Aside from the wedding menu, one important part of planning before getting a catering service is deciding for the table service type you are going to have at your wedding reception.
Here are the things you need to know and to consider before deciding for it.
Plated service– is a service type where all your guests remain at their seats and each course of meal is prepared on individual plates and served to each guest on their respective tables.
Pros
This type of service is convenient, easier, and less hassle for your guests making your wedding reception more formal and elegant.
Plated service is organized, and each meal is sequentially served to everyone at the same time. Your guests can take their time eating instead of lining up for the food. They get to mingle and have more time to chat with other guests from their table, but your guests have to understand the waiting time for each course of meal. Normally, each meal course is served 10 minutes after the previous one.
You can make sure that everyone is served fairly. No fear for running out of food.
Cons
A meal for plated service is exactly counted per guest. It has a fixed amount of serving and has fewer dishes. Usually, it is limited to 1 soup and salad, 1 main course and a dessert. It limits the food choices for your guests, since they are only served of everything that’s available.
If you are hiring an off-premise caterer who has their kitchen at a different place and transports the food to a venue where the wedding is, preparation of food is more complicated and risky for them. Each food requires on-the-spot garnishing and specific serving measurement on each plate is needed. It also requires them to bring proper equipment at the wedding venue like an oven or a heating cabinet to maintain the food quality. Thus, your venue should have a big pantry.