Buffet reception?

I have had both and had good experiences at both. I am doing plated but it ended up to be cheaper.

I am perfectly fine with a buffet, even for a more formal event. However, we're having a plated meal bc FH is adamantly opposed to buffet. He says it's rude and guests should be served. For everything. Plus he doesn't like waiting in buffet lines himself at weddings. I tried to convince him they move wedding buffets pretty quickly and it would be cheaper but no luck. I think a plated/served meal is nice but not necessary and not rude or bad compared to a buffet.

I prefer buffet for the variety. Idk think waiting on line is tacky either.

I don't think buffets are tacky. They are perfectly fine at a wedding. I have had both various times, it really just depends on the venue itself. Some receptions have better buffets than others.

We went with plated because we didn't like the idea of people waiting to be called up to be served while others were eating. We wanted everyone to pretty much eat at the same time.

We're having a buffet. I went to 1 wedding with a plated meal and I didn't enjoy it as much. Probably because the food was cold by the time it got to us.

If there's staff serving the buffet or two lines, it goes pretty fast. I also appreciate tables being called rather than everyone being called up at once. We did plated because it ended up being cheaper.

I had buffet and I enjoyed having the choices. Ours was also more expensive than plated.

I only went to one wedding where they served us. I thought it was kind of odd. We are doing buffet style.

We are doing buffet. I was at a wedding ordered the chicken and it was dry and gross. I want my guests to enjoy their meal

Plated is the norm, in our social circle/region. We had French cart service where a team of 2 servers are assigned to 2 guest tables. Salad and dessert were served off cold carts. The soup was brought out on in a tureen and ladled out tableside. It took about 8 minutes to serve 225 guests each course.

The few wedding buffets we've been to have been lacking, in quality and quantity of food. It's not like it's a buffet restaurant, with a huge variety, and the ability to go back for 2nds, 3rds, etc. We see buffets at church luncheons, the family Xmas party, funerals, etc.

I've been to both and buffets are nice for variety. I prefer plated because I hate walking around with food while in heels in a nice outfit. I am always afraid I'll fall on my face! I think you can choose either one that works for you and I don't think people will feel that a buffet is tacky.

Tacky has got to be the most overused word on this forum.

A buffet is not tacky at all. Sometimes certain foods serve themselves better to buffet style than plated and visa versa. Plated can come with plenty of it's own problems: actually, the one wedding I can think of that I've been to where the food and food service was a really a problem was plated...one entree came out before the other choice, and the one that came out second was cold and dry by the time it did. There are pros and cons to both.

I don't think buffets are tacky, and they certainly can be elegant. The pictures below are from my the venue where my friend had her wedding. They used variations in height and interesting food platforms, which I found appealing visually. The only issue I have with buffets is I always seem to get stuck at one of the last tables to be called, so I am always pretty hangry by the time I get my food. I rarely find plated meals at weddings to be very good, and I attend a lot of plated events for work, so we did not want to go the plated route. We decided to go with family style service. It's like a buffet without the lines or waiting. That way, everyone gets to try everything and not have to make a decision pre-wedding as to what they want to eat.

I absolutely hate buffets. I don't want to stand in line for my food at a nice event. We are definitely doing plated.

I prefer buffets actually. Just make sure you have enough flow so that there isn't waiting in line. I find family style very awkward. I had this once and the dishes didn't make it around the table so everyone had half a meal until they could replenish.

Both are fine both have pros and cons. Buffet in my experience tends to stay warmer.

I just prefer plated because I'm accident prone and I have a fear of dropping the food.

We did 3 dinner stations, so similar to a buffet. our wedding was relatively formal, but we thought that a more casual dinner option would make things a little less stuffy. it worked out so well and the food was amazing--everyone loved it. my one piece of advice is make sure you communicate to guests how they get their food--we didn't really announce the setup of the dinner stations, and people did figure it out, but we probably could've been clearer about it. (this was the one real bugaboo from our big day.)

It really comes down to personal preference. I like buffets at weddings, but they go much smoother when you have servers for the food at the buffet. As pp mentioned, a buffet is not necessarily cheaper than plated.

I like buffets better because I do not like a lot of foods. If I get a plated meal chances are I can only eat parts of it. At a buffet I always find enough to eat.

Not a fan of buffets but they are so common now that I don't think you'll get much side-eye.