Weddings at Mathews Yacht Club

Seated dinner that usually is preceded by a cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres. Finger foods are served on silver trays by our staff members or placed on a buffet table. The cocktail hour is followed by a traditional plated three or four course meal served at dining tables. This is the most formal type of reception and also is the most expensive.

The buffet dinner is presented on one or more buffet tables and can be self-served or server-assisted. A cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres usually precedes the dinner. They may be served buffet-style or with wait staff. A buffet dinner offers your guests a variety of food options. Buffets usually feature a salad, two entrées, and several side dishes to choose from. Buffet dinners are less time-consuming and more casual. As they require less staffing, they are less expensive than a formal seated dinner.

The third style is a cocktail reception with food stations. The menu includes heavy hors d’oeuvres and a variety of stationary and assisted food displays that are theme-based. For example, you might want a Crab Cake Station, a Miniature Cheeseburger Station, or a Raw Bar. If a chef or staff member is cooking crab cakes, grilling miniature cheeseburgers, or shucking oysters, foods are prepared to order and the station becomes an action station. Hors d’oeuvre buffet tables sometimes are called groaning boards because the table is so heavily laden with sumptuous foods that the tables creak and groan from the weight. Action stations and groaning boards can bring tremendous excitement to a wedding reception. Your guests are tempted to try different types of food as they mix and mingle.