Deciding how to feed the guests at a wedding can be quite stressful. There needs to be plenty of food especially if people are going to be there all evening. There are a lot of people who would be critical of not having a hot meal with silver service but there is no need for a buffet line to be the worse option.
Employing staff to serve at a wedding reception can be quite expensive and even if money is not a problem there are times when it may be nicer to have the reception as less of a formal occasion. The service will have been the formal part so let people sit back and enjoy themselves. Although the close family and friends will all know each other there could be people who are sitting with strangers and it can be a bit of a stressful time so providing a buffet will be much easier all round.
With a lot of weddings there will be both a sit down meal and a wedding buffet at night, so there are a number of things to remember when organising the menu. Although the main reason for people attending is to help you celebrate there is the need to look after them while they are there and don’t have them standing around for a poor choice of food.
Make sure there is enough food as there can be little more embarrassing than realising that there is very little food left and still a queue of people. By having more tables with food on it will be easier to prevent a long buffet line and also see which items need to be replenished.
Always make sure that there will be something for everyone as there is bound to be someone with dietary needs. If it is something like a nut allergy or there are certain foods they cannot eat for religious reasons it will be best to prepare a special table that has things they can eat and make sure that they are sent to the table first so as others don’t take the only things they can eat. If there are elderly guests it will also be best to make sure that there is someone who can go and collect their meal for them.
With a buffet it is possible to offer a much wider range of food and make sure that there is something a little bit different. Make sure people are happy to go up again though as often the first few up don’t like to take much in case there is not enough.
A major problem however can be if the buffet lines are long. People will get irritated just standing around so try and make sure it all runs smoothly. This can be done in a number of ways such as making sure the food is on a number of different tables so as the guests can be up and back in their seats in a couple of minutes. Alternatively a couple of ushers could be asked to take a table or two up at a time.