Do you think buffets or plated meals are better?

Answer 1

It depends on the event/reason for having it.

Financially - a buffet that you do yourself can be cheaper then a plated meal but often, if you are having it catered, a plated meal is actually cheaper (less food required)

Wedding Size - the bigger the wedding, the harder it is to have a buffet. No matter what size your wedding is, you need to make sure that guests will not be waiting to long to get to the buffet line by having enough buffet lines to make the process quick. Of course, with plate service, you gotta make sure you have enough staff to get the plates out fast

Guest Opinion - unless you have a very formal wedding, most guests prefer buffet style because they can pick what they want, and eat as much as they wish - instead of getting a set amount of food which they may or may not like.

Answer 2

Buffet is the best way to go. Sit down meals are considered classier by some, but look at the following: At a buffet your guests can choose what they want to eat and how much. At a buffet the food never is too little or too much. A buffet is great for people who have food allergies and are limited in what they can eat. A buffet is always warm unlike some plates that are served so slowly they get cold. A buffet is great for people who eat seconds, and thirds. Give your guests a choice, and let them have what they want at the buffet.

Answer 3

It really depends on what kind of people will be attending your wedding reception. For example, asian people typically have a buffet menu and many traditional and older asian people will have a difficult time handling a fork and knife and having a plated meal. Most Americans will be fine with plated meals, but if you know that certain guests may have dietary restrictions, etc. a buffet is probably better. If people are bringing children, buffet is always a good idea.

Answer 4

I most definitely prefer a plated meal to a buffet. Plated meals are usually of a much higher quality than buffet style. A lot of weddings I have attended that were buffets, the kitchen took WAY more liberties w/ the food quality. For example, I was at a buffet wedding and they actually had baked ziti on the buffet. Really tacky and cheap. Can you imagine a plated meal coming out with baked-freakin'-ziti?? The primary reason (other than food quality) that I have chosen to have a sit down mean are A) it's more formal and B) I don't want my guests to have to "work" to get their food. I want everyone to sit back and RELAX and be served properly, not jostle in line for some nasty chicken of "unknown origin." I think people are under the false impression that a buffet dinner is much cheaper than a sit down dinner...in many cases it's actually more expensive.

Answer 5

I've heard pros and cons on both. My friend went to a fancy wedding with a plated dinner and they didn't get hardly any food and most people went away hungry. I've heard of bad buffet food and guests not liking that they had to "serve" themselves.

We had a buffet at our wedding dinner and everyone loved it. No one pigged out or felt obligated to eat until they couldn't move. Just make sure you pick a good caterer who knows what they're doing and buffets can be great.

It also depends on what type of formality you're going with for your wedding and dinner/reception. Buffet is certainly less formal than plated, but costs less if that is a factor.

You go with what you want and nertz to everyone else. If they don't like it, they don't have to eat. If you get pressure from either set of parents tell them that if they want "X" style dinner and it's not what you want then they can pay for it.

Answer 6

Definitely plated meals. If its a big party, by the time everyone gets up to the buffet the food is either cold or gone. With a sit down, you get what you ordered and eat at the same time as everyone else. For my wedding here in NY, I looked at buffets to save money, but found out that with a buffet, the kitchen has to order about double the amount of food they normally would have, making it more expensive. If you want a classy wedding go with the sit down plated meals.

Answer 7

It really does depend on the type of wedding you are having and your budget.
For a fancier or more formal wedding, you might want to do plated meals. If you do plated meals, you are more able to control the meal than if you do a buffet and people are less likely to overindulge so much that they won't enjoy the rest of the evening. But, obviously, buffets have more variety and MOST people tend to behave themselves on special occasions. However, remember that you can't please everyone and must go with whatever seems the best for you and for the majority of the people you've invited.

Answer 8

i think of that oftentimes, a buffet meal expenses greater desirable than a plated meal (mutually with a meal the place the travellers make a call from 2-3 entrees while they RSVP). I went with a buffet, by using fact at our venue the plated foodstuff have been very meh, however the buffet had an mind-blowing determination of ingredients. additionally, oftentimes, a tent wedding ceremony is going to cost greater desirable than a corridor. you may could manage the tent, dance floor, tables, chairs, linens, sound gadget, lights, restrooms... etc. At a corridor or ballroom, they'd have maximum or all of that stuff on the venue so it's going to be greater no longer expensive. For the easily cost adjustments, touch some venues and catering agencies on your section. distinctive areas variety significantly in costs, distinctive venues or caterers have distinctive pricing schemes, and interior the case of a tent wedding ceremony, you have an excellent form of thoughts for each ingredient you may hire, with various cost factors. For the two one in each of those, and different funds judgements, it somewhat comes all the way down to non-public decision and priorities. In our case, we actual splurged on the venue/foodstuff and photographs, yet did our very own plant existence. If I say how lots we spent, i'm enormously specific i'm going to get flak for it, yet i don't be apologetic approximately having an excellent wedding ceremony. specific, we could have placed that money in the direction of a down cost on a house. decrease back in early 2008 while all of us started heavily making plans our wedding ceremony, if we did that we would be caught in an the different way up loan in a house that's a lot smaller than the domicile that we in basic terms offered this month for the comparable quantity of money.

Answer 9

buffetts are ok, but plated meals are much more elegant. If you want something in the middle go for family style. It's cheaper than plated meals. I do hate the concept of people all dressed up at a formal event having to wait in line for a buffet. It's just soo tacky.

Answer 10

Buffet, definately. People can get exactly what they want and in what portions they want. That way you're not throwing away alot of unwanted food. Not only that, but what if you have someone on a strict diet or a vegetarian? Would you want to have a server set down a big hunk of meat that might discust them or tempt them into something they can't have? Just a thought. We're having a buffet for sure.