Your Guide to Wedding Dinner Service Styles

Wedding food is one of the most relevant things to your guests on your wedding day. You want to make sure your food makes a great impression with the service and the flavors. While you’ll have a taste test for the flavors to be assessed, it’s good to look over your options for the type of service you may be interested in. Here is a rundown of each option and the benefits and potential problems with each.

Buffet

This one you have all of the courses on a line on a table. You can either have it as self-service, or have servers hand food to your guests. This option is the least expensive out of all of the others and it typically serves your guests the fastest as well. The potential problems though are that you usually have to pay for extra food since guests can be heavy-handed and over-serve themselves. This option also is seen as the least formal and your guests have to get out of their seats, which isn’t the most accessible. This one also has the most room for germs since everyone will be touching the same serving utensils.

Stations

This option is for multiple station groups for food instead of one big line. This also could be the same idea as food trucks or charcuterie boards being stationed in multiple places for guests to go to as they please. It’s definitely a good idea to have multiple options for the stations because otherwise the lines can get really long, and it also requires some extra organization of where the lines will form or else you may end up with a lot of foot traffic and long lines. This one is the same as the buffet where it is seen as less formal and accessible, but it’s probably still less expensive than the other two below.

Family Style

This one is when the guests are given a large plate of multiple servings so they can pass the it around to the people they are sitting near. Guests can remain seated and it’s more formal than the two options above, but it’s also more expensive than those two above as well. You also still have to be a bit careful with the portions, since guests can still be heavy-handed here as well. This really just means your bill may be higher so they can account for the potential extra food needed.

Plated

This option has servers come to each table/guest to bring their courses individually. This option is the most formal and will have the least worry about portion control, but it is the most expensive and the portions are the smallest. Your guests can remain seated, but this service takes the most amount of time.

Each option has its pros and cons, so it’s good to know exactly what comes with each kind of service. Depending on your priorities, you may be looking for a formal event where plated meals would make the most sense, something more budget-friendly where you can happily have a buffet, or something more unique and have the food stations. Make sure you pick something that interests you more than anything - your guests will be happy enough with the good food!

If you’re still unsure which option is best for you, you can reach out to me at hello@firmlyrootedevents.com. I can help you figure out what would be the most beneficial option for you!