Anyone else do stationed food with no seating chart?

I went to a wedding last year where they did this and it was extremely confusing for the guests. While some people might have liked it most people who I personally know didn't care for it. There were lines, people couldn't find certain items, didn't know where to go or what to do and people kind of spaced themselves out or only stuck near the people they knew and didn't really mingle at all. It's your wedding day. You and your S/O know your guests the best and what they might like. You could always try asking some close friends and family for their opinions. Since your caterer has done it before he might know some ways to make it flow smoothly. You could get addition suggestions from him as well.

With that number of guests, I would definitely be concerned with the flow. If you don't have a seating chart, people won't feel stuck. However, people stick to what's comfortable and that usually means picking a table and considering it 'theirs' for the remainder of the night. I'd be concerned that people will want to sit at a table to eat their dinner and be confused that you ran out of tables with chairs.

My parents can't mingle - Mom has a bad back and Dad is disabled (uses a rolling walker). My frail , 90 year old grandmother has bad knees and a bad heart.

I've only attended one wedding, in my life, that didn't have assigned tables, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Want to hear about Harry Potter, for four hours straight, if you share a table with uninvited kids?

While i love this style, i think that is too many people for it.

I love the idea, but agree that you have too many guests for it. I saw a "Four Weddings" episode where they stood on a long line for a long time and by the time they got there, nothing was left. Now that may very well have been exaggerated for TV though

I went to a wedding last Friday that had this and it worked for them. We stood mostly, ate, and danced. And when we wanted to sit there were couches all throughout. However, for the stations the lines were way too long and caused a long wait. They had about 90 guests so with the amount you are expecting I would not recommend it.

I'm surprised people aren't liking it. We went to a wedding like this and loved it.

It is the amount of guests that is the issue.

I do love it, but certain logistical things have to happen.

1. you need seating for everyone in combinations of high boy, cocktail tables and lounge furniture.

2. you need at LEAST two of each station, and they need to be scattered around the room, not in a giant line. Some of them need to be easy to interact with; in other words, not every one can be an 'action' station that has a chef doing something. Those take forever. One of my venues does a giant table with proportioned salads in martini glasses and another does pre portioned ceviche and mussel salad. Overall, there should be one station for every 50-70 guests.

3. inviting 175 guests in to sit down, watch a first dance and then attack the first food they've seen all night is an invite to disaster. They should come in, have hors and stations going, (and bars/prepoured drinks), mingle and then do the formalities later in the evening.

4. There should be passed hors d'oeuvres too.

5. It should be shorter; 3-3.5 hours

The best place I know that does this does it the same way every time; when the guests come into the reception room, there is a huge bar with pre poured signature cocktails and a line of waiters with hors greeting them. The stations are all open and they are spaced around the room; it looks nothing like a buffet.

It works fine, but your caterer needs to be really good at this style.

Thanks Celia. Appreciate it. This sounds like our plan. Scattered stations and no formalities at all, just a cocktail party. I'll raise these points with my planner and DOC as well as the catering manager Monday.

Yes, I've been to one -- a family member's wedding. It's a different feeling from a conventional reception, that's for sure. It's not bad, just different -- more like a party than a reception. I'd give you two pieces of advice -- in one way of the other, make sure you have enough seating for everyone and have enough stations to avoid lines forming.

The one I attended had four or five tables set up for the older guests -- regular, reception tables with eight chairs per table. Beyond that, there were high-boy tables with no chairs. Guests who didn't get a seat at a regular table (everyone under 55) went to the lobby to talk. My husband's predominant memory of that reception is leaning against a column most of the night, and I wasn't thrilled with standing at a table and eating. There were plenty of stations, so no lines developed. However, your guest list is much bigger than the guest list at the reception I attended. The best advice I can give you is having seating -- assigned or not -- for everyone and enough stations to avoid lines forming.