DIY Your Wedding Buffet Table
How to Style a Buffet Table That Says 'Wedding Elegance' (Not Grad Party)
Planning a buffet setup without the support of a full-service caterer can feel like piecing together a puzzle. The key to success lies in balancing presentation, portion sizes, and table space to ensure your setup looks elegant and worthy of a wedding—not just any other party. When I coordinated my own wedding, I knew the buffet needed to look not only bountiful and beautiful but also to eliminate any guesswork when it came to arranging hot food on limited table space.
Picture this: You’ve asked staff to set out freshly prepared platters, but your caterer isn’t responsible for arranging the buffet. As they begin placing items, platters bump into each other. The riser needed to be shifted slightly to the right, but now the entire table has to be rearranged—disrupting the flow and eating into precious time.
This is where careful planning comes into play, ensuring every dish is accounted for and fits perfectly in the space without last-minute adjustments.
1. Research Buffet Table Designs
Like many brides, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. What stood out to me across all the beautiful buffet layouts? Two key elements:
Plenty of Variation: Almost every table setup used different platter shapes and risers to create height variation, making the display more dynamic and inviting.
Plenty of Options: A well-stocked buffet isn’t just about quantity; it’s about the presentation of options that feel abundant and generous.
But it’s not just about aesthetics—the logistics have to be just right. How many appetizers do you want? What size platters would hold them? Will everything fit neatly on an 8-foot table? You don’t want to leave those questions unanswered until the day of.
2. Map Out the Buffet Table Space
To get precise about the setup, I broke it down into a few manageable steps:
Step 1: Choose the Food Items
I made a list of all the food items I wanted to serve. This was crucial because the type and quantity of food would determine the size of the platters and, in turn, how much space we would need on the tables.
Step 2: Measure the Platters
Next, I reviewed the dimensions of the rental platters available to me and selected ones that not only provided variety in size and height but also held enough of each dish so they didn’t need to be replenished too quickly. I calculated how much food each platter could hold and whether all the platters could fit comfortably on the tables.
Step 3: Account for Additions
Don’t forget to factor in things like dip bowls, serving spoons, tongs, and napkins! These small items take up more space than you might expect, and it’s important to plan for them early on so nothing feels squeezed in later.
Pro Tips:
Place plates at the beginning of the buffet table so guests can easily grab them as they start to serve themselves. This way, guests don’t have to bring their plate up with them.
If guests will be sitting down to eat, leave silverware and napkins at the dining tables to avoid juggling. If they won’t be sitting, place silverware and napkins at the end of the buffet table so guests can pick them up last without struggling to hold them while serving food.
Avoid using charger plates with plates at the buffet (some people may bring these up to the buffet…)
