Food Fight
Avoid a dining dilemma by weighing the facts of both sit-down and food-station meals
By Bev Bennett
CTW Features
A sit-down dinner is the only socially acceptable option for the wedding meal, say some wedding planners. Others will tell you that a series of food stations is the way to go, and anything else is stodgy.
The fact is that you don’t have to accept one particular style of food service for a wedding celebration. Both sit-down and stations have advantages and drawbacks. By weighing each you can make the best choice for your wedding.
But first, if you think food stations are cheap and a tad tacky, it’s time to dispel some common misconceptions.
Food stations, a sophisticated variation on the buffet, aren’t necessarily less expensive than a sit-down meal. Instead of having one or two tables arranged with food so people can line up and help themselves, stations offer several tables, each with distinctive selections. Guests have a greater and more interesting choice of dishes, but the cost to you is likely to be higher.
In addition, when guests help themselves you have no control over the costs, according to Gayle Skelton, the on-site wedding director at Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta.
As for the quality, duck confit, kobe beef and ahi tuna are the luxurious selections on some of the food stations Skelton arranged for a recent Four Seasons wedding.
You don’t have to be concerned about which type of service offers the best food. Instead, envision the day, says Kimberly Gora, partner/director of catering for the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group in Las Vegas.
“Do you want it to be formal, or more fun and casual?” questions Gora.
A sit-down dinner with plated food is more appropriate for a formal celebration. It’s also more suitable for smaller guest numbers.
“Smaller groups know each other and are intimate,” says Gora.
However, if you have a large guest list and you’d like people to get to know each other, food stations provide entertainment and encourage introductions, says Skelton.
“Food stations offer guests a chance to wander and mingle. There’s a lot more energy in the room with stations than with a seated dinner. There’s more opportunity to interact,” says Skelton.
You may wonder how either of these food service options fit into your schedule. Here the experts differ as well. Some wedding planners say that on short notice, only a sit-down dinner is possible, while others say precisely the opposite. You’ll have to ask your vendors what they are able to accommodate.
In the past caterers required longer notice for plated dinners because they needed an exact count of all attending guests. Many caterers are more flexible now, says Skelton.
If you’re still torn between sit-down and stations, you can always add elements of both. Have the meal served through the entrée. Then provide dessert stations, such as one for chocolate desserts, another for fruit-based sweets and still another for cappuccino and other coffee drinks.
