Wedding Reception Dinner, How Will We Feed Those Hungry Guests?
October 23, 2009 by Jen and Deb, Party of 2
Filed under Events, Featured, Planning Tips
The vows have been said, you’ve sealed them with that all important kiss, and now it’s time to feed the guests, and the dilemma begins! Exactly what is the best way to meet your wedding reception dining desires and what are all the options?
Before you even decide on the options, at Party of 2, we advise our couples first to take a step back and consider a few basic items.
One, let’s keep in mind exactly who you are serving in the first place, your wedding guests of course! Are they primarily young, old, how many children do you have, etc. This may help determine if a plated or seated dinner is out of the question as a younger crowed may be bored to tears or too antsy to sit for long periods of time, whereas an older crowd may be much more comfortable being seated. If you have an exceptionally long guest list, a buffet may not work as your lines may get too long and plated/seated dining may be your only option.
Two, how formal is your event going to be. If you are having a black tie event, then tradition tends to indicate plated or a seated meal is the way to go. However, a buffet if correctly staged and properly planned can be equally as elegant.
Three, what time of day is your meal going to actually occur. If the meal time is going to fall during or over the dinner hour, then it would be inappropriate to have an appetizer or an Hors d’oeuvres only wedding reception as your guests would be expecting to receive a full meal and would be very confused to say the least! On the flip side, if you hold your wedding during the morning hours it may be appropriate to serve a brunch reception, a 4 course plated meal is not necessary nor would your guests hold that expectation.
Lastly, remember to keep in mind your preference, it is your wedding day!
Below are the basic options available to choose from when considering how to feed those hungry wedding guests!
Dessert Only: This is an option to be used (in our opinion) in those rare circumstances when your reception is held after the dinner hour only. We have seen this work just beautifully in a very urban casual lounge setting where the couple had been married in a private family wedding earlier in the day and then had friends and family in for cake and a bountiful candy and dessert bar buffet with some bubbly on the side!
Hors d’oeuvres: This option could mean servers with passed trays or you could have table/tray placed appetizers. This can work well for the afternoon wedding as long as you don’t fall into dinnertime hours. Be sure to work with your caterer to watch your pricing so you don’t end up at full meal pricing! This type of reception is usually shorter in duration than a full meal type reception as well.
Family Style: This type of meal service can sometimes help you solve the quandary between having a buffet or having a full service plated dinner. Servers bring larger plates of the dinner selections to each table and guests serve themselves by passing the plates amongst the table guests. To keep it efficient, be sure not to overcrowd your table with too many guests and or table decorations.
Buffet: Your caterer will set-up several long tables or you can go with a station approach (think south of the border station, Chinese station, meat station, you get the idea) and guests line up to select their food. You can have the guests serve themselves or you can ask the caterer to have the portions served to each guest. One advantage to the buffet option is that you can have a varied menu. At the same time this option may not always be as cost effective as it may seem on the surface as the caterer may have to over prepare. Be sure to carefully consider this option when planning. Another thought on the buffet is to always carefully plan how you will move people through the line, never leave this to chance.
Plated: This is the option which is often considered the most traditional and often the most elegant. It can also become very involved and detailed and requires some up front planning as you must seat your guests at pre-assigned tables and sometimes at pre-assigned chairs. This requires menu option selections during your invitation process, discussions with your caterer concerning which entrée to serve to which guest, response card issues, place card issues etc.
Who knew wedding dining had so many choices? If you need help in deciding on a wedding caterer or in planning your wedding, call Party of 2 today, at 916-479-3093!
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Party of 2
