When planning your wedding, there are so many choices for what to serve for dinner. Additionally, you need to choose how to serve it, and that the very thought can be daunting. While there are benefits to any type of meal time traditions, there are several great reasons to have a banquet-style reception versus standard plates delivered by a service staff. From your wedding budget to the selection on each of your guests’ plates, the scale heavily tips in the favor of banquet-style food service every time.
Cheaper Price
Probably the most beneficial reason to go with a banquet-style reception is that it’s much cheaper per guest. First off, the chefs who prepare the food won’t have to put it on plates and garnish it. Typically, they charge an additional premium compared to making large pans of food and setting it out in warming trays on the banquet table. Every second that the chefs and line cooks are preparing your food is usually reflected in your final bill.
Furthermore, the service staff required to deliver food to each of the guests’ tables can cost a pretty penny as well. Not only do you need waiters and waitresses to bring out the food. Also, you need busboys to come and cleanup the tables after everyone has finished eating. If you are having 150 guests or more, you could easily end up footing the bill to pay for between 5 and 8 service staff members just for your guests to be fed. Overall, saving you some wedding budget room for other things is probably one of the best reasons to have a banquet-style reception.
Larger Selection
Almost all of us have gone out to eat with your friends or family. So, you probably have noticed that each person’s taste in food varies greatly. Also, some people have dietary concerns such as gluten intolerance or they are vegetarian. These needs can really complicate ordering the correct food for each guest at your wedding reception! Rather than having a special section on your RSVP cards and having to keep track of each person’s food choice, having a banquet-style reception can eliminate many of these concerns.
Typically, a banquet will feature several different main courses. Additionally, there will be side dishes to suit any type of preference. If some of your wedding guests are vegetarian, then there will usually be some sort of side salad or pasta salad that can fit their dietary choices. The same can be said for other types of dietary concerns. Mainly, it’s because your guests will be able to pick and choose the items that fit their personal needs. Even if it just comes down to personal taste, one of the great reasons to have a banquet-style reception is that you don’t need to worry about what people like to eat; because it is entirely up to them.
An Opportunity for Fun Activities
Beyond being affordable and offering a vast selection, a banquet-style reception offers some other great opportunities. Mainly, it allows you to more easily perform fun activities during your event. For instance, you could use it as a way to incorporate a fun dice game into the event! Instead of randomly choosing tables to dish up, you could turn it into a game with nothing more than a pair of dice. Each table get a roll and the ones with the highest total get to go first. It can make the normal task of delegating and make it into a great experience.
Similarly, you can use it as a way to distribute favors to your guests. Perhaps you want to give everyone a flower. This is an easy time to hand them out! Additionally, items like wedding sparklers are easier to distribute to people one at a time. By utilizing the process, you can easily use it for multiple purposes.
Whether you want to save money or have an elaborate amount of food choices, a banquet-style reception is a great option. Sure, it’s not quite as elegant as having a wait staff; but it’s so much easier and the result is the same. When you factor in games and handing out sparklers, it ends up being an obvious choice. Hopefully, this has inspired you to consider this type of dining experience for your celebration. Good luck!
