Buffet or Catering ?

Catering is obviously fancy and nicer. But, when I’m a guest attending a wedding I’m always happy when it’s a buffet. I’m a picky eater, it’s nice to decide what I’m putting on my plate vs feeling obligated to eat what’s already on my plate.

I've only been to one plated meal reception... and I hated it. Don't get me wrong, the food was delicious. We had steak and potatoes and I tried salmon and asparagus because it was already on my plate.
But it was at the local country club. The service was abysmal, and it took TWO whole hours to get from soup to entree to slicing the cake into tiny slices because they didn't have enough.
For that reason alone, I gotta say that I love buffets.

I would consider buffet as the guests are simply get whatever they desire. There’s definitely not options as well!

We're doin buffet style.

We’re doing a seated meal. Personally, I detest buffets. I just hate the idea of sooooo many people hovering over, breathing on, etc my food. And whenever I see buffet lines at weddings I just think of cattle being herded to the trough lol I’ve always thought buffets cheapen an affair, whereas a plated meal elevates it. Just a personal opinion. I know lots of brides don’t mind a buffet. And it probably depends on how formal you are wanting your wedding also. I know I’ve always been told if you are planning on having a formal or black tie optional wedding, a buffet is a no no. We are not having a formal event, but I always knew buffet was not an option for me- just because it’s one of those things I’ve never enjoyed. Also, we are having a smaller wedding (only 50 people) so a plated meal is much more manageable- no long waits between courses or food getting cold, etc.

A catered buffet for us. Our venue has a beautiful bbq wedding buffet. 2 meats, 4 sides, assorted rolls, cookies, brownies, drinks!! I absolutely do not enjoy the lil plates of food you get when you serve plated. Our families are eaters we clean out a buffet. We need quantity plus variety. We are a very vibrant fun bunch and sitting get served isn't really our style. My people are gonna want seconds!! And I have always aye again at home after wedding because that one plate is like a sampler to my tummy.

Buffet for us, but prepared and set up by our professional caterer (who is also our venue). We like the idea of people being able to choose what and how much they want to eat and being able to offer lots of choices instead of just a choice of 2-3 entrees with no say in the sides. I do think a plated meal can feel "fancier," but it can also take a long time and can lead to people at the same table being served at different times due to one entree coming out first.

I like both, we are doing a plated dinner however my guest get to pick their meat... chicken, salmon, steak. I went with plated bc buffet style takes up so much time.

We're doing buffet. And I would also prefer buffet as a guest. Even if I liked everything that was presented if given the choice id still prefer to get the food from a buffet where I can control portion sizes. And, like someone mentioned above, I'm a picky eater and buffets just work better with that

I like the idea of buffet to be honest but my husband was very against it. He was afraid of there being too much food waste

We did a catered buffet. It was more cost effective and takes less time from what I understand. Our reception is only 4 hours and I didn't want to use half of that on the meal.

Do you mean buffet or plated? I prefer plated but I think buffet is fine as long as the guests can have multiple proteins and large portions.

We're doing a catered buffet. I like the idea of giving my guests more food options than I would be able to if it was a sit-down meal.

I actually highly recommend family style if you can find a caterer who does it... it’s the best of both worlds, pretty much like a mini buffet at each table so people can eat as much as they want without getting up and standing in a line. The only 2 cons are 1) it usually costs a little bit more (requires extra food as well as extra service) and 2) you need minimal centerpieces (could also be a pro!) because you’ll need room for platters


I’ve been to a couple of weddings where food was served this way and I HAD to do it for ours.

I think it depends a little on the size of the wedding. For bigger weddings I prefer catering, because I don't want to have to stand in line with my heels . With smaller weddings I don't think it really makes a difference.

View Quoted Comment Danielle your response has me 😂