Buffet vs sit down?

I usually prefer a sit down. I think they flow better. Doing a buffet and being one of the last tables to be called is tough. I'm not a huge fan of the lines. The pros to a buffet are definitely the choices. The buffet weddings I have been to tend to have the best food choices.

Personally, I far prefer a buffet. For people with dietary restrictions a buffet is better because with plated we are stuck with what is brought to us and often times we can only eat a small portion of it and then we can't have more of the parts we can eat. With a buffet we can pick and choose what works for us and then just get more of those items. I am FAR less likely to go hungry at a buffet than at a plated meal. I often end up with about 3 salads, but at least I get enough food!

I also find that at buffets people get to talking more and it serves as an ice breaker. With plated meals no one gets up and it seems that people end up feeling more reserved. Also, the food stays hot at a buffet because it can be on warming trays. With plated it's more likely that my food will be cold by the time it gets to me and I'm super picky about my food being hot.

Read this article:

http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/2014/07/wedding-catering-styles-explained.html

I hate buffets but unfortunately everyone I tell including my venue pushed me towards it. And it's more in my budget :/

Buffets more easily accommodate different tastes, dietary restrictions, etc. Doubly so if you have chef attended stations with made to order foods. Also, just in my experience the food tends to be fresher.

Cons - long lines. Though this can be alleviated somewhat by having bread and salads served tableside for folks to munch on while they wait to go up to the buffet.

I don't like buffets. It reminds me of old country buffet no matter where was is.

Our venue gave us the option, same price for both. We decided to go with the chef attended buffets because it had more variety and more food for the money. The other pro to a buffet is that people can get whatever they want, they're not limited to two or three selections. Ultimately it's just personal preference. I think really it depends on the venue too. Some venues we looked at we liked the plated dinner options better.

At my venue buffet was $3/pp more expensive. I prefer plated.

Buffet is usually cheaper, at least in my area. Id never heard of plated being cheaper until WW. But I prefer the buffet because if I want double mashed potatoes and no green beans I GET WHAT I WANT, ha! Plated feels a lot more formal. At my venue, I want to encourage people moving around and a buffet makes better use of the space. But it just REALLY depends on the wedding and the venue and your meal options.

My retired, handicapped father is paying for & helping me plan the wedding. The only thing we both were adamant about was having a sit down dinner. To be paying so much money for our fairly formal event to host our guests & then have to 'serve yourself' does not make us happy. Also, I have terrible visions of my handicapped father & elderly relatives having to handle a plate walking to their table.

We changed from a plated dinner to a buffet for the simple reason of not wanting our guests to go hungry. With a plated meal, if they didn't like what they chose or the sides, that's it, no more food for them. With the buffet, there are many choices. Ours includes: a pasta bat with multiple sauces and mix-ins, a mashed potato bar including sweet potatoes with multiple toppings, and a mac and cheese bar with multiple mix-ins. There are also carving stations, salads, and sides. With only a 70 person guest list, I'm hoping lines won't be long for any of it.

In my area, plated is cheaper than buffet, but almost no one does buffets anyway because there are always stations at the cocktail hour. No one wants to stand in line all night long.

We are doing a buffet for two main reasons, neither of which is money:

1) I have crazy food allergies, and we are inviting 200 guests with a variety of legitimate dietary restrictions. Almost all of the caterers defaulted to buffet when I told them that as it is easier for guests to customize their plates.

2) along the same lines, there is simply more variety. Every single plated dinner wedding I have been to has been choice of chicken, beef, or fish. I dont remember most wedding food I've eaten because it all blends together. However I definitely remember my friend's wedding which featured a taco truck and a risotto bar. I feel like having a buffet/stations gives us more room to have fun with the food selections

Plated seems more formal, like you are at a nice restaurant but usually has less choice and less food. Buffets can be great as long as they are kept fresh and plentiful. I attended one wedding where we were near the day end of the line (2nd to last table called) and most food was gone. I ended up with a scraping of ziti. and there was still a dozen people after me to be served! On the other side, my sisters buffet wedding food was amazing and so affordable!

We're doing buffet strictly on price. Plus our venue isn't very formal nor is it casual so we thought we could get away with a buffet. Our cost where we live is $38/person for buffet vs $56 for plated. Open bar and dessert both are separate costs.

@Nastassia -- ugh that is so sucky. That is a big reason why we added the carving station, an extra veggie side, and added whole wheat pasta as an option at the pasta bar. FH and I can destroy some italian food, but I know not everyone is big on all the carbs and cheese.

Not gonna lie.. the food has been one of my favorite parts of wedding planning, LOL.

We're doing buffet because the options at our venue for buffets sound better than plated, but we're paying more. We'd be able to do plated as cheap as $39 per person, while the buffet we picked is $47 per person.

@niki catering tastings rocccckkkkk

Thanks girls! I already had the venue and it's same price regardless of what I choose.

I didn't want it to be too formal since neither the venue or our style calls for it but I want to make sure everyone is fed and enjoys themselves