Pizza bar: warmers or no warmers

If you really want to do pizza, I would consider hiring a food truck or someone who would come make the pizzas to order instead of having them sit out.

Why is it tacky? It’s absolutely cool! But I’m an open minded, out-of-the-box thinker. So I love the idea. Stop listening to negative people.... they’ll steal your joy!

I think it will require some good timing so that the pizzas are cooked and displayed right before guests eat them, so that they’re still warm.

Unfortunately there isnt anyone in my area that can do that. My area is a pretty small town type of place and services like that just arent a thing here

View Quoted Comment I dont think its tacky personally. I love the idea as well but im getting alot of nay sayin from my mom and sister.
FH doesnt care as long as its edible and not fish.

Some people have to experience things because they can’t wrap their mind around it. If you do it right, I’m sure you’ll be able to say, “I told you so”. LOL !!!

I don’t think pizza is tacky for a casual wedding. But pizza is a food that gets cold extremely quickly. If you can’t find a way to serve it hot I would do something else.

I see no problem with pizza, one of the caterers I wanted was a food truck that does pizza, but they won’t go to our venue for less than 100 guests because it’s not worth their time due to the distance.
I think it depends on how many people you’re going to be feeding if you need warmers, the more people the longer it takes everyone to get through the line. I’d also think about people going back for more- does it matter to you if you go get seconds and it’s no longer hot? It also makes a difference if you’re inside or outside, if it’s air conditioned, hot, cold.... Ultimately, I don’t think warmers are necessary, but it could be a nice touch if you have a larger wedding so that the last guests to get food still get hot food.

I have been to a wedding that did a pizza bar and it was super cute. She had fun names for each pizza. I mean I would not leave them in the box. She had hers on pizza pans. You also just have to get the timing right so they are not cold but I don't think you will need warmers. You know your guests I am sure they will love it.

I dont plan to leave them in the boxes, that would look bad to me. I have seen lots of really cute set ups for them and i feel confident going this route

It takes less than 10 minutes for an opened pizza to come down to room temperature. Probably 20-30 minutes before they’re cold. I just don’t see how you could do this without ending up serving cold pizza to at least some of your guests.

View Quoted Comment Thats what the warmers would be for. Ive seen people use the warmers but i see alot more set ups without them which is why i made this post to see what people prefer.

I think im leaning towards the warmers tho, just to be on the safe side.

I really think it just depends on your venue. We wanted pizza to be our main dish, but they unfortunately would not allow a food truck and they do not have the ability to make the pizza on site either. So it will now be more of a secondary option and the venue has hot boxes, which keep food hot for 4+ hours. I'm sure it will go quickly since we won't have a lot of it, so they can just pull a pizza out of the hot box to replenish as needed. I have not seen the hot boxes my venue has, so I have no clue how much they hold. If you plan on doing a lot, I don't know if this method would help, but just wanted to share how we ended up working around it!

Definitely use warmers!!

Is the pizza made on site? Can it be made right before it's served? I would be concerned if it's made in advance from an off site vendor and delivered. Even with heat lamps if it's made too far in advance the pizza will dry out. Heat lamps are a great way to keep the pizza warm, but you don't want them under the lamps too long. Also will you display all the pizza you order or will you have one of each type out and replenish as they are eaten? If you are replenishing do you have a way to keep the other pizza's warm until they are put out? The heat lamps probably won't be warm enough to heat those pizza's if you go that route.

I plan on having a set number of pizzas and have most of them set out with a few back ups kept in the kitchen.

They are going to be made offsite an delivered but we know the local restaurant pretty well so i think it would be fine.

Same dilemma for us - how do you keep them warm ? We are having pizzas as an option. It's actually a trend right now. I am definitely going to research warmer options to see what we can do to keep them from getting cold too fast.