Buffet or Seated Dinner

Tanesha, it really depends on the number of guests you're having and also you can talk to your caterer and get their input. That is definitely something i was highly concerned about with having 200 guests and wanting everyone to be served in a timely fashion such that their food is still warm when it's served to them. I asked my venue to be very frank with me and the guy told me whatever we decided to do, they would make sure they have enough servers to get everyone served quickly. But he did say buffet is quicker and the easiest option. He said with plated dinners, it is easier if we choose the entree as opposed to giving guests the option as it always creates problems the day of with people wanting to change their minds. There really isn't much cost difference for us and I really didn't want that to be the deciding factor. So how ours will work, we'll have a plated salad & then they'll lead the guests up by table to the buffet in an orderly fashion and they will serve the head table.

We are having a buffet, it is cheaper and the weddings that we've gone to that has had buffet style the food seams more fresh versus the seated dinner you can tell that the food has been sitting on the plate for some time while they get all the plates ready to go out.

Usually the catering company allows one or two tables to go at a time so it doesn't get to crowded in line and when the line goes down they have two more tables go up, and people can always have seconds if they want...that was another big thing for us we didn't want people to leave hungry!

Thanks ladies..good info.. I am having about 140 guest..In my area it seems to be buffet is a lot cheaper than doing a seated dinner. I was concerned about the traffic of guest being served and ppl being hungry and not being served in time. So this is really good info.

I choose a buffet becausae it was within my budget. The head table and both the bride and grooms immeditate family tables will we served. I have never been to a wedding where I was served at tmy seat.

We went with buffet for price & convience. We live in a small town and don't really have caterers, let alone one that does sit down. I think in order for a buffet to go smoothly you keep your options limited, not endless, then people will be humming and ahhhhhing on what they want. We are also putting the butter and s&p on the tables so people aren't holding up the line butering buns or putting S&P on their food. We will also have two buffet tables going with people on each side. We will put desserts on a seprate table also.

Yeah it's really nice to be served but if the food is cold when the guests get it, it really defeats the purpose. I have seen been to corporate functions where it's done the way ours will and it actually works out great. they start serving the plated salads and by the time the last of the folks have been served their salad, the first ones served are just about done and can be escorted to the buffet. Not that it takes that long but the salads aren't very large lol. It works out very well.

I did a seated dinner for 155 guests. I personally do not like buffets and it was in my budget to have a seated dinner, thank goodness! But I have been to buffet style weddings and they were fine, there was not a wait to get food. This especially works if you have a reception where people can sit wherever they want. That way people are always eating at different times while others are mingling.

I have been to a few weddings with sit down dinners but it was never over 80 ppl. so maybe the more ppl the better it is to do a buffet and budget wise. I don't want to pay an additional 200 dollars for extra servers to place the food on the table either.

Future Mrs. Schmidt: I'm LOL at ppl holding up the line placeing S&P on their food and buttering their buns... Too funny but so true..especially when you are ready to eat and ppl are in front of you doing all that!!

We are doing a sit down dinner for more than 200 people. Everyone will be served at about the same time. They will provide us with enough servers to ensure this. I think the problem with buffet dinners is that the first table is finished eating way before the last table even gets their food. I have even been to buffet dinners where they have run out of food because some guests take too much. Plus I like the feel of a sit down dinner. To me it seems more elegant and allows my guests to sit and relax and enjoy everything else going on instead of worrying about when it's their time to eat.

If you are having more than 200 guests than plated dinner is the way to go, otherwise it can take a very long time to get through the line. We did a buffet because of the setup of our venue which was more "cocktail style". Our wedding was also smaller, about 85 guests. Personally we didn't want assigned seating or any of those formalities so that's why we did buffet. But either one is fine.

For our wedding we're having a seated dinner, mainly because my FH wanted it. This was the one thing with the wedding he really showed interest in was not having a buffet and having a nice seated restaurant style dinner so thats what we did.

I like the seated option because it seems so elegant and I'm thinking ppl don't have to wait in line for their food but Buffet is so reasonable(price wise) in my area.

That is funny Jamie, well my bufffet will be served so they wont be taking too much food lol

I have been to 3 weddings where to food was served, and I was not fond o fit, the portions were small, the meals were icky and they were cold..I perfer buffet..But those experiences could be isolated to me and the city and venue we were at, so I do believe that there are great seated meals out there!

LOL thanks Tanesha! We have currently 260 on our guest list and doing buffet, that's the norm in our town, and the only time that I was upset about a buffet was at my cousins wedding when ALL the food was ready except the potatoes and they put them on to late, and there was never a single announcement about the delay, when we would be fed, etc. I felt bad for the older people there like my grandma because she was so hungry, had to take her meds with food and all the caterers would give my aunt to feed my grandma was salad. ANd not to mention this whole thing was outside in very hot & humid tents. If that happened at my wedding, I would of told the cater to put all the food out m inus the potatoes and we could have the potatoes at midnight lunch. (the bride also didn't have enough seating for everyone, so people were outside in the sun at picnic tables in 30 above heat, eating. Not the greatest wedding I've been too)

I would agree with Future because most seatted dinners are not as good because they get cooked WAY ahead of time, and they are left out under heat lamps and dry out, and end up not good. I would say that if you wanted the seated dinner I would say away from this style just because of the quality. At my venue to price of the buffett and the restaurant dinner (all cooked as ordered) were actually very close in price and that made my FH VERY happy. Just remember if you have to tell them 48 chickens 58 steaks and 5 vegie plates, the will have to start cooking all of them early enough to where there all done when you sit down...generally all but the last 3 plates are not very good.

I don't understand why people are saying that you have to start earlier to cook a seated meal. You are cooking the same amount of food as the buffet (and sometimes less depending on if people serve you or you serve yourself). The only difference is instead of putting it in a giant dish and setting it on one big table they are setting it out on plates and serving it to you right away. They don't cook the food that morning and set it on plates and then serve it to you later. That is ridiculous and no establishment would do it like that. It is done completely the same as buffet except they put it on your plate in the back instead of you standing in line and putting in on the plate yourself.

I agree Jamie. Plus, any caterer that would care that little about the food quality of a seated dinner would not serve a decent buffet either. That's ridiculous.

I splurged on a seated dinner where people could decide what they wanted at the table and in the end I was very happy with my decision, I think it really added to the atmosphere. Our place only used organic and locally grown food and I'm still getting compliments on how great the meals were! But I've been to weddings with buffets that were also very nice. In the end it just depends on what you want and what works for your venue/caterer.

I've usually found the seated dinners to actually taste better than buffet. I'm sure it just depends on the caterer. The plated dinner weddings that I have been to have tended to be more expensive overall so they probably just had better quality food in general.

Well its really a personal preference. If you want the "feel"of elegance or if you would rather have more of a variety for your guest. For us, we chose the buffet which was actually more expensive than some of the plated dinners and our reception is at a very nice, elegant restaurant. I think sometimes people have this perception that buffets are not elegant or tacky but thats where it comes back to your personal style. We have a 3 entree served buffet with around 130 people and I dont anticipate any problems. There will be two buffet stations available for the guests to enjoy, not to mention they arent confined to a dinner they chose, say 8 weeks ago on an RSVP. We just felt that for us, we'd rather offer the guest a choice in the food on the day of and have enough of it. Going back and forth about the freshness of buffet vs. plated is really all according to your caterer. But I can definitely see why people feel this way. I suggest you discuss it with your caterer.