Buffet or Sit Down Menu

[Chili1113]

Assuming that the price is the same, which would you prefer? Just wondering how you guys feel about the dining options below:

a) SIT-DOWN MEAL - 6 courses including: Salad, Soup, 1st Main Course (Seafood), Sherbet, 2nd Main Course (Beef), Dessert

Pros: more formal, relaxed atmosphere, nice plated food presentation

Cons: guests are limited to what will be served, more expensive given the amount of food given, food wastage for guests that cannot finish what was served

OR

b) BUFFET - an extensive buffet which includes about 8 hot dishes including carving stations for Roast Beef, Cochinillo, Baked Ham, Baked Salmon.

Pros: lots of food choices, less expensive for amount of food given, guests get to walk around and mingle while going to the buffet table, no food waste since guests only will get what they want to eat.

Cons: less formal, less elegant, people have to "line-up" for food, can be sometimes a bit chaotic

*** I personally prefer sit-down dinners, but the fiance prefers to have a buffet. What about you?What are you having in your wedding?

 

[xxIcePrincessxx]

^Sis maybe you can have both? As for us naman, we're planning on having the Sit-down set up for the VIP's and the grandparents so that they wont have to line up na and then buffet for the rest of the guests

[fionaapple]

To make the buffet queueing less chaotic, our caterer will setup two buffet stations. We will be having russian service for the VIPs and buffet service for all other guests.

[Chili1113]

Thanks for the suggestions sis xxiceprincessxx and fionapple! A mixture of sit-down and buffet sounds good. I'll ask the caterer if they can sit-down for the appetizers and main courses, and the a dessert buffet. I just hope the cost will not go up much.

[patriciasy595]

from what I have observed, for Filipino weddings, it's usually sit down for the VIP and buffet for the rest But for those who are in the Chinese community, it's definitely sit down. Although I would prefer sana na buffet na lang para before kumuha ng food ng guests, they will go to our place muna for a photo op, it has been a Chinese tradition that we (the couple) will be the one to do table hopping and have photos with the guests. Nakakapagod but it's a form of respect and gratefulness din for them attending our wedding

[patriciasy595]

It's part of the tradition. Food is very important in the chinese community. Sad to say but sometimes, the menu becomes a social status. When you're offering expensive food, the guests know that you are well off. But on the good side of the tradition, it's again about respect and making your guests feel that they are special for you especially for the elders

[j.adore]

We had the usual Russian service for the VIPs then buffet for the rest.

Sit down is quite fancy but is too limiting on choice of food and chance to mingle. Though it depends on the culture of your guests too, whichever would fit them best

[caterpillar-girl]

We had buffet for guests, sit down for VIP. I just feel it's more festive that way. We had two buffet lines for our 220 guests. For the buffet, I specifically instructed our caterer NOT to have servers or takal boys and girls. I felt like it defeated the purpose of a buffet, and it looked too much like a soup kitchen/high school cafeteria for me.  But then that's just me. Good thing my caterer was okay with it. I had another caterer for my dad's birthday and they were charging me extra if I wanted to remove the servers from the buffet.

[quinone]

i prefer sit-down dinners lalu na kapag weddings, it feels more formal and orderly. maybe you can have a separate carving station though na pwede nilang pilahan, or a crepe station/flambe dessert station?

[klimts]

i originally preferred a sit-down dinner for our wedding but after checking on the pros and cons, having a buffet became the better option for us. if you have guests that are allergic to some food, at least they would have a choice of what to pick from the buffet table. and also, having a buffet dinner doesn't mean na hindi na magiging formal ang occasion. the people attending your party will for sure conform to what you want your party to be.

one more thing, sobrang sayang ang food sa mga sit-down dinner pag di naubos. once the servers take your guests' plates at may food pa dun, direcho na sa basurahan. im not sure with the extra plates na ndi nagalaw. shempre plated na yun. our respective families still enjoyed food from our wedding dahil sa leftovers. even relatives who weren't able to attend the wedding but dropped by our house after the festivities were able to enjoy the food from the wedding.

[vitug.annie]

Same with other sisses here.. I prefer sit down with vips and buffet for guests.. share ko lang din.. I experienced during my brother's wedding.. nasa vip table ako..they served my food pati sa son ko.. then after few minutes of feeding him his lips began to swell. Too late to realise na may fish yung napasubo ko and he's allergic to that.
Lesson: Read the menu first.

[BabyAnnisha]

 I Prefer sit down over buffet, para maiwasan ang mga eat and run.. and i find it more formal if sit down, naguguluhan kasi ako, pag maraming nakatayo and personally, tamad ako maglakad lakasd especially kung naka high heels ako so maybe ganun din mga guest ko...

if there is other option i go for lauriat style/family style... for me kasi parang combi ito ng dalawa =)

[sunsetbeach]

My original plan is sit down menu. "MY" talaga kasi ako lang may gusto ng sit down haha. Fiance's family, on the other hand, wanted buffet style because most of the wedding they attended are buffet style.

During our food tasting with Sofitel, the plate was like.. uh.. lifeless haha, limited.. and uh... dull? Mind you, its the most expensive plated menu so I was expecting a lot. Fiance's family was there also during the food tasting and they were disappointed. Father in law even talked to me if there's a more expensive menu than what was served. But that's the most expensive na! Ayun... Father in law, in a nice way, told me na "baka pwede buffet na lang."

I was uhm.. sad? at first. Coz we were planning this wedding for years already and alam ni fiance i wanted sit down. I talked to my parents (they wanted sit down din).. And they said okay narin ang buffet. I explained to them that if we push through the sit down, main course would be a fish and a meat. Sabi nila sayang naman daw the fish or the meat if hindi makakain both. Hindi rin naman pwede iwrap un para iuwi.

So we finalized our menu with buffet (highest priced). Expensive but atleast there's variety and guests can choose what they would eat without wasting food (hopefully). VIPs will always be sit down of course.

I am happy with Sofitel and my AE. She's good to us and accommodates requests. She shares some insight din lalo na if hindi kami makadecide on our own. Though maybe nung una inis ako sa kanya because she's like always in a hurry during our meeting, pero now, she's okay. Its our fault din before kasi lagi kami late haha.

[sevenstars]

Personally I think sit-down dinners are more elegant, but I also wanted the guests to have choices. Our caterer offers tableside ordering, so we're doing a sit-down starter and main (two choices for each, plus preselected options for vegetarians) followed by a dessert buffet.

However, if it's a choice between an average plated meal and a buffet with excellent food, I'd pick the yummier option every time

[castledoll]

We had a sit down dinner. I'm just not keen with the idea of people so elegantly dressed up lined up for food. for me, "off" lang siya. Sure, mas madami choices. Mas madami din ang masasayang because people will scoop whatever amount of food they think they can handle pero sa basurahan din naman ang end nung pagkain and mas makalat. there will be food on the floor from the buffet table to the guests' tables.

This was our timetable and hope this will help:

2:00pm - Ceremony
right after the ceremony up to 5 was the pictorial.
4:00-5:00pm (for the guests): Cocktail Hour and Appetizer
7:30pm. Dinner
around 10:30pm: late lunch.

We made sure people are well fed. I think it doesn't matter whether you have buffet or sit down, guests are always hungry! Especially if the reception is gonna be all night and it involves a lot of dancing and mingling.

[Chili1113]

^whaaaaaaaa which brings me to my original dilema. I dont like people lining up for food either.  I was planning to have cocktails with an appetizer buffet, followed by a 6 course sit down dinner - With a seafood 1st main course and beef as 2nd main course. BUT honestly a lot of food will be wasted, and also of course people also will have less choices.

Haaay, for now Ive decided to wait till our food tasting and decide based on taste and presentation.

[trissy0906]

Sit-down As my future F-I-L would say, "if bitin sila sa food, kain nalang sila sa mall pagtapos. Wedding naman pinuntahan nila, hindi kainan" 

[appleberrycream]

We opted for buffet during our wedding. More food choices for the guests and they won't feel bitin sa food. Principal Sponsors and the elderly's are exceptions, they were served on their seats. You can do that if you want a buffet setup and you don't want your specials guests to line up. Also each station make sure na may scooper ba tawag dun to minimize the guests na kuha lang ng kuha. They can get as much rice as they want naman

Also pag buffet, mas madali ang pag takeout ng food kase kita mo agad yung mga natira, I don't know if it's the same with sit down dinner, though I agree less hassle talaga kase wala na ngang pila but in every sit down dinner that I've attended mostly talaga maliit ang servings. Medyo bitin ka if you're a heavy eater. My mom and hubby's family are chinese so gusto talaga nila umaapaw ang foods hehe! Magtipid na daw sa lahat wag lang gutumin ang mga guests

[bagaholic_chewy]

As a wedding guest, nice din ang sit-down dinner. And if you like the people on your table, then mas ok ang tsikahan if sit-down kasi walang tayo ng tayo to get food. My only issue is minsan, if boring program, lalong nagiging boring kasi nakaupo lang almost the whole night. Or if di mo masyado kilala otr feel yung nasa same table, parang semi-torture na nakaupo lang. Hehe..

Sa buffet naman, what I absolutely don't like is yung me tagasukat ng food, hehe.. ok lang me server basta wag yung nili-limit ang serving. And make sure the dishes are hot.

One variation I liked was: soup and bread were served, then me salad bar. Sit-down ang appetizers (serving was a sampler of 3 appetizers) and main courses (choice of 2 dishes - one fish/seafood and 1 meat). Then for dessert, buffet ulit.

[castledoll]

^whaaaaaaaa which brings me to my original dilema. I dont like people lining up for food either.  I was planning to have cocktails with an appetizer buffet, followed by a 6 course sit down dinner - With a seafood 1st main course and beef as 2nd main course. BUT honestly a lot of food will be wasted, and also of course people also will have less choices.

Haaay, for now Ive decided to wait till our food tasting and decide based on taste and presentation.

you should wait na lang after ng food tasting nyo. minsan kasi having the cocktail hour and appetizer served 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours before dinner, wala yung "burden" sa couple na magpa serve ng 6 course meal. pwedeng 4 and then magpa serve na lang ulet ng late lunch after 2 hours. Pinaka "madugo"  na planning talaga is yung table arrangement. You should seat people together na lang based on how they know each other para walang awkward moments.