Pros and Cons of Buffet v.s. Plated Dinner at your Wedding

Do you want a buffet or platted wedding?

Knowing the difference between buffet verses platted dinners and which one you actually want to go with can be a difficult decision. There’s always pros and cons for both types of dinners, which I’ll be sharing a few for you to consider. The main thing to remember is that as long as you have a professional wedding vendor for your catering team, your dinner should be perfect either way.

Platted Dinner

This dinner is clearly platted…AND served to you at your table. It has more of a formal vibe which can be considered a pro or a con depending on your crowd. If you are wanting your guests to feel like royalty where they are served a beautifully laid out meal right in front of them without having to lift a finger then this is definitely the way you want to go.

At weddings that are platted, catering typically asks to have all the guest be seated completely before bringing the food out. So if your crowd is a little more challenging to settle in then maybe this is not the way you want to go.

Another “con” to consider is that you will have to add another card with your invitations. This card will have the meal options available at the wedding for the guest to make a choice before the actual wedding day. You will have to follow up with those guest who are coming to basically put in their order with catering.

And the obvious, plated does require extra staffing and an extra cost to execute.

Buffet Dinner

Sometimes there is staff still serving the actual food and sometimes your guest have free rein to get however much they want. This is definitely for the more laid back crowd!

One “con” to consider is the size of your guest list when it comes to choosing a buffet over plated. You now have to direct and help people navigate where the line starts and ends and who should be going next. You don’t want to have a huge traffic jam at dinner. Table numbers and coordinators help with this flow!

Another option to discuss with your catering team is stations. More modern weddings include snack stations. This leaves your guests with a variety of foods and they still have the option to choose how much they want to grab.

As long as you have a professional wedding-specific catering team, plated or buffet dinner really just depends on your preference! Check out our planning package for guidance through all these decisions: Packages!

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