TO PLATE OR NOT TO PLATE?

One of the more important details of any event, particularly your wedding, is of course, the food! You spend so much time thinking about the kind of food you want to have served, you would expect nothing less than perfectly delicious.

But the real question is, how would you like all that lovely fare to be displayed? Would you prefer a fully plated meal? A buffet or family style? Maybe you’re thinking out of the box and want to have a heavy reception. There are many ways to appease everyone’s appetites but the most important, is to make sure it is what you want.

Photo: Rien van Rijthoven

The most traditional way to serve your wedding meal is to have it plated. Meaning, your guests will choose ahead of time from usually 3 different options. With dinner being served this way, you would need to provide a seating chart, along with place cards that specify their meal preference. This is certainly convenient as the banquet manager and servers will take care of everything for you and your guests.

Another option is to have a buffet. This option will allow for more food choices which gives your guests the luxury of choosing what they like. This can be a great option if you have a decent number of guests with dietary restrictions and or allergies. The buffet will always be labelled and it’s easy to customize a few items as well.

Maybe family style is the way to go for you. It’s like bringing the buffet to the table. You will usually start with the cold items like salads in the center of the table before you sit down. And then the hot entrees will be brought out. This is a great way to allow for more than one option for your guests and they have the convenience of either choosing or forgoing an item.

Lastly, a more modern way to serve dinner is to have a heavy reception. This allows for your guests to mingle about for most of the reception. This will most likely be displayed in several different stations throughout the ballroom. Maybe your favorite meal is mac and cheese, and you want to share that with all your guests. This is a perfect way to do that. You could do a seafood station or a carving station. This provides the flexibility for your guests to eat what they want, when they want, and still have an open concept of mingling with friends and family.

Separately, if you have very specific meal preferences, for example, Kosher, Indian style or simply culturally traditional hors d’oeuvres that you would like to provide, this can certainly be accommodated.

A little side note – as a suggestion, you will no doubt be running around all day and may not have time to eat throughout the day’s activities, especially during cocktail hour. It’s always a good idea to ask to set aside a few nibbles to give you a little more energy for the rest of the festivities.

Bottom line is this, however you choose to feed your guests, make sure it’s what YOU are looking for. If you are going to provide all this yummy food, you should absolutely be able to enjoy it as well!

Take a look at our Weddings Catering Menu.