Your Guide to the 5 Most Common Wedding Reception Meal Styles
Your Guide to the 5 Most Common Wedding Reception Meal Styles
From plated dinners to food stations, here's what you need to know about the menu options available to you.
The food at your wedding is undoubtedly one of the most important elements of the whole event. No matter which meal style you pick—whether it’s a formal plated dinner or a canape-style reception—the overarching menu should reflect the two of you as a couple. “You are inviting people to the most special dinner party you’ll ever throw,” says Ian Salter, co-owner of Salters Events in Catford, London. “Each bite of food should be memorable, unique, and downright delicious.”
Though Ian says a plated sit-down dinner is the most common option at a wedding, that's not your only choice. Here, we asked the expert to weigh in on every style of reception meal, the upsides (and downsides) of each, and the cost factors associated with them. Read on for everything you need to know about wedding food and your plating options.
Plated Sit-Down Dinner
As the most traditional reception dinner style, a plated meal is what the majority of couples choose. This is when all the guests are seated and served a formal dinner. Typically, it consists of three courses, a starter, a main and a dessert. Everyone is usually served the same starter and then the main course is handled a few different ways:
Guests are served the same main with a vegetarian or vegan alternative.
Guests are able to select their main from a menu, which is typically a meat or fish option plus a vegetarian option.
Guests pre-select their main choice when they submit their RSVP.
Pros
It immediately sets the tone for a more formal gathering.
You have the most control over the look and feel of the meal.
You can work closely with the caterer to execute your vision for the meal.
It is an efficient way to serve the reception meal and keeps things running according to schedule.
Cons
The limited variety can be challenging for guests with dietary restrictions.
It typically requires more manpower for serving and plating, so staffing fees tend to be higher.
Cost
A plated sit-down dinner can be quite cost-effective because you essentially can control the price. In terms of food costs and rentals, a plated dinner typically costs the same, or less than a family/sharing style meal because you don’t need to have as much food (in terms of sheer quantity and variety), but the service costs tend to be a bit higher.
Tips
“Typically, couples do a first course and main here,” says Ian. “We like to do something a little different and have the couples select one first course and one main for all guests, plus there’s always a vegan/vegetarian option. It’s a nice guest experience. When you invite people over to a dinner party at your house, you don't typically ask them what they want. This also really helps with food waste, which is a big priority for us.”
Family/Sharing Style Dinner
A family-style meal is exactly as it sounds: Everyone is seated as big platters and bowls of food are passed around the table, just like you might do with your own family at home. This is a great option if you want to keep people seated at tables, but don’t want something as formal as a plated meal. The first course is typically served with about one or two options and the main course includes as few as a protein and two sides or multiple proteins with multiple sides.
Pros
It offers you variety—there are lots of choices, which can be easier to accommodate picky guests or attendees with food allergies.
It makes the reception meal feel more casual and laid-back.
It's good for community building—when people are passing the food around their tables, they chat and engage with each other.
It is an efficient way to serve your meal—you don’t have to wait for people to make it through buffet lines or the stations. Everything lands at the table at roughly the same time and people can help themselves.
Cons
Family-style meals are typically the most expensive option because of the service ratio, needing the highest amount of food, and the cost of rentals.
The platters and dishes take up valuable table real estate. If you want elaborate florals on your tables, this is not the option for you.
Cost
Expect to pay 10 to 30 percent more than a plated dinner since you will likely have more menu items and less control over how much people eat, according to Ian. You absolutely don’t want to run out of food, so always order more than enough here.
Wondering how much food to order? Ian suggests one or two different starters, and as few as one protein and two sides for the main course or as many as two proteins and four sides max. Then one or two desserts.
Tips
“We always work closely with the designer to understand the table layout well in advance,” says Ian. “There is nothing worse than having nowhere to put the food, so make sure there are places on the tables for everything, and the platters and bowls are appropriate for the tablescape. It’s a good general rule of thumb to avoid super gigantic platters. Also, make sure to educate the servers about where each platter or bowl is going to go on the table, and run through the service flow to make sure it’s all as smooth as possible.”
Buffet-Style Dinner
A buffet features long tables topped with a wide variety of food options. This meal style offers the most variety for your guests, making it particularly desirable if you want a wide range of cuisines or have picky eaters. The most important thing to consider here is how to get your guests through the food lines as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Pros
From a guest standpoint, buffets are great because they can not only pick what they want but how much food they want.
Abundant buffets can be visually appealing and photogenic when executed well, with vibrant food and a talented design team.
Cons
The tremendous variety and quantities of food that you get with a buffet comes at a price. Buffets can be higher in price than many of the other reception meal styles.
It takes time for all guests to move through a buffet line, which means not everyone will eat at the same time.
Cost
Similar to family/sharing style, expect to pay 10 to 30 percent more for a buffet than a served dinner since you will likely have more menu items and less control over how much people eat, according to Ian. The upside of a buffet, however, is staffing costs could be about 20 percent less than they would be for a plated or family/sharing style meal, depending on the layout and how much service you want.
Tips
“Think about all the elements and focus on the visuals,” says Ian. “You want the food to be vibrant and vivid, so be thinking about the colours of everything. If you have lots of starchy items, think about mixing them up with some colourful elements.” Have plenty of access points to the food so that people aren’t waiting in line forever. Ian suggests an access point per every 50 guests and stresses the importance of having staff available at various points to educate guests as they navigate the buffet to avoid any traffic jams. Also, if at all possible, don’t send all the guests up to the buffet at one time.
Buffets are all about having a beautifully displayed bounty of foods, so the sky’s the limit here. A few things to keep in mind when planning the menu? Avoid nuts! Think about foods that will be challenging for guests to navigate and consider adding a chef or staff member to serve that particular item, or remove it from the buffet. You don’t want your guests to have to work for their food.
Food Stations
Food stations are very similar to buffets in that they give your guests a nice variety of food options. Stations typically have tables or areas specifically dedicated to certain dishes or types of foods. These are often more interactive and involved than a help-yourself buffet, so you will need people to staff these stations.
This is a great opportunity to get creative and inject your personality as a couple. For example, if you love oysters, do an oyster shucking station. If you’re pizza-obsessed, bring in a pizza oven and have the chef whip up pizzas made-to-order. Love cheese? Put together an epic cheese bar!
Pros
Like buffets, stations offer up great opportunities to create stunning visual displays that lend themselves nicely to photos.
If there is a dish that would be challenging for guests at a buffet, attended stations are a good workaround.
Stations encourage guests to interact and engage with each other, particularly if they are chef-attended stations where they are picking from different options and consulting each other about their choices.
Cons
Rental costs and staff ratios could make stations quite costly.
Depending on what kinds of stations you ultimately decide on, they could require a lot of space, so keep your room size and physical station sizes in mind as you plan.
Cost
The menu price is going to be similar to a buffet or family/sharing style meal. The staff ratios and costs are typically on par with a buffet, but keep in mind that if you have multiple stations, the cost of rentals will be much higher.
Tips
It’s important to consider the layout and floor plan for your stations, making sure to keep in mind all of the other design elements that will be in the space, like lighting fixtures, tables, couches, and the bartops. You want to maximize the space so people can easily move about and access the food and drinks without any trouble.
Keep in mind the same guest access point rule we mentioned in the “buffet” section. Guests should be able to easily access the food. A good rule of thumb is one access point per every 50 guests. Ian suggests having a variety of three stations, perhaps two self-serve, grazing stations, and one chef-attended station for a wedding of 250 people (with multiple chefs at the station).
Canape Style Dinner
Buck tradition and do a canape style wedding reception. It combats a lot of issues that couples typically face while planning their wedding, like where to sit a bunch of people who don’t seem to fit at any one table. A canape style reception means no seating charts, no tablescape fuss…none of that. Instead, you and your guests can mix, mingle, and dance all night long and snack on small bites (either tray-passed or laid out on a grazing table in advance) whenever you feel like it.
The most important thing here is to offer your guests a nice variety of options, including a few that are vegan/vegetarian, dairy-free, and gluten-free, so there is something for everyone.
Pros
You can easily move around the reception and chat with your guests in a way that some other styles (like a plated dinner) do not allow.
A canape style event is engaging and interactive for your guests.
If you want to invite a lot of people but you aren’t able to fund a full meal for that guest count, this is a more cost-friendly approach.
Cons
Older guests might not be able to stand the whole time, so make sure you have seating options in case they need a place to rest their feet.
People are likely to drink more because they have access to the bar (rather than the servers serving set amounts of wine and cocktails).
Guests might not be familiar with this style of reception, so inform them ahead of time of what to expect in terms of the food.
Cost
This is a more budget-friendly alternative to a full-fledged dinner because you have far less food in terms of both quantity and portion-size. Depending on how big your wedding is and how many different dishes you want to serve during the reception, be prepared for the service costs to be bumped up.
Tips
“People absolutely don’t want to see the same canapes for hours and hours, so make sure to mix it up,” says Ian. “Vary the menu and serve five different items for the first hour-and-a-half and then five completely new items for the next hour, or however long your reception is taking place.” Also, think about the plating here—just because you aren’t doing a full-fledged dinner doesn't mean you can’t get creative with the presentation and plating.
FAQ
How long does a plated dinner take?
A three-course meal usually takes two hours to serve and be consumed. This can fluctuate depending on the amount of time required to serve, which is higher for larger guest lists. Servers will usually wait seven to ten minutes after a course has been finished to bring out the following course.
How many servers do I need for a plated dinner?
For a plated dinner, the general rule of thumb is to have one server for every 10 to 15 guests. For buffet or food stations, one server for every 25 guests is recommended.
How do you notify guests of the meal style on wedding invitations?
Traditionally, plated dinners with starter, main or dessert options are the only ones that need to be highlighted on the wedding invitations. The information (and preference options) would go on the RSVP card. If you're planning a canape style dinner, we recommend noting this on the invitation with a simple "Canape reception to follow" so guests know to grab a bite beforehand.
How do I find out if guests have dietary requirements?
The RSVP card, or RSVP section of the wedding website, should leave a space for guests to note any dietary requirements they have.
Salters Events has years of experience guiding couples through their options for wedding reception catering. Get in touch to discuss how they can bring your dream wedding reception catering to life.