For me, the buffet/plated dilemma comes down to:
1. Level of formality: if you are having an 8 PM black tie affair, you probably shouldn't have a buffet. Not that buffets aren't nice, but that's not the right tone. For a casual brunch (like mine), though, buffets are perfect.
2. Pickiness of guests: everyone in my family is allergic to/hates/loves something completely different. There is no one dish that would please even half of my guests. But buffet gives them lots of options. My mom, for example, will probably eat six plates of salad (at a plated dinner, she'd ask for everyone else's!), while DF will eat three plates of potatoes. However, if your guests have normal taste buds, picking one chicken dish will probably be fine.
3. Type of food: Disney can do anything buffet or plated, but some foods are better one way or the other. For example, we're doing the crepe station. That would be pretty hard to do plated (someone would have to take all those orders
). The glass slipper has to be served (although I guess you could do buffet, and have dessert served).
4. Family dynamics: Do you have a snobby family that will endlessly talk about how so-and-so had a buffet (gasp!) at their wedding? Or do you have a clan that loves to eat so much they'd be mad if you limited their chow intake by serving a plated dinner? Think back to other family events, or those of people in your usual social circle. Everyone in my family loves buffets so much that we almost never go out to eat without going to one, including for Thanksgiving (see #2 above).
Basically, it's a choice that you have to make, keeping in consideration how you want your wedding to be and what kind of guests you have. HTH!
1. Level of formality: if you are having an 8 PM black tie affair, you probably shouldn't have a buffet. Not that buffets aren't nice, but that's not the right tone. For a casual brunch (like mine), though, buffets are perfect.
2. Pickiness of guests: everyone in my family is allergic to/hates/loves something completely different. There is no one dish that would please even half of my guests. But buffet gives them lots of options. My mom, for example, will probably eat six plates of salad (at a plated dinner, she'd ask for everyone else's!), while DF will eat three plates of potatoes. However, if your guests have normal taste buds, picking one chicken dish will probably be fine.
3. Type of food: Disney can do anything buffet or plated, but some foods are better one way or the other. For example, we're doing the crepe station. That would be pretty hard to do plated (someone would have to take all those orders
). The glass slipper has to be served (although I guess you could do buffet, and have dessert served).4. Family dynamics: Do you have a snobby family that will endlessly talk about how so-and-so had a buffet (gasp!) at their wedding? Or do you have a clan that loves to eat so much they'd be mad if you limited their chow intake by serving a plated dinner? Think back to other family events, or those of people in your usual social circle. Everyone in my family loves buffets so much that we almost never go out to eat without going to one, including for Thanksgiving (see #2 above).
Basically, it's a choice that you have to make, keeping in consideration how you want your wedding to be and what kind of guests you have. HTH!
