Am I supposed to have menu cards for a buffet??

I recently asked if anyone had done this because I was considering it. Most people said they did not, but as a guest would think it was considerate to know what was on the buffet before getting in line. It is certainly not required, however.

I had a seated and served meal and didn't do meal cards. At a buffet it would be nice to know what the meat is, as sometimes it's hard to tell. Like pork? Chicken? So I guess I depends on what you are serving. But like I said I didn't have them, my guests RSVPed with their protein choice. And that was that!

We're doing buffet and will probably create one or two large signs to be displayed at the beginning of the buffet and so that people know what to expect as they fill their plates. Then they can simply be moved out of the way after everyone goes through the buffet.

I'm having a buffet as well. I don't plan on doing menu cards but I asked the venue to add allergens to the display cards in front of each dish. Some of my guests have allergies to food so I want to make sure no one has a reaction by eating something they are not suppose to.

I think it is more appropriate to have a large sign.

I'm doing it, just because a. im really pumped about the food, and b. so people know better what they would prefer to eat before getting in line - i.e. the lasagna rolls are vegetarian, the meat is chicken bruschetta, not pork, the pasta station can be made vegan, the mix-ins available are marinara/alfredo/pesto, sauteed veggies, shrimp, chicken, etc.

It also speeds up the line, from what our venue coordinator told us - people will generally know what they want and not stop every 3 steps to ask the catering staff what something is.

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful!

Just a thought, what about adding the menu to the wedding website. Do people do this or does it break some sort of wedding etiquette?

Actually thats a pretty cool idea, I never did a website, maybe I'll throw one together now. Its probably a good idea since this is a destination wedding, hmmm...

@Shan etiquette aside, its likely not everyone would check the website.

I'd have just a sign at the start of the buffet line. You can put it in a pretty good picture frame, write it on a chalkboard, or whatever fits with your other decor.

I'm going to design little name cards for each item at my buffet

We will probably be doing something like this:

We had just the one sign at the start. Then we had a separate label for each food item.

We asked the venue to label the hot items on our buffet. This helped our guests a lot.

I'm probably going to have a menu at each table at my buffet reception. The main reason is I have guests who have food allergies and I want them to know which foods are 'safe' and which aren't.

I am having one poster size menu made to place on the buffet table itself but not at each place setting.

My venue is providing such things at the buffet, so I don't have to do anything.