Buffet vs Plated

It's not a dumb question at all. Personally I prefer buffet, mainly for my own dietary needs.

Not a dumb question. We were going to do buffet, but decided to do a plated 4 course dinner. We wanted a more elegant feel, so we did plated.

I have dietary restrictions, and we decided, after talking to catering, plated would be easier to handle my dietary restrictions, than buffet.

Having previously worked at a wedding venue I suggest buffet. Aside from cost, plated meals waste more food, and people forget what they ordered and often want to switch their food. People often want more while others have to much because people eat different amounts. Let people choose how much they want and what they want.

Buffet. We did buffet and everyone loved it. I can't even tell you how many people went up for seconds and thirds.

I think plated is more elegant than buffet, but I personally like buffets better. I prefer choosing what I want to eat.

That being said, we’re doing plated because our venue is actually more expensive for the buffet options.

Not a dumb question. I think plated sounds more elegant personally. We are going with buffet, but I would still consider our wedding to be fairly elegant.

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Yeah that's one thing I'm worried about. I want my guests to be well fed and not feel hungry after the plated meal has ended. I'm just afraid that there might be a change in quality if I did buffet style.

We did plated because the restaurant manager said the portion sizes were bigger, and guests wouldn't be able to go up and get seconds for the buffet. Our plated meals were cheaper than the buffet, and we were able to offer 4 choices. Those who waste food will always waste food.

We’re doing a buffet. Personally I prefer buffets because I can pick and choose what I want, but I can also understand wanting a classier look of a plated meal.

If you wanted to do the buffet, maybe see if you can have it set up outside of the reception area? Ours will be set up by the bar, so it will have a nice flow to it but also won’t be the center of attention during the reception. I wish I had a picture to show what I’m taking about 😕

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That's a good point I didn't even think about them forgetting what they have ordered. We are going to have 80 people there so maybe buffet is better since I don't know, like you said, eat different amounts and may have dietary restrictions I don't know about.

I agree that the plated might seem more elegant but we are doing a simple/elegant wedding and opted for a buffet. We don't have a meal time wedding so we are doing soups and figured it would be simpler for people to get what they want.

I'm always team buffet. I do think Italian is a little different for a plated meal though. Could they do family style?

Ugh I meant I'm team plated. Darn not being able to edit.

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I'm not sure, I'd have to ask. It just gave me the option of buffet or plated. I need to also talk to them again about how big the plated would be. I was for sure going to do buffet but now I'm having second thoughts. I don't want my wedding to be "sloppy"

I prefer plated but I'm ok with buffet. The main problem with buffets is when they don't have enough of a setup so the guests can get through the line in a reasonable time frame. I abhor a situation where the first people in line are finished eating and back for seconds before the last table has even reached the buffet.

We went for the plated option because we also wanted a more elegant, slightly more formal feel to our wedding. For our cocktail hour, we’re having a lot of appetizers passed around so I’m not too worried about guests being hungry still after dinner. The buffet options at our venue were cheaper but the options weren’t as good.

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Honestly go with the buffet. Your guests will thank you. Every plated dinner I had we still were hungry.

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Yes, during our cocktail hour they well be passing around apps too. Do you think it's reasonable to ask my guests on their RSVP if they prefer plated or buffet? Nah ...that's a terrible idea, lol.

If they have a dietary restrictions then they will have to speak to the head chef/person anyway. I can not have dairy, I will become violently ill. I've found no matter if it's a buffet or plated, the caterer will always have to make me a separate dish.

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Yeah I'm leaning towards that and maybe using the money we save doing buffet towards something like a photo booth.