Buffet Catering in Ireland and Beyond: Buffet, Family-Style, Plated, Grazing and BBQ Explained

Buffet catering in Ireland suits a relaxed crowd who want choice and a chance to mingle. Plated service fits a sit-down dinner where timing and presentation matter. Family-style lands between the two. Grazing tables work for drinks and standing. BBQ and food trucks suit gardens and casual gatherings. Pick by mood, headcount and how formal you want the day to feel.

You've a date, a rough headcount and a budget. What you might not have decided is how the food actually reaches people. That one choice changes the feel of the whole event more than the menu does. A 30-person 40th in a Dublin back garden wants something very different to a sit-down meal for 12 in a rented house in West Cork.

So let's go through the main styles, what each one really means in practice, roughly what it costs and the kind of event it suits. Hosts on CaterKin set their own prices, so treat every figure here as a typical Irish range rather than a fixed rate.

What is the difference between buffet, family-style and plated?

These three are the ones people mix up most, so it's worth being clear before you go any further. The split comes down to who does the serving and how much your guests move around.

• Buffet: food is laid out on a table or station and guests help themselves. They get up, queue a little, take what they fancy and come back for more.
• Family-style: platters and bowls go down on each table and people pass them around and serve themselves where they're sitting. Think a big Sunday roast, scaled up.
• Plated: each guest gets a finished plate brought to them, course by course. Closest to a restaurant. The most formal, and usually the most staff-heavy.

Buffet gives the most choice and the most movement, which is good if you want a loose, social room. Family-style keeps people in their seats but still feels generous and shared, and it tends to get a table talking. Plated gives you control over portions, pacing and how it all looks, at the cost of needing more hands on the day.

When does buffet catering make sense?

Buffet is the workhorse of Irish event catering for a reason. It scales well, it feeds a mixed crowd with different tastes, and nobody's stuck eating something they didn't choose. For a christening lunch, an office party, a milestone birthday or a casual wedding reception, it's often the sensible pick.

The trade-offs are real though. You need space for the serving table and room for people to queue without it turning into a scrum. Hot food can sit and lose its edge if the run is slow. And with a big group, the first table up eats a good while before the last one does. For 40-plus guests, ask the caterer how they stagger the queue, because a single line of 60 people is nobody's idea of a good time.

On cost, buffet usually sits at the friendlier end because it leans on fewer serving staff than a plated dinner. Caterers on CaterKin typically price somewhere in the region of €25 to €150 per person across all their catering, and a straightforward buffet tends to live nearer the lower-to-middle of that. As always, the host sets the price, and some set a minimum order shown on their profile.

Is family-style worth it for a smaller dinner?

If you're doing a dinner for somewhere between 8 and 30 and you want it to feel warm rather than fussy, family-style is hard to beat. Big platters down the centre, everyone reaching and passing, a bit of friendly arguing over the last of the spuds. It suits a milestone dinner, a small wedding, or a gathering in a rented house where you want people relaxed.

It needs table space, which is the catch. Platters and serving bowls take up room, so a tightly packed table can struggle. Pricing tends to land between buffet and plated, because there's prep and presentation involved but fewer staff carrying individual plates all night. For a sit-down feel without the formality of full silver service, this is the value sweet spot.

When is a plated dinner the right call?

Choose plated when the meal is the event. A wedding breakfast, a milestone anniversary, a corporate dinner where you want it to feel considered. Each course arrives looking exactly as the chef intended, portions are controlled, and the pacing of the evening is in safe hands. It reads as the most formal and the most polished of the lot.

It's also the most demanding to run. You need enough staff to plate and serve a full room close together, which is the main reason it costs more. Menus are usually tighter too, often a set choice rather than a free-for-all, so guests with allergies or strong preferences are easier to plan for in advance. If the room being calm, seated and a touch elegant matters to you, the extra spend buys exactly that.

What about grazing tables and canapes?

A grazing table is a long spread of cheeses, charcuterie, breads, dips, fruit and bits to pick at, built to look abundant and to keep people standing, chatting and grazing rather than sitting down to a meal. A grazing table in Ireland has become a go-to for engagement parties, hen dos, baby showers and drinks receptions where food is the backdrop, not the main act.

Canapes do a similar job but passed or stationed in small bites: think the first hour of a reception before a meal, or a launch where people have a drink in one hand. Both are about flow and atmosphere over filling everyone up. If you're feeding people properly, treat grazing or canapes as the opener and pair them with something more substantial after, rather than the whole dinner.

BBQ and food trucks: who are they for?

For a summer garden party, a casual wedding, or a 30th where nobody wants to dress up, BBQ catering in Ireland is the obvious move. It's outdoorsy, generous and informal, and there's a bit of theatre to food coming off the grill in front of people. Food trucks bring the same energy with even less fuss on your side, since the kitchen drives itself in and sets up.

The honest catch is the Irish weather. If you go BBQ, have a wet-weather plan: a marquee, a covered patio, or a host who can cook under cover and serve inside. Talk it through before you book so a damp Saturday doesn't sink the day. Cost ranges widely with the menu and the headcount, so use the in-app chat to agree exactly what's included before you commit.

A quick comparison to help you decide

Here's the short version, side by side. Treat the cost column as relative shape, not a quote, since every host prices their own way.

How to lock it in once you've chosen

Once you know the style, the rest is straightforward. Browse caterers on CaterKin, look at their packages and menu items, and check whether they list a minimum order on their profile. From there you've two ways to book. You can request a listing directly, or message the host first to talk through your day and agree a custom quote in the chat, then pay against that.

When you request, you enter your card and a hold is placed. You are not charged at that point. You're only charged when the host accepts the booking. If they decline or don't respond, the hold is released and nothing leaves your account. Payments run through Stripe and your card details never touch CaterKin. Every host is reviewed and approved by the team before they go live and completes Stripe's identity checks to get paid, and you talk to them through in-app messaging the whole way through.

One last practical note: pin down your headcount before you book, because most catering is priced per person or per package and a vague number makes quoting harder for everyone. Tell the host about allergies and dietary needs in the chat early. And if plans wobble, the cancellation terms are clear: 7 or more days before the event gets you 100% of the service price back, 3 to 7 days is 50%, 1 to 3 days is 25%, and under 24 hours is nothing. The processing fee isn't refundable. If a host cancels a confirmed booking, you get everything back including fees.