Pros and cons of buffet vs. plated

I vote buffet for small guest list, we have less than 50 and will be doing buffet. Go plated!

ETA: my phone hates me

Plated and buffet is the same price at our venue as well and we decided to do plated. Buffet takes longer because people are waiting in lines. I don't want dinner to take up more time than it needs to. Plus you have one side of the room done eating and others in line for food.

We are doing buffet. We want everyone including us to be full. A plate of food won't cut it.

I'd love to know where people got to weddings, that have all you can eat buffets, like some restaurants? The last wedding I went to, with a buffet (uncommon around here), had 2 mains, 2 sides, salad and roll. The staff spooned out your portions.

I went to 2 buffet weddings, out of our region, that offered the same 6 items. One had 3 passed hors d'oeuvres and my family was only offered one (you guessed it -meat). Since I don't eat meat, and they give you one serving spoon of the sides, I'm always hungry. I actually begged, at the one wedding, for more pasta, and they wouldn't give it to me. The only thing available for 2nds was the vegetable - and it was squash.

We have pretty big cocktail hours, in my family/social circle (Northeast U.S.). Large cold buffets, sometimes hot items too, loads of passed hors d'oeuvres; I've seen more food offered at cocktail hours here, then I did at the entire receptions, out of our region. The dessert buffet, after the cocktail hour food and 4-plated courses, at one wedding I attended was phenomenal.

We're having between 90-100 guests and we're doing buffet because the buffet option at our venue comes with 3 entree choices and the plates only comes with 2.

The pros of plated are it is considered a more formal presentation, and everyone is served within the same time frame. Cons? Besides what I've seen on shows like Four Weddings (the meat is over or under cooked or not hot), I can't think of any. Honestly, 99% of the weddings I've attended have been plated, and I've never encountered any problem with food prep or temp.

The pros of buffets are that there may be more food options, and until recently, it was a less expensive option than the plated meal (and in many venues, it still is). IMO, the negatives outweigh the positives. I'm not a fan of the visual of guests carrying their own plates, being called to the line by tables (especially when you have more than 15 tables), guests at lower number tables eating when guests at higher number tables are sitting and watching other guests eating, or having anyone wait on line.

"We are doing buffet. We want everyone including us to be full. A plate of food won't cut it."

What? How are people not full with a plate of food? I mean, don't you ever go to restaurants? You get way more food at a wedding, when you consider cocktail hour and dessert than you would with just a main dish at a restaurant and I'm always full with a main dish alone (unless I ordered half size or something). This concept of not being full after a plate of food is crazy to me.

We went with buffet because we had several people with dietary preferences/restrictions and the buffet allowed them more options.

The only thing I do not like about a sit down served dinner is that it limits the interaction of people. And usually people only talk to who is sitting closest to them. Where as for a buffet. People are standing in line walking around and such. My thoughts. ...

Who said a plate of food is not enough? What wedding experience prompted that response?

By the end of the weddings I've attended -- and, as I said, that's 99% plated -- I could only look at the Viennese Table and lament the fact that this was my one and only shot at it, because I was too full to take anything more than a bite of my favorite dessert, a Belgium Creampuff.

At plated weddings, I'm served bread and butter, a salad with my choice of dressing, one of two soup options, an entree choice of filet mignon/prime rib/chicken/seafood, rice or potatoes, a choice of two veggies, wedding cake, and then the big Viennese display...and this is after a cocktail hour that consists of stations and as many plates as I can fill in an hour -- not grabbing four passed apps. Who could want -- or handle -- more food than that?

ETA: Wow. I guess we all have different experiences. I have never felt my interaction with other wedding guests was limited because of a plated meal. I don't even understand the logic. Is it that people converse more freely on a food line than they do at a dining table? What happens at plated meals are that the table mates talk, eat, and after dinner is over, people disburse. It has to do with the wedding timeline and the DJ, not the way in which people received their dinner.

I vote buffet.

Plated meal = less options and 1 portion

Buffet = tons of options and what ever portion you want.

I vote plated. Every buffet wedding I've been to, my table was always damn last to be called up (DJ would call table numbers). I hate that. I've never left a wedding hungry (plated or no) but I have no shame on taking 2 slices of cake either!

We had a plated dinner at our reception.

I plan to do buffet

I prefer plated. The buffet weddings I have been to I was the last one to get called to go up and there was no food left.

Okay, I'm just going to ask. As I've said (several times) I may have been at one buffet wedding that was decades ago. I've seen a few posts that say that the last people to be called to the buffet find that there isn't enough food left.

How does that happen? Aren't servers advised as to how much of each option to plate so that everyone gets the same choices? This is a God's honest question, because if I were a bride who paid the same price for a buffet as a plated meal (which is what I hear is the norm these days), I'd be furious if my later in line guests were not presented with the same option as my earlier in line guests.

Our venue has the same price for plated or buffet. We are doing buffet. I just like having more options and majority of my guests prefer it. You can always get seconds at buffets too and my guests like to eat.

Plated def gives more formal feel but I hate choosing my meal 1-2 months before the event and not remembering what I ordered. I also found plated food never to be as hot as it should be.

I didn't even know venues offered all you can eat buffet. The buffet at our venue has servers. I guess if there is food leftover they may let people get seconds. And the "tons of options". We get 3 options with buffet. Before you take some of the pro's into account I would talk to your venue and see if it even applies to you.

I'm going with plated. No matter how many weddings I've been to:

1. There are always long lines,

2. the MC forgets a table,

3. sometimes the elderly and children are last to eat depending on how tables are called,

4. the caterer runs out of food (Yes, I've experienced this),

5. Your guests can miss memorable moments of your reception because they were standing in line.

My DOC explained to me that she feels sometimes buffets hinder getting the party started. Some people are finished with their food, while others are just sitting down to eat.

That being said, I've been to a few buffet weddngs, and I like being able to load up on salad or a particular item.