Hey all… I have a question about wedding receptions… particularily Pakistani (obviously) LOL. Has anyone done or been to a Pakistani wedding reception that was sit down dinner?
Me and my SO have been thinking of getting married maybe next year.. but my heart is set on a sit down, RSVP-ONLY dinner. I can’t stand buffets… I think its hectic, its unorganized and the thing that gets under my skin the most is that people just pick up their plate and go sit wherever - You have a seat for a reason! Call me a potential bridezilla, but I like the look of a sit down because it’s elegant.
Has anyone seen this done? Obviously if it was sit down, there wouldn’t be much desi food (except at the cocktail hour) - probably the regular gora fare (chicken, steak, fish) but halal.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
I'm in Toronto... I totally know this wouldn't fly in Pakistan! LOL.. Also, not many in my family are fans of buffets, oddly enough. I would make sure about the quantity of food (4-5 course meal) and having vegetarian options as some of my friends are vegetarian. I'd also have a "cocktail hour" before dinner where it would be buffet style appetizers with mostly desi food but less formal and a huge dessert table at the end. Is it bad to say I want to fashion my wedding after a typical "white wedding" but with Pakistani clothes? I feel they're much better organized.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
Hey
One of my cuzs had it this way, families were called one at a time for the dinner , maybe you can do it per table or seating arrangement? But People wont want to eat steak at a wedding .Lol .sad but true. They'd want their BBQ and Biryani , it's like our staple diet in weddings.
So If you want to do sit down, maybe don't shock them with the menu as well ? :D
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
I think it could work beautifully and it would be far less hectic than a buffet. If you do sit-down, I would do sit-down proper and not family style sit down. Because family style means massive platters of food on the already croweded table and its just messy and even more hectic than a buffet.
Depending on your venue, you could absolutely do a desi sit-down dinner. I believe the Royal York in Toronto offers this option and their entire chef staff practically is desi so they're very familiar with making desi food. You would obviously have to do variety for your guests but the thing is that you'd do a variety combo, so for example, fish and a salad and rice as one plated option, then tandoor chicken and veggies and something else as another plated option, etc. So I think it would require some focus on details but its do-able. And I think that people might actually enjoy being served for once, instead of getting up and standing in line for their food.
Regarding cocktail hour, if you are going to ask guests to show up at 6, then you should be having cocktail hour and serving appetizers because dinner most likely won't be served until 8 or even 9 and that's a long wait for your guests. If you are planning on having people walk in at 7:30'ish, then you should go straight into dinner no later than 8:30 and in that case, you won't need cocktail hour.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
My cousin did it and her wedding was HUGE. It was a nice atmosphere. Her cuisine was not desi, so the traditionalists were not going to like it any way. But anyway, I think it is becoming more common. I also like buffets, but I don't think there's anything wrong with doing the sit-down thing. You have to make it clear tho.
We're having sit down family service. I'd love to do a formal sit down and serve the food I love which isn't always desi. But this would not go down well with everyone so to make things easier and to keep the peace, this is the compromise!
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
i've been to one - but it was slightly different.
We had all the dishes in the buffet brought to the table.
So people still served themselves - thier amounts and variety but no buffet maddness
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
I'm in the UK, and every wedding I've attended has had a sit-down dinner. Waiters just bring over the dishes to each table and the guests help themselves - funnily enough, I think this seems less hectic than everybody queuing for a buffet. However; I've never attended a buffet-style wedding so I couldn't say for sure.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
^ those are all family style dinners, not traditional sit-down dinners where each course is pre-plated and served to each person individually by waiters. or at least thats what they call them here. as i was saying, it can get hectic because the table already has centerpieces, candles, glasses, plates, cutlery etc. on them and then out come these big platters of food too.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
Firstly and foremost......as Sahar wrote, do NOT attempt this in Pakistan! One of my cousins tried to do this just last month back home....lol.....according to my other cousins/phuppus who attended the wedding, it was a total nightmare.
I've seen this done at desi weddings and it works great. It's very elegant. However, the type of "crowd" you have make a big difference. The desi weddings I've seen this done at....the receptions were adults-only and there weren't too many uncles/aunties there (majority of the guests were 50 or under). So the adults had no issues staying seated and majority of the crowd was also very comfortable/happy with non-desi food. I don't know how "elegant" it would be trying to get kids to stay seated and quiet for this.
Is your reception adults only? Are you expecting a lot of traditinal desi uncles/aunties at the reception?
On a side note, even for a formal sit-down dinner, you still need to have a few extra spaces just in-case someone shows up unexpectedly. Otherwise, it'll be a hassle, and a embarrasing situation for the guest AND your family (and creates a chance for people to gossip).
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
Yes, it should be fine in Toronto! Just make sure you get your RSVPs in a timely manner, call people to give you their responses if needed. And try to offer some variety on the plate. It should be fine.
I think desserts or more exciting this way. You can even get creative with the serving style.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
Yes you can. I'm in Toronto and we're doing that too for our wedding. Our wedding is in Missisauga Convention Centre - and those guys deal with tons of non-brown conferences and weddings and thus the staff is used to sit down style. Just make sure you pick a location which has experience in it.
Re: Question about Wedding Reception - Sit Down Dinner?
^I'd love to once we've decided on the menu. We haven't got around to doing that. But we are catering from The Host because they've worked with Missisauga Convention Centre plenty of times, and have also done sit down dinners. So they know how it works. Which is why you should go to caterers/location who's done this before.
But yeah, haven't set the menu yet. Will let you know once we do. We're definitely having Biryani though, as the adults said Biryani is a must for brown weddings. And for vegetarian option, we'll have peas pullao. And we're thinking chicken tandoori or seekh kababs - maybe a lil bit both. We'll have the raita and salad in platters. The food stuff, I've left for my parents and in-laws to handle.