How Does Buffet Catering Work With The Top Table?

by Melissa
(County Wicklow, Ireland)

My partner and I are planning a spring wedding next year and we're considering a buffet style reception. I think it's great because we'll have a variety of dishes taking into account the fact that there is going to be a mixture of Irish and Filipino guests at our wedding.

Our dilemma is what happens to the top table? Do they queue as well? My partner seems to think it will be original and funny for the bride in all her glory queuing for food. I see his point. Please help. What is the proper way of going about this? Thanks a million.

Melissa

Answer:

If you're having a wedding buffet, the correct way to serve people would be for the Bride and Groom go to be served first and then the rest of the top table would follow, followed by the tables adjacent.

As the hosts, you should also go up to the buffet table for seconds to show your guests that they are welcome to do the same. You should do this, even if you don't want any more food.

An alternative way to do it is to provide servings of the dishes on the top table and the rest of the guests queue for their food.

If you are thinking of a buffet, I would strongly advise having several tables so that people can form a queue from either end. For example, if you have four tables, place the same food on two tables, creating a mirror image. This will make the queuing time much less.

I recently attended a wedding with 130 guests and found I had to wait 50 minutes until everyone else had been served and the queue had gone down. I had my little baby with me, so didn't want to leave him! That's long time! If you can't do the mirrored layout, then factor in the time to eat in your timeline!

All the best