Buffet Table Greed Stopped!
Making The Wedding Buffet Table Fun
There's always the same pattern at the table buffet, out of control kids and very greedy people go first. Well mannered and polite people allow others to go in front and then there are just scraps left!
The other scenario is being held up in an enormous line awaiting those at the food table to decide whether they want Italian or Ranch dressing on their salad, or the buffet plate builders seeing how much more they can pile up in their plates before spilling it. Then they don't eat it all!
How to stop the buffet table race
Imagine if you could have one of those automated cuing systems, "window No.3 please", like they have in big post offices and banks.
Is there a different method of getting people to their food at a much faster rate?
Actually there are several fun options that will help feed your wedding guests quickly and with a minimum of moans and groans of hunger.
Table number two please!
If the number system works in banks, why can't it work at wedding reception buffets? Imagine if each table is assigned a number and the best man, MC or DJ calls out random numbers at various intervals. He can just pick them out of a hat like a lottery or bingo game.
The people at that particular numbered table then go the buffet and collect their food.
If it is a big wedding buffet then why not have 4 or 6 smaller buffets, so it would be "Table number 3 to buffet number 2 please".
You could number chairs instead of table and say "chairs 1 to 10 to buffet 4 please, this way the MC controls the number of people at the buffet, so as people move away with their food he replenishes the numbers.
Buy some bingo balls!
Make it colourful
If the numbering system sounds too formal there are other options. Each table could be nominated a colour and the MC simply calls out the colour.
Perhaps you could coordinate the tablecloths with the colours nominated for the table.
So you might have white, pink, lavender, beige, and primrose tablecloths, and your guests sitting at that particular table simply move to the buffet table when their colour of their tablecloth is called out.
Another idea would be to divide the tables into colors, say pink, blue, primrose, white table cloths and four buffet tables with those colors. It can't be easier, pink goes to pink etc!
Color Table Cloth
How about some trivia
Another option for moving people quickly and easily to the wedding buffet table involves having some fun with your guests.
You provide each table with a bike horn (they're cheap), or a bell, or anything that makes a noise.
The MC asks a question perhaps about the bride and groom. The first tables buzz in with their answer goes first to the buffet. You repeat the process until everyone is finally on their way to getting some food.
Trivia Questions
The lottery method
How about writing a number on each person’s place card?. If you have 100 guests, for example, you might choose to have 10 people at the buffet table at a time. So each person would be assigned a number 1 through 10. That’s ten lots of each number.
The MC will call a random number from 1 to 10, and those ten people will head for the wedding buffet table.
This staggered way feeding all your wedding guests is very quick; yes it can be fun or indeed a nuisance, depending on your guests. It does however solve the problem of half the room being finished with their meal and then waiting for others to finish theirs before the dancing etc start, but it can also mean that one or two guests might be long finished and going back for seconds, whilst others even eaten yet. Having said that, it happens anyway at all buffets.
Kids only wedding buffet table
The two ways of doing this is two have a server, that way they can't fill their plates with cake only and the portions are controlled.
A kids only buffet allows the adults to have their selection without the smaller ones weaving and dodging between their legs!
Kids buffet ideas
Guestbook
Great idea. A pet hate of mine is when people take a lot of food at the buffet, and then leave it.
Funny lens, that is the kind of stuff I enjoy reading about.
An excellent idea!!!,
So! What do you do with the pocket stuffers? lol :)
These are all wonderful ideas.
Useful ways to control that wedding buffet table chaos!
Great lens, funny too.
These are great ideas for making the buffet a better place!
The title pulled into your lens. My family is written all through this len. Very good
I can SO identify with what you're saying here! I could write a list of at least a dozen people in our family who would be first up to the buffet each time. And those mucky kids poking the food and blowing spit all over the birthday cake, Yuk! I will definitely recommend using the numbered table call up system at my Grandson's Christening this year ... and sit back to watch the expressions on the faces of the "first up" gang when their table isn't called up first! Mwahaha! :)
Great ideas. I think they could work.
I can't believe this lens doesn't have a purple star! So darn funny!!!!! Unfortunately I am one of those greedy ones!
What a great topic! Ways to slow the herd at the buffet table :)
So many great ideas. Blessed!
Oh no, I may be one of the greedy ones. I try to be mindful of all the other people wanting food too, but am overcome by wanting to sample everything.
Very good read - and greed is definitely a rampant problem at the buffet table! Thanks for sharing!
hahaha It sounds like you've been to the same weddings as me. lol
It is said that you eat as much as 30% more when faced with a buffet. People want to try a bit of everything and end up overloading,
A great idea for a lens! I too have been guilty about rushing to the wedding buffet table.
A good use for the best man.
Beautiful and informative lens. Thanks for sharing.
nice lens, glad I browsed upon it tonight. If you like to browse lens as I do, mine has a great educational topic with poll questions for my readers to enjoy.
Cool ideas for a much more pleasant buffet at weddings as well as any buffet experience.
Great ideas here - having a wedding buffet is always a tough and long trial.
LOL! I am not sure if it is my mood or if you intended to make me laugh, but regardless, I laughed! I absolutely hate buffets! The worst is when people sneeze over the entire table or spit when they are talking. Gag!!! Oh, or don't you just love it when someone picks something up, examines it and then puts it back on the plate!!! Ugh!!! The only way to avoid problems with buffets, is to not eat the food, which is pretty much what I do at weddings :)
some good ideas you have here.
Very cute! Can relate to all those types, and the lottery would be a great idea to test. Thanks!
The lottery system sounds like an interesting option. Pity those who draw the last lot again. Innovative lens.
I know what you mean about the polite people at buffets ending up with the scraps! I do love buffets and being able to chose what you want to eat. My church frequently has these, and we use numbering as that seems to work the best for us.
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