-it seems to tie you to the table you're at and does'nt lend itself to socializing with other guests, so that was one factor in our decision not to do one. we also had the issue that all of my husbands side of the family (and their guests) have a religious belief that requires vegetarian food-and for the most part sit down menus only offer a pasta option in that situation (which in my experience at sit down events can be pretty hit or miss quality/temp wise).

we ended up opting to do a buffett, but when we looked at the time of the wedding (6 pm) we figured allot of people may have eaten dinner already or would'nt want something too heavy (gotta figure by the time the wedding ended and people were in the reception area it was after 7). dh and i looked at lots of menus from different catering companies, and one thing occured to us-when we were first still mulling the idea of a sit down meal the driving choice between menus was never the entree-it was always the appetizers. most of the places all offered a similar variation on beef, seafood or chicken-but the most tantilizing options were always the appetitizers. we talked to one of the companies that we knew did great food (had eaten their stuff at several local theatre galas) and asked if they would consider doing a buffett of appetizers only. the owner asked what types of items we were looking for and a ball park figure of what we wanted to spend per head-then came up with a menu. IT WAS GREAT! we had different types of meat skewers, chicken apple sausage, veggie puffs, stuffed mushroom caps (vegan and non), mini quiches (vegan and non), hot and cold dips, antipasto platters, beautiful non run of the mill veggie platters (not carrotts and celery-different varieties of squashes, asparagus, daikon radishes...) and several cheese and fruit trays. people could could for lighter things or if these wished have a very filling meal. it worked out realy well.

the owner later told us that he'd never been asked to do something like that before, but based on the response from our guest would be adding it as an option to his clients.

Interesting idea. In the northeast it wouldn't fly, because at a six o'clock wedding a full dinner reception on the formal side would be expected to begin between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. People don't eat until later in the NY/NJ/CT and Boston areas to begin with.

I went to a heavy hor'dourve wedding and the guests were none to pleased as they had expected dinner at a 7:00 pm reception. But I think weddings are very regional, and what was expected in that area would be different here in Florida or the mid-west. I've found that the hor'dourves are often better than the entrees at weddings, so I can see why it worked out really well for you.

Anne

 

[Claire L]

Our wedding meal was a sit down but for the entree it was a cold meat/carving station and salad area for people to choose what they wanted. We had hand carved roast beef and ham then poached salmon and loads of salad/bread items. We found this suited all tastes and the beef was out of this world

Claire

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I like either--in our particular wedding...we had sit down b/c the establishment we chose (officer's club on the beach at an Air Force Base) had their sit down meal prices less than their buffet prices.

We chose it for the location and then got sit down so that guests like the grandparents who didn't move to well, wouldn't have to fuss getting their meals.

We only had chicken though. I didn't really eat it, so have no idea if it is good or not.

Ordinarily we would not have been able to afford sit down at one of the hotels and had initially looked at Buffet since it was less expensive.

So I was quite happy that we could do a more formal presentation and my dad foot the bill for wine with dinner so that we could have served wine. We would never had been able to do this at another venue.

(our meal was less than $10 per head 8 years ago).

ETA: We had wonderful comments on our reception--so I don't think my guests had issues with the food either and since we had a 4pm reception--they could always get a real dinner later even though we did serve a full meal.

 

[shortbun]

We had a buffet but our group was very small and I knew that a buffet would keep them on their feet. Little did I know that the cake would keep them on their feet. Our german chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, roses and all, kept them on their feet coming back until it was entirely gone. My aunt had three pieces!!! The food was good too but the cake was amazing! Anyway, I digress...I didn't want people locked into spots and then not circulating after food. I decided a buffet line was more social. I made sure the room was big enough so people could move around too. Have you ever been to one of those big parties where it's impossible to get anywhere because there are too many tables and chairs crammed in? So, that's what we chose and why. Hey, it was a party!

 

[slo]

Ours was family style.

I actually prefer a plate put in front of me, but we wanted something for everyone in the family.

 

[NewJersey]

I'd prefer sit down just because I'm a germ freak and it turns my stomach watching some people pick through buffets, even at weddings, parties, etc.

 

[aprilgail2]

Ours was family style.

I actually prefer a plate put in front of me, but we wanted something for everyone in the family.

What is family style? Either we don't have anything like that here or I have had it like that and not known it LOL....

 

[NewJersey]

What is family style? Either we don't have anything like that here or I have had it like that and not known it LOL....

there are italian restaurants around here who have that. Basically you order a few things for a table and the whole table shares it.

 

[golfgal]

Interesting idea. In the northeast it wouldn't fly, because at a six o'clock wedding a full dinner reception on the formal side would be expected to begin between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. People don't eat until later in the NY/NJ/CT and Boston areas to begin with.

I went to a heavy hor'dourve wedding and the guests were none to pleased as they had expected dinner at a 7:00 pm reception. But I think weddings are very regional, and what was expected in that area would be different here in Florida or the mid-west. I've found that the hor'dourves are often better than the entrees at weddings, so I can see why it worked out really well for you.

Anne

Same here. I have been to a couple heavy hor'doruve weddings in the past couple years and one ran out of food and the other didn't have anything 'heavy'. Both were early evening weddings 5:30/6:00 and the guests were STARVING by the time the food was served. You have to figure that although 6:00 is 'later' people are getting dressed and driving to the event so for us, it was a deal where we started to get dressed at 4 or so, drove to the wedding, drove to the reception, no food to be had for at least an hour after getting there, not a good idea.

 

[Princess89]

I had a sit down dinner at my wedding, and I went all out on the cocktail hour as well since I really like buffets. I had a carving station and a pasta station with 3 different types of pasta, 3 hot chafing dishes, and 2 cold displays along with the passed apps. I outside hired my caterer, and hand picked everything. I had the most fun doing it too!

 

[crazyme5kids]

Mine was a buffet, because when we decided to get married friends that we worked with wanted to cater our wedding as a gift. The food was at cost, zero mark up . We left it all up to them, never looked at a menu. It was great, a ton of food and people brought home leftovers.

 

[F1Julie]

I'm getting married in March and have the choice of buffet or plated for the same price. We're going with the sit-down, plated meal. I don't like the idea of waiting in line for food and having to get up and get my meal in my dress.

 

[U2_rocks!]

The norm among my crowd is not sit-down or traditional buffet. It's mostly cocktail stuff, usually with stations dotted around where you can get cheeses and fruit, desserts, cold cuts to make your own sandwich etc. You basically mingle and your food comes to you, except when you visit a station yourself. It's all food you can walk with. The cocktail eats tend to be of the filling kind - lots of jumbo shrimp, spring rolls and plum sauce, rotis and samosas, quiches and mini pizzas, smoked salmon, etc. No-one leaves hungry! The advantage of that is you sit where you like, for as long (or short) as you like, and lots of mingling takes place. Once the speeches are over there's a real emphasis on dancing anyway, so no-one really wants to sit around all night. Our wedding was done that way. Ours was formal dress, but not overly fancy. Others I've been to were very chic. It is possible to have a very formal, classy, chic wedding without serving a sit-down meal - depends on how it's done.

 

[liamsaunt]

We had a sit down meal. You know what though? I cannot remember what we served!! I know there was a chicken dish with mushrooms, but I was a vegetarian when we were married so I definitely did not eat that. I do remember that there were twice baked potatoes. I asked DH and he doesn't remember the food either!!

The best thing to eat at my wedding was the cake! It was almond flavored with a super buttery cream frosting. It was SOOOOO good.

 

[MushyMushy]

We had a buffet at our reception because it was cheaper and we had more choices in food. There was a ton of food and nobody went hungry (except DH and I because we were too busy having fun! ).