Full service catering vs restaurant drop off

Im going with a caterer for a buffet style dinner. We have 2 main dishes 2 sides rolls with margarine and a vegetable. our caterer also brings plastic plates and utensils. The meal is also including a cheese veggie and cracker tray for cocktail hour. We are paying $12.50/person for adults. We are also doing a kids buffet at $4.50/kid. For dessert we are doing cupcakes for the guests (4 flavor options) and a small cake for just us.

Our venue is all inclusive so we’re using their catering services. It is buffet style and our guest have the option of shrimp alfredo or chicken fried chicken. We also have asparagus, mashed potatoes & a salad.


For cocktail hour we have fruits, cheese & veggies. We had the option of choosing 3 hors d’oeuvre’s - but we decided against it because there wasn’t 3 options we liked. For dessert, there will be cake. We have our tasting Monday, so we haven’t decided on the flavors just yet.

Our venue requires full service. We're having a plated dinner with white glove service. Cocktails will be crudité, cheese and crackers, soft pretzels, lebanon bologna and cream cheese, and bruschetta. For dinner, we're having pork loin with sauerkraut and apples, chicken cordon bleu, and eggplant caponata with creamy polenta. All will be served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Dessert will be cake, fresh fruit, chocolate strawberries, brownies, cookies, rice crispies, shoo fly pie, and madeleines.

In my area most people opt to have their receptions at a restaurant banquet hall. that's what i did for mine. some of the things i liked about it was that it was already pretty nicely decorated so i didn't feel the need to decorate more, they also don't charge a separate fee to use the place, so overall i felt like i saved more money than finding a venue and having to look for catering and other services, etc.

Our reception venue is all-inclusive, and we're doing hors d’oeuvres, a plated dinner, desserts, and a late night snack. Part of our research was whether the food would be good since the catering is part of the fee, and our venue's catering had great reviews across the board. It also ended up being cheaper than the blank slate venues we looked at, so it was a pretty easy choice.

Before covid ruined our plans, we opted for full service. Otherwise, who's going to set up, flip the room, clean up, replenish the food?

We are at an all inclusive restaurant/venue. We love their food, so no worries about the quality. We changed the package from buffet to a plated meal - I HATE making people stand in line like a cafeteria. We haven't totally settled on the appetizers, but thinking Seared Tuna wonton with ginger and wasabi aioli, heirloom tomato caprese skewer, coconut shrimp with thai chile sauce and mini wagyu sliders with onion. Possible adding a fruit 'tree'. Dinner will be salad, then a choice of Roasted Prime Rib with Au Jus and horseradish creme fraiche, grilled Mahi Mahi with lemon butter sauce and tropical fruit salsa (we've had this for dinner and it is SOOOOO good) or Marinated Grilled Chicken and mushroom marsala sauce. All come with roasted new potatoes, green bean almandine and rolls. Dessert will be a choice of a piece of wedding cake (flavor tbd) and/or selections from the Italian dessert display (mini cannolis, italian rainbow mini cakes, sospiri and various cookies) We aren't doing any late night snacking stuff, as per beach ordinances all events have to wind up at 10:00 p.m. Since ours is an older crowd I doubt this will be a concern.