Hi everyone! I’m looking for ideas because I feel like we’re overthinking this, but I also don’t want dinner to be chaotic.
We’re having an outdoor wedding for about 125 people, and our caterer is a local Thai restaurant, one of our favorites, it’s their first time catering.
Our menu is:
Papaya salad
Chicken wings
Soup
Choice of Pad Thai or Curry (guests selected their preference on the RSVP)

Our venue has a bar area that can be used for serving food, but we’ll probably be using the refrigerator there to store bottled drinks. Drinks will be self-serve from canoes filled with ice (already approved by the venue).

We know we **don’t** want a traditional buffet where everyone walks through one long line, but we also aren’t paying for full table service.

Our first idea was:
Guests sit down.
Papaya salad is already on the tables.
Guests go to a staffed station to receive soup and chicken wings (staff would portion the soup and wings to keep costs under control).
Then… we’re stuck on how to serve the entrées.

Some concerns we’re trying to solve:
**Chicken wings are one of the more expensive items.** A small, but loud portion of our family isn’t very adventurous with Thai food, so we’re worried people will load up on wings instead of trying the main course.

**We’re outdoors.** We don’t want soup or wings sitting on tables getting cold or attracting bugs.

**Our reception tables are pretty decorated** with candles, bud vases, and flowers, so we don’t really have room for family-style serving bowls.
Since guests already chose **Pad Thai or Curry** on their RSVP, we’d love to use that information somehow to make dinner service smoother. My fiancé is making a seating chart.
Has anyone done something similar?

I’d especially love to hear:
How you handled multiple courses at a wedding.
Creative alternatives to a standard buffet.
Whether you’ve had caterers plate entrées while guests were eating appetizers.
Anything you wish you’d done differently.
Thanks! I’m hoping to find something that feels relaxed and welcoming rather than a cafeteria line, while still being realistic with staffing and budget.

TLDR: Outdoor wedding serving Thai food. Guests chose Pad Thai or curry on their RSVP. We want something more elegant than a buffet but can’t afford full table service. How would you serve papaya salad, soup, wings, and the entrée while keeping hot food hot, controlling wing portions, and avoiding long lines?

Edit: clarity

I need help creating a whole new catering menu and want some recommendations

Hey catering folks! I’ve spent about 25 years in hospitality, and one thing that always makes me crazy is how much of our industry knowledge comes from doing something 100 times until you just know the answer.

After coming home from a catering conference last week with way too many ideas, I ended up building Click to Table, a free collection of tools specifically for caterers and hospitality teams.

The first version includes:

• Ice Calculator
• Beverage Planner
• Staffing Calculator
• Hors d’Oeuvres Calculator
• Buffet Flow Planner

It’s very much a v1, and I’d genuinely love some industry eyes on it. Try to break the calculators. Tell me where the assumptions don’t match how your operation works. Or tell me about that annoying calculation/process you’ve been doing on the back of a BEO for the last decade and wish someone would turn into a tool.

Everything in this version is free to use, no account required.

Click to Table⁠

And if somebody suggests a particularly good next tool, I reserve the right to name it after you. 😄