Which Catering Style is Right for Me?

Once upon a time, a wedding reception was always formally seated, but now the creative menu ideas are endless!

Katie Duncan from White Tie Catering shares an insight into the options. 

Buffet

Everyone knows about le Grande Buffet – a glorious spread is laid out on a table heaving with food and your guests come up to the buffet (often one table at a time) and help themselves to what appeals. This can be great because your big eaters are able to eat happily while smaller eaters are happy too. It also means more variety than something plated. 

The flip side is it can be slow, especially for guest numbers over about 60 and your guests inevitably queue, which can take a little away from a sense of occasion. It’s also never as lovely-looking for the last guests at the buffet as it is for the first. For a three-course meal with a buffet main, prices would start around $60 pp.

French Family

French Family evokes the idea of a family meal: platters in the middle of the table for guests to share and serve themselves. This is my favourite style of wedding food service. You get the variety of a buffet without the queuing, big eaters and small eaters are satisfied and the very act of passing around plates drives conversation at the table among people who haven’t met before. The price will be about the same as a buffet which would include two meat varieties and three sides. The only drawback is that it can have an impact on your centrepieces as you need to leave plenty of space for platters. 

Plated

Plated is a lovely option for pretty individual meals for your guests while also avoiding the additional cost of a choice of meats. Great caterers will always cater for dietaries and allergens so for everyone else, feel brave and commit to a single plated meal if you like that idea. Lean towards something special, like lamb, beef or salmon presented with lovely delicate flair. You could try popping the starch on the table, like duck fat roasted potatoes, or butter Agria puree, as this is a great way to make sure bigger eaters still feel well catered for. Three-course plated meals start from around $40 pp but can be less if you’re willing to serve a wonderful slow-braised beef cheek for example.

Alternate Drop

Controversial take – I don’t like alternate drop. Most of the time, alternate drop is a red meat and a chicken dish alternated at the table, which means that half of your guests will get something premium and the other half will get something they already eat about four nights a week at home. 

While alternate drop is an attempt to provide choice, the reality is there will be some guests who don’t get what they want. So my view is, either give everyone a choice, or choose one plated option. Much as with plated, the cost of alternate drop depends entirely on the main meats you choose, but you should be looking at a similar price.

Canapés and substantial canapés

This is a great option for the social butterflies among you! Canapés and substantial canapés is essentially converting the quantity of a three-course meal into nibbles that are passed around throughout your reception. It’s a great way to have a huge variety of food – often clients are such foodies they can’t choose just one main, so with substantial canapés you can incorporate five or six different favourite foods. It does naturally lend itself to being slightly less formal than a seated event which is worth thinking about when it comes to your formalities – you still need a reasonable amount of seating to accommodate guests when there’s listening to be done. Prices start around $40 pp.

Food Trucks

Basically, this is fun. Who doesn’t love tacos, or fried chicken sliders, or poke bowls! With food trucks, or food stations of some kind, variety is the spice of life. It can add to the theme and style of your wedding but it’s also a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Here’s something irreverent that makes for a lovely, social and relaxed wedding reception. Food truck food tends to be slightly larger than substantial canapés, so a reasonable amount of seating is still recommended for the all-important glass in one hand, fork in the other. The cost of food trucks or food stations is dictated by how many items you cater per person, but will start around $40 pp.