Hands up if you love wedding food! I know I do! Your meal will be a highlight for lots of people so you want to serve something you’re excited about. When it comes to wedding food serving styles, you’ve got several amazing options:
- Plated sit-down dinner
- Buffet style
- Family style
- Cocktail style
- Food trucks
Not sure what any of these are or what will fit in best with your wedding plans? Then take a look.
Plated sit-down dinner
Perfect for: formal weddings and couples who are foodies
In this wedding food serving style, guests remain seated as servers bring plated meals to them. This is probably the most traditional style and perfect for a formal wedding. In fact, we love that it sets the tone for a formal meal! Another perk is that with all the meals being served at once, you have more control over your wedding timeline.
Usually, all guests get the same starter and then the main course could be handled in a couple of different ways:
- Same mains for everyone, with a silent vegetarian or vegan alternative.
- Guests choose from the menu on the night.
- Guests choose their main when they RSVP.
Buffet style
Perfect for: laid-back couples who want variety
A buffet is another popular choice and one that offers the most variety for guests. You can serve different cuisines and give your guests the gift of choice. Your only consideration is getting your guests through the buffet line quickly and efficiently.
Set up your buffet in a communal location and serve the food in one of two ways:
- Self-service – if this is what you opt for, you’ll want to bring some kind of direction so guests know when to go up and queue.
- Served by staff – this helps to portion out the food and have it topped up accordingly.
Family style
Perfect for: getting guests to mingle and chat
Family style is the perfect blend of plated meals and self-service buffets. Your caterers will bring out platters to individual tables. Guests will pass the platters around and dish up their own food.
Again, you can have lots of variety, serve food efficiently and get your guests talking! Just be cautious about how much decor you’ve got on the tables, because the platters take up lots of space.
Cocktail style
Perfect for: a smaller budget and an interactive wedding
This budget-friendly option enables couples to serve beautiful canapés in a “grazing” style. Guests won’t receive a full dinner so there are fewer tables and chairs required (and therefore no seating charts). Older guests might struggle to stand all night long, so we recommend having comfortable seating areas instead of a formal seating plan.
Guests can walk around and chat while they eat. The only con is that they may not see it coming and they might get hungry if they don’t fill up while the canapés are being served.
Food trucks
Perfect for: stylish couples and outdoor weddings
A trend we are loving is food trucks! You can express your taste by choosing food that you would usually eat while you’re out. Some couples love pizza, burgers and beer, so why not serve those favourites to your guests?
Guests will have to wait for their food and everyone will probably be eating in stages, so you might want to pair meal time with a fun activity or lawn games.
Expert tips: have at least three food trucks so guests don’t have to wait too long, and choose suppliers who have worked at weddings before.
