Family style served dinner yay or nay?

Yessssss do it. I went to a wedding last fall that had this and it was awesome, you get the best of both worlds, u dont have to get up to get food but you can serve as much or as little as you want. Im actually looking for a caterer who can do this for me!

I'm most likely doing it since my venue offers it and my FH enjoyed attending a friend's wedding who had family style at our same venue! I also enjoyed the option when I attended someone else's wedding who chose family style. I'm a picky eater so I like that you can dabble in different dishes! Go for it!

Thank you Angie for the feedback! Please let me know if you find a caterer and what their suggestions are. My venue self caters and are so flexible. I haven't presented them with the idea but I will when we have another meeting.

I'm actually in the nay camp. I went to a wedding recently with family style and I did not enjoy it. My biggest complaint was that passing the plates around the table was awkward- they were heavy and hot and cumbersome and a few people at the party ended up with food on their laps. Then when we were done passing the food there was not enough room on the tables for the large serving plates, so the entire meal was very cramped. Personally I am not a fan.

Thank you Dori!

I say yes! I'm doing it!!

Since plated is not an option, I would do family style. It sounds like it goes with the feeling you are trying to create. I wanted family style because I want it to feel like a family dinner celebration, but chose plated instead so it wouldn't be messy on the table. I like that people aren't getting up and milling about but given a chance to enjoy the company around them at the table. we're also putting bottles of wine on the table.

Sounds like a good idea.

We may be forced into a family style reception IF we max out on our guest list due to the venue's capacity, but if we don't then we will most likely go to a buffet. I've never been to a family style reception so I can't help you out too much there.

TIP: Keep this possibility in mind when choosing your centerpieces. You don't want to get one that takes up a lot of table room if you are having a family style reception as once you add on all the food plates to that table, its going to get very cramped very quickly. I suggest looking at arrangements that use Eiffel or trumpet vases and are a bit taller.

I think 8815 makes some good points. Your table are also more likely to get messy and or/look crowded with the food dishes on the table. Imagine if you have white tablecloths and someone spills gravy, pasta sauce, etc. on it. That doesn't look so pretty...

I think the idea of family style sounds nice, but you have to think about your menu, table decor and just the practical aspects of it. Good luck!

Sounds good! I love family-style meals.

That is what we are having. It's only about $1 more than plated and almost $2 more than buffet. We went to a wedding with family style and that's the first time I had it. It was AWESOME! Everyone basically got their food at the same time. No awkward waiting in line for buffet. No awkwardly waiting with your dinner plate in front of you because you can't eat since other people at your table didn't have theirs (this happens a lot with plated. Last plated wedding only half the table got salads and they forgot about the other half. And my fiance got his plate and two other people, but the rest of us were waiting over 4 minutes for them to come and bring ours.). Family style is also great because you can take what you want and leave what you don't want. So you can taste everything, or leave what you don't want. Nothing gets wasted.

I was at a wedding once that did this, and I loved it. I do second the note about centerpieces--make them small and/or flat; otherwise they will definitely be in the way.

Hey Ebony, it sounds like our weddings are so similar. We are dealing with the catering issue now. I have gone to weddings in the Fall where they had this and I loved it. For me, eating and food is seasonal. I wouldn't want a family style dinner in the middle of summer. I am looking into this too, but when I inquired, the caterer said this is actually more money?? Because of the service required with this type of meal. Who knew?? My friend suggested a turkey dinner. Which, I wouldn't normally want at my wedding, but being a Fall wedding it kind of ties in with the Fall theme - comfort food. By the way, we are having a heck of a time deciding on caterers and what kind of food to serve. We have to figure it out fairly soon. Right now we are leaning on heavy on the appetizers so guests can do a lot of mingling, a simple meal. We don't want guests to be sitting and eating for 2 hours. Worried about the flow of the reception. Geeez there is so much to think about no matter how simple I say I want it to be. If your caterer does family style for reasonable prices I think it would be fine with your venue and season. Just my opinion.

Ours will be family style. I prefer it over buffet, especially when the venue does a poor job of refilling the food. That happened to us at the last wedding we went to. We were one of the last tables dismissed by the coordinator to get food and there was hardly anything left to eat. We were literally getting scraps of what was left by people before us and they didn't start to refill the food until we were heading back to our seats. Not okay!

I think that's a great idea. You should go with it. Guests will likely appreciate being able to to serve themselves what they want and how much or little they want without even having to get up. I would

I absolutely love family style! It is very common in my culture. Unfortunately it is a bit pricier to do that for me

I was looking everywhere and a few places that offer it is either way toooo much money or I didn't like the venue

I love family style...but check the price..sometimes it is extra pricey as they usually do an extra serving (at least!) because people are prone to not take the last of things.

Hey Rhonda! We do have similar wedding styles. I want our wedding to feel intimate, comforting, warm and full of love. Standing in a buffet line does not create that mood. On the other side I'm worried about room, staff,

I prefer buffet.