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Effective Buffet Design

Food/Beverage Layout and Decorating Schemes for your Party's Buffet Table

Jun 25, 2006 Janice Benoit

Set up your buffet design in an effective, creative & functional manner to incorporate your decorating theme into the party. These tips add punch to your buffet design.

One of the most overlooked parts of any party is the buffet set-up. By paying a little attention to the buffet design, any host can maximize his or her decorating impact, while also creating an efficient and attractive layout for the party's highlight --- the food.

Once you set your menu, you can plan your buffet layout.

  • If you plan to have a large number of guests, and your room can support the traffic flow, design a double-sided buffet.
  • Otherwise, create a single-sided buffet on your table or island.
  • Use stacks of books or inverted pots to create varying levels for the dishes. On a double-sided buffet, the highest levels should run down the midline of the buffet. For a single-sided buffet, the highest levels will run along the side that is furthest from the guests.
  • Vary the levels, making your food presentation interesting and efficient. Don't worry about what is used for your levels -- the actual items will be covered by the fabric that you'll use to give your buffet a theme (see below).
  • Lay out the food and service pieces in an organized manner. The plates should be at the beginning of the buffet, followed by the salads, cold side dishes, hot entrees, bread and hot side dishes.
  • Place appropriate serving spoons/forks adjacent to each type of food.

    • Incorporate your theme into your buffet design.

  • If you're planning a Mexican Fiesta, drape fabric in spicy, salsa colors throughout the buffet. Tuck a couple of thematic knick-knacks (terra cotta pots, enamel tiles, pesos, chili peppers) into the crevices created by the fabric.
  • For an Autumn Harvest theme, use fabric in fall colors (burnt orange, brown, gold) and natural knick-knacks (mini-pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves)
  • For a Fourth of July celebration, use fabric or bunting in red, white and blue and knick-knacks with a patriotic theme (stars, stripes, Uncle Sam, paper firecrackers made from toilet paper tubes covered in red paper and stuffed with white tissue paper and silver sparkler sprays).

    • Follow these basic guidelines to get your buffet started. In future articles, I will cover buffet design for specific themes, including menus, layout and decorations. If you would like to get ideas for your special theme, let me know by starting a discussion below, and I will respond!

    Related Articles

  • Party Linens
  • Serving Pieces
  • Party Closet

    • © Text by Janice Benoit, photo by SuperStock, Inc. [June, 2006]. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.

    The copyright of the article Effective Buffet Design in Entertaining is owned by Janice Benoit. Permission to republish Effective Buffet Design in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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