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Planning your wedding reception can get stressful. There are a lot of decisions to be made, and food is one of the most leading ones. But before you plan your exact menu, you need to conclude how you want the meal to be served.

Do you envision formal plated sit-down dinner, or a bit more interactive house style meal? Would you prefer buffet style or food stations? How about casual cocktail reception?

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There is no right or wrong here. People sometimes ask if a buffet dinner is tacky for a wedding reception. It's not a ask of tacky or not. It all depends on whole style and theme of your event. If you are planning a formal wedding reception, than a buffet style meal might look out of place. On the other hand, if you're having an informal fun party at a nightclub, a cocktail reception might be your best option. For a customary Greek or Russian wedding, a house style dinner regularly works the best.

Sit-down

With a sit-down dinner, your guests sit at assigned tables and the meal is served to them by the wait staff. This is determined more formal than any other type of service. It looks elegant and approved and guests will eat the dish the way it was designed to be eaten, with the right estimate of sauce and approved side items. Other big advantage of a sit-down dinner is that it gives you more control over the timing of your reception. You can plan the exact time for each element of your wedding reception (champagne toast, the first dance, etc). Also, your guests don't have to wait in line to get their food. Sit down dinners are regularly more expensive, primarily due to a large estimate of servers it requires. Other disadvantage is that with a sit-down dinner, your guests have a little estimate of food choices. Normally, only 2 entrée options are offered and your guests have to confirm their selection when they send you their Rsvp.

Family Style

Family style is similar to a plated sit-down dinner. Guests are assigned to tables and food is served by the wait staff. But instead of private plates, the food comes on large platters and is settled in the middle of the table. Guests help themselves with the food and conclude which items they want and how much. house style set-up is determined to be less formal, but it provides best opportunities for guests to interact with each other.

Buffet style

With a buffet style all food items are set on a long buffet table. Gusts pick up a plate and serve themselves selecting items they like. Buffet style is regularly cheaper than a sit-down dinner because it requires significantly less wait staff. But you need to keep in mind that with the buffet style People tend to have larger portions. One of the main disadvantages of the buffet style is that your guests might have to wait in line to get their food.

Food Stations

Food stations are great alternative to a buffet style. regularly a few stations are settled in distinct areas of the banquet room and each one can have a distinct theme - carving station, pasta stations, Oriental station. Chef prepares food right in front of the guests providing great interactive opportunities. Plus, the food is regularly fresher and hotter compare to the buffet style.

Living room reception

If you're hosting your wedding reception in a lounge, night club or art gallery, living room reception might be the right selection for you. Reception style is always less formal, but can be pretty chic with hi-quality food, creative presentation and fancy cocktail bar. Hot and cold hors d'oeuvres are passed around, a few appetizer platters and dips can be set-up on a buffet table for guests to serve themselves. Other great idea is to join reception style with food stations. Living room reception is not going to be cheap as it requires a lot of wait staff. The price also depends on the ingredients used in hors d'oeuvres. Ordering the right quantities of food for the reception can be tricky. Read our article "How much food do I need for my catered reception?" to get some ideas.

Whatever set-up you select for your wedding, keep you funds in mind. Think about whole tone of your wedding. Do you prefer classic and formal, approved and modern, fun and interactive. Reconsider your audience and your guests' expectations. Retell with your caterer to establish the exquisite menu for your wedding and to get the best use of your money.

Wedding Catering - Sit-Down, Buffet, family Style, Food Stations, Reception - Which Format to pick