The Length Of Wedding Dinner: A Guide To Timing

The length of time it takes to eat dinner at a wedding depends on the type of dinner served. Traditional cocktail hour is followed by dinner being served between one and one and a half hours after the guests arrive. Plated courses are spaced out based on how long it takes guests to eat, with a dinner service for 150 individuals taking around an hour and a half. Buffet takes longer because it takes a while for everyone to go through the line to get their food, with at least 1.5 hours needed for dinner.

Time to serve food: 5 minutes for a salad course, 7 minutes for entrees

Plated courses are spaced out based on how long it takes guests to eat. Having a clean slate to serve upon helps keep serving times low and prevents guests from feeling rushed if half a table is cleared and served while they are still eating the first part. A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half.

If you decide to have a traditional cocktail hour, then expect dinner to be served somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half after the guests arrive. If you're planning on doing a buffet instead, there's more flexibility regarding when your guests eat. With a buffet of 200 people, give at least 1.5 hours, probably closer to 2. Buffets take longer for everyone to cycle through. When we were talking with our venue, they recommend an hour for our 130 people, seated dinner. If it was buffet they would have added time. I Went to a wedding with 235 guests and it was buffet style.

Once everyone was seated after getting food they did the cake cutting and first dances to “double up” while everyone was eating. And it only takes like 30 minutes to eat. But definitely ask your venue manager and especially your caterer. They will know. Our dinner portion will run about 45 minutes, but the buffet will be open about 2 hours if people want to get seconds during the reception. It takes our team about 5 minutes to serve a salad course to a party of 150 guests and 7 minutes to serve entrees.

Dinner service duration: 1.5 hours for 150 people

Plated courses are spaced out based on how long it takes guests to eat. Having a clean slate to serve upon helps keep serving times low and prevents guests from feeling rushed if half a table is cleared and served while they are still eating the first part. A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half.

If you decide to have a traditional cocktail hour, then expect dinner to be served somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half after the guests arrive. If you're planning on doing a buffet instead, there's more flexibility regarding when your guests eat. With a buffet of 200 people, give at least 1.5 hours, probably closer to 2. Buffets take longer for everyone to cycle through.

Some even skip dinner! Thanks! I’m trying to start the dancing as early as possible, as that’s one of the things I most love about weddings. 1hr I am a wedding photographer and I have been doing weddings 9y all the wedding I have done dinner is 1hr to 45min.

Once everyone was seated after getting food they did the cake cutting and first dances to “double up” while everyone was eating. And it only takes like 30 minutes to eat. But definitely ask your venue manager and especially your caterer. They will know. Our dinner portion will run about 45 minutes, but the buffet will be open about 2 hours if people want to get seconds during the reception.

Dinner serving time: 1-1.5 hours after guests arrive

Traditional weddings usually have a cocktail hour before dinner is served. This means that dinner is served between one and one and a half hours after guests arrive.

If you are planning on having a buffet instead, there is more flexibility regarding when your guests eat. Buffets take longer for everyone to cycle through and get their food. Many couples choose to do table visits while people eat, so you'll need time to do this. At least 1.5 hours should be allowed for dinner.

Plated courses are spaced out based on how long it takes guests to eat. Having a clean slate to serve upon helps keep serving times low and prevents guests from feeling rushed if half a table is cleared and served while they are still eating the first part.

Dinner portion will run about 45 minutes, but the buffet will be open about 2 hours if people want to get seconds during the reception.

A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half.

Dinner portion length: 45 minutes to 1 hour

If you decide to have a traditional cocktail hour, then expect dinner to be served somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half after the guests arrive. If you're planning on doing a buffet instead, there's more flexibility regarding when your guests eat.

With a buffet of 200 people, give at least 1.5 hours, probably closer to 2. Buffets take longer for everyone to cycle through. When we were talking with our venue, they recommend an hour for our 130 people, seated dinner. If it was buffet they would have added time. I Went to a wedding with 235 guests and it was buffet style.

Once everyone was seated after getting food they did the cake cutting and first dances to “double up” while everyone was eating. And it only takes like 30 minutes to eat. But definitely ask your venue manager and especially your caterer. They will know. Our dinner portion will run about 45 minutes, but the buffet will be open about 2 hours if people want to get seconds during the reception.

A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half. It takes our team about 5 minutes to serve a salad course to a party of 150 guests and 7 minutes to serve entrees. Plated courses are spaced out based on how long it takes guests to eat. We will not rush them through their meal and we will not begin our next serve until the clear is completed. Having a clean slate to serve upon helps us keep our serving times low and prevents guests from feeling rushed if half a table is cleared and served while they are still eating the first part. A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half.

Buffet serving time: 1.5-2 hours for 200 people

Timing will vary a lot depending on the setup and how experienced your caterer is. If you have a buffet of 200 people, give at least 1.5 hours, probably closer to 2. When we were talking with our venue, they recommend an hour for our 130 people, seated dinner. If it was buffet they would have added time. It takes a lot longer than people usually think.

If you decide to have a traditional cocktail hour, then expect dinner to be served somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half after the guests arrive. If you're planning on doing a buffet instead, there's more flexibility regarding when your guests eat. At Chef’s Catering, we would be honored to help you plan your wedding reception. Our Rochester, NY chefs will meet all of your wedding dinner needs. Contact us today to learn more about our delicious wedding dinner options!

Our caterer says they can get 100 guests through the buffet line in 20 minutes. I'd recommend talking to your caterer about how to announce tables to get food, how long they think it will take (they'll have experience with this!), and then'd I'd recommend budgeting about an hour+ once everyone is seated to enjoy and eat. We plan to do speeches during the chewing-portion of the meal, hopefully so people will have some "entertainment" while they eat. It depends on the setup, but I would say closer to 1.5 hours with two lines. It takes a lot longer than people usually think!

So if great aunt Betty takes 20 minutes to go through a line then it's 25 minutes for everyone else. Whew, if it's buffet style, I would budget that long just to get everyone through the line once. That doesn't include actual eating time for people last through the line and second helpings. It depends on what kind of food. The catering company I'm using said the had a couple wanted baked potatoes and it took a hour and half for everyone to even get food, they had two lines. On the other hand I am planning a hour for food too and then dancing right after until the end of the night and cake so everyone still has time to eat and can dance after.

Having a clean slate to serve upon helps us keep our serving times low and prevents guests from feeling rushed if half a table is cleared and served while they are still eating the first part. A typical dinner service for 150 individuals will be around an hour and a half. Timing will vary a lot depending on the setup and how experienced your caterer is. How many lines? You need 2 preferably 3 double sides lines and that will still take over an hour. Remember lines only go as fast as your slowest guest.

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