Planning Style :: Meal Service Times

Whether you are planning a buffet meal or a sit down plated dinner services – I most often find couples overwhelmed trying to figure out their evening itinerary.

It’s hard enough knowing when to serve your dinner, but then you must sort out when it ends and when your speeches, cake cutting and dances can begin.

So, let’s break this down a bit for you and see if I can’t simplify the process for you.

Buffet Dinners
Generally, you want a buffet line per 100 guests for ease and speed of speed of services. It’s best if there is a line on each side of the table for even speedier service.

If you can keep to one line per 100 guests – then generally, you can be starting your speeches and rest of your program at the hour mark. Guests will be onto dessert and coffee service can begin.

If your venue offers you less lines, then you need to add more time – so if you only have one line 200 guests, mark 1.5 hours for your dinner time, because the last table will take longer before they can be onto dessert.

Plated Dinners
Sit down meals get a little trickier to plan simply because there are more variables: service speed, number of servers per guest ratio, size of room for distribution and much more. For you, I’ve put this into a basic formula – for my couples I’m able to tailor this number more specific to their venue – but these numbers will give you a good starting point.

For soup, salad, palate cleaner & dessert courses – I plan about 5 minutes for service, 15 minutes for eating, 10 minutes for clearing (so 0.5 hour per course).

For entree course, I plan 10 minutes for service (especially if they have to provide specific entree choices to specific guests, this takes more time), 25 minutes for eating and 10 minutes for clearing (45 minutes for the entree course)

Plan the Time in Your Reception Timeline
None of these formulas are set in stone! After 9 years, I’ve got a different formula for each venue I’m in – and even that depends on the number of guests at that wedding, the size of the room and many other factors. Ultimately, you want your guests to enjoy a fantastic dining experience which includes allowing adequate time for conversation & digestion.

If you aren’t working with a wedding planner, and stuck working out your itinerary on your own, then I hope these formulas will give you a good starting point on creating your reception timeline!

Jolyn | Lifestyle Wedding Planner & Designer
Nuance Occasions
780.628.6457