Wedding buffet reception?

Little My · 19-10-2010 02:31PM #1

Has anyone been to a wedding where they just had a buffet rather than a sit down meal?

We want something informal and just casual and fun for people, and don't really want to go down the sit down dinner route, but I can't imagine how a wedding buffet would work in practice as I have never been to one, so if anyone has any experience of attending or organising one I'd like to hear about it. Our ideal senario would be a barbeque but I feel we would have to wait until July 2011 to get weather decent enough for this and we dont want to wait so long.

Do we choose dishes like starters & mains but they are all served together? What about with guests queuing for food - it kinda sounds like it might be a nightmare and you might get a lot of people grumbling about it? I don't particularly want to have to do seating plans either - will that work or will it be very disorganised & messy?

Dow99 · 19-10-2010 02:42PM

I was at a wedding that had a buffet and we liked it so much we are having one at ours next year
What I thought was great about it is that it gets a lot of people mingling and talking and it is extremely relaxed and very pleasant. By far the wedding that I was at was the best wedding I've ever been to and I think it was down to the buffet and the relaxed atmosphere. It is also refreshing, as its a bit different form you average wedding!!
The trick with a buffet is to have it in a position that can be accessed from 4 sides. So it would depend on your wedding venue. With accessing it from 4 side it greatly reduces the Q. If your venue will only allow it to be accessed from one side (depending how big your wedding is) it could be a nightmare. PM me if you want some details on caterers and venues that this works at!!

krankykitty · 19-10-2010 03:11PM

I was at a buffet lunch thing before in a hotel, and how they ran it was that they invited each table up one at a time to get each course - this meant there was minimal queuing as only the people from one table at a time were lined up.

angelfire9 · 19-10-2010 04:19PM

Speak to your hotel about layout of tables for a buffet they will have loads of experience and it shouldn't be a problem
It definitely shouldn't be a nightmare!!!!!

sweetie · 19-10-2010 04:50PM

it's very common in the uk and provided the food is of good quality and quantity and you have a good selection it should be great

cyning · 19-10-2010 11:47PM

Once the hotel is equipped for it it shouldn't be a problem! Himself is a cef and they are always doing buffet's: they do a mirror buffet with smoked salmon and cold meats etc, and then the hot stuff: normally beef stroganoff or something very similar. There are more and more weddings going for this option: but I know where he works its not much cheaper than a sit down meal so that might be something to consider (I think they are something like €28 a head for a buffet... popular hotel though

).

As for the seating plan: I know I hate arriving anywhere where there is no seating plan: especially if you are going as a couple and know noone else. But if its informal then a seating plan won't work. I think probably not on balance, for a buffet would just be a bit odd!

How Strange · 20-10-2010 07:34AM

I've been to one wedding which was buffet style and it was great. The food was fab and it was organised in such a way that one table was called at a time. It was a small wedding of around 50 people.

We wanted buffet style for our wedding but it was obvious on the night that we didn't gave enough space for people to move around so our caterer did table service.

Ours prob cost e26-28 per head for 2 courses but there was lots of food. We had two hot dishes with lots of different salads and the standard was excellent.

I'd highly recommend buffet style if you want a more relaxed atmosphere than the traditional sit down wedding which can be quite formal. Having said that i don't think it's necessarily cheaper so don't choose it purely as a way to cut costs.

alanacadia · 20-10-2010 07:50AM

my Daughter recently had a buffet wedding in the Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley, it was the best , they called a table at a time and all went very well with 4 different choices of food to eat, have to say its the way forward , check it out then decide and its very cost efective

suzieled · 20-10-2010 09:35AM

This can work depending on the numbers. Was at a wedding with 500 at it. They served the starter and desert to everyone sitting down. For the mails they called a table at a time.

Only thing about buffets I find is if you have many elderly or not very mobile guests, its normally another member of their family that will have to run up and down a few times to get their meals for them. I know, as Im normally the one up and down a few times before I get my own food.

In saying that despite that fact there was 500 there, it went smooth enough.

Alliandre · 21-10-2010 05:54PM

cyning wrote: »

but I know where he works its not much cheaper than a sit down meal so that might be something to consider (I think they are something like €28 a head for a buffet... popular hotel though ).

I would consider €28 per head significantly cheaper than the usual minimum of €40 that most hotels seem to charge for a sit down meal, especially since a buffet would have a better choice of food.

How Strange · 21-10-2010 08:28PM

Actually it's not quite true to say you have a wider choice of food with a buffet. You have to choose your main courses carefully otherwise you could end up with something dry and rubbery.

Usually with buffets it's a stroganoff or wine sauce with meat because the sauce means it doesn't dry out.

Whispered · 25-10-2010 02:07AM

I don't think I'd really enjoy a buffet meal. Firstly the idea of going and serving yourself in a group of 10 in front of 40 - 80 others makes me cringe. I can be clumsy and would be bound to drop something.

I think that most hot buffet meals would be saucy type food, which many people don't like and which usually use cheaper cuts of meat. It would also leave the vegetarians without a hot meal unless you specifically cater something extra for them. (although same problem with a sit down I suppose).

If you want a buffet meal because thats what you like then great, but you don't need to have a buffet to have an informal and friendly meal. Really the informal tone would be set by your invitations, clothes etc.

I'd also say that in our hotel, when we added our extras like a choice on the main course and wine on the tables, it was costing a minimal amount more to have the sit down. Which I think worked out easier for the guests. Although this may not be the case in other hotels.

Shellygoose · 25-10-2010 09:27PM

my mam got married in July (2nd time round) and she didnt want the whole formal "Hotel" thing, so she hired out our local GAA hall and got caterers in. There was 15 tables (8-10 per table) plus the top table. They served 2 tables at a time. Then tables were cleared and desert was served to the tables. 1st glass of wine was served and then bottle left on table.

We had Turkey and ham, quiche, baby potatoes, curried rice, salads, etc and had a medley of desserts. It was beautiful! And the best thing about it was no-one was overly stuffed and bloated and everyone was dancing for the entire nite. it was brilliant!

I would say that if you can go for a buffet then go for it!

tattykitty · 27-10-2010 04:34PM

We had a buffet at our wedding and used Naomi's Kitchen - they were excellent. They had a chef and a small team of servers, and Naomi herself was on hand too. You can choose from a lovely range of foods - she has set options (eg. Three salads, three mains, etc) but she's very flexible and we had a varied selection. There were delicious vegetarian options, a salmon dish, a chicken dish, and some wonderful pasta salads. We also chose canapes beforehand, which were lovely and brought round by Naomi's staff while people were standing around.

We only had a small wedding (40-50) but even so, there was no angry queue, people just went up for food in their own time and it was all fresh and piping hot. I'm not sure how much it cost overall because it was paid for as a wedding present, but it seemed pretty reasonable, and the leftovers were apparently eaten for a number of days afterwards

We heard lots of good reports back - even the older, more traditional people there enjoyed the food and had a good time.

tattykitty · 27-10-2010 04:40PM

here's the link to Naomi's kitchen if you want more info:

http://www.naomiskitchen.ie

One tip - get the drink separately, from a supermarket or somewhere, because it works out far cheaper. We had a friend of a friend work as barman for the day, which worked out brilliantly (and he got paid for it, of course) - still cheaper than buying booze from any caterer.

Oh, and one tip - get married in the late afternoon, that way you only need to feed people once!

magneticimpulse · 27-10-2010 10:29PM

yep been to loads of buffet weddings. think they had salad as starter...like that you just help yourself.

then 2 hot dishes, mostly chicken curry and some other beef dish. normally veggie option too.

only downside is one wedding i was at the bride had to q for her food...whereas the next one i went to, they brought the food over to bride and groom.

definitely the way forward. think the €80 a head 5 course meals are gone out the window with the recession.

loads of my relatives are not going to weddings anymore, because they cant afford to give a gift of €150 to "cover" the meal. at least a buffet meal, people feel less guilty about giving less money due to the recession

dollybird2 · 28-10-2010 01:16AM

I had a buffet for my wedding and it worked a treat. As the bride I queued for my own food - out of choice. I would not dream of asking my guests to queue while I was served like Lady Muck, even on my wedding day. The amount of people that commented on the food and the chance to mingle really surprised me as I didnt think it would go down as well as it did but I cannot abide sit down dinners (fussy eaters) so went with it anyway.

xalot · 28-10-2010 04:46PM

I was at a buffet wedding last weekend and I have to say I think it's a great idea but it just didn't work at this venue. The food looked amazing, but the tables (100 guests in total) went up one by one and it took ages. The top table had finished by the time the third table got to go get there food and there was nearly an hour between the first table and last table getting their food. I was staaaaarving.

5cutch · 29-10-2010 02:06PM

I haven't been to any buffet weddings, but I've been to quite a few large corporate dos (Christmas parties, 4th of July and so on). Buffets work quite well, one advantage is you get more mingling as people move through the crowd.
Vegetarians are possibly a concern, but I'm sure your hotel has a contingency.

Wedding buffet reception?

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