As is well known, wedding catering is what stays in guests' memories the longest after a wedding. Every wedding guest can remember the confited cod with lardo or the successful dessert with an explosion of flavor on the palate. Choosing your caterer is therefore one of the most important decisions you should make. Now, however, the question arises as to whether the catering should be served as a buffet or as a multi-course menu. Is a buffet really cheaper? Is a plated dinner not enough? When undecided, many couples often choose a combination of both options.
In the following post, we show you what options you have for catering at your wedding. We also discuss the pros and cons to make your decision a little easier in the end.
Served menu
A course menu, also known as a plated dinner, is a type of wedding catering where food is served directly to guests at their seats by waitstaff. Typically, it works as follows: after entering the room, the wedding guests take their assigned seats. As soon as the catering begins, trained waitstaff serve the wedding guests between three and seven courses. For example, starting with a cold appetizer, followed by the classic wedding soup, an intermediate fish course, and a light sorbet. This is followed by the main course with meat, some cheese and fruit, and finally a dessert.
A menu is usually fixed in advance and it is discussed in exact detail which guest gets which dishes. With such a set menu, it is especially important to accommodate eating habits, allergies, and intolerances. To avoid surprises on the wedding day, you can ask about this in advance. The easiest way is when sending out the Invitation Cards to specify an additional field where your guests can state their preferences. This way, you can pass this information on to the head chef.
We can say goodbye to the myth that guests won't get enough to eat at a multi-course meal. So don't worry that the small portions won't be enough for some guests. Discuss this with your wedding caterer in advance. They will be happy to prepare multiple portions. Seconds will not be a problem then.
If you are dreaming of a traditional wedding with bow ties and formal evening wear, we recommend choosing the served menu, as this is more formal and fits the style. Furthermore, it is more pleasant for guests not to have to stand in a queue in high heels for the buffet and wait until it is their turn.
Another advantage of the wedding menu is that program items, such as speeches, Stage show and your wedding dance can take place during dinner. All the wedding guests are already seated and do not need to be rounded up first.
Wedding buffet
This is a very popular option and gives your guests a lot of flexibility. They can choose what and how much they want to eat. This option can be a self-service buffet. Alternatively, there is a chef-served buffet, as is known from canteens or club vacations.
Although the served multi-course meal is traditionally more popular, nowadays more and more wedding couples are choosing the buffet. Wedding guests with dietary preferences have a free choice and can decide for themselves which dishes they want to eat. This saves the wedding couple the preliminary work and polling before the wedding. The buffet is also less formal and brings more movement and interaction among the guests to the wedding party. If it is also a simple self-service buffet, fewer service staff are needed.
One way to liven up the buffet a bit is with live cooking stations. Here, for example, meat can be freshly sliced using a Berkel slicer. Pasta is freshly prepared, meat is freshly grilled, and the dessert is freshly flambéed.
Family dinner
Wedding buffets or plated course menus are the most chosen, but not the only wedding catering options for your wedding. The so-called „family-style dinner“ is a new trend that has only been found at German weddings for a few years. You can imagine it like the classic Christmas dinner with the whole family. In this case, the tables are already set with tableware. The service staff serve the food on platters and in large bowls. The wedding guests can serve themselves at the table. However, this requires a lot of space on the tables. If the space is not available, you can also work with tiered stands.
This type of catering gives you all the advantages of a set menu and a buffet. The only downside is that the tables will be very crowded. Nevertheless, like the buffet, it gives the wedding guests great flexibility. Guests can choose the dishes they actually like and go back for seconds. In addition, the guests do not have to wait in line.
Appetizer buffet at the table and served menu
The last wedding catering option is a combination of a family-style dinner and a multi-course menu. This involves an appetizer buffet that has already been placed on the tables, a served main course, and a served dessert. In most cases, the appetizers or salads are already placed on the tables before the guests take their seats. This gives guests the opportunity to nibble on something right as they sit down. Furthermore, not as much space is needed on the tables for the appetizers alone. However, for the served main course, as mentioned in the multi-course menu section, the meal selection should be requested before the wedding.
We see this variant very often, for example on international weddings. They offer their traditional dishes as a starter. For the main course, there are their personal favorite dishes. This gives the catering a individual touch and stands out immensely from down-to-earth buffets.
Whichever wedding catering you ultimately choose, it is important that the guests leave the party with a good feeling. Look out for caterers with plenty of experience and good reviews. If the research, menu selection, and coordination overwhelm you, it is best to speak with your Wedding planner. They usually already have experience with good caterers and also take care of the smooth coordination on the wedding day.
