The Party Buffet Table
One of the most important things in a party is the buffet table. It’s where the food is laden to be consumed by the appreciative, hungry guests who will notice everything from your centerpiece to your serving dishes. In fact, everything on the buffet table gets noticed except the table itself.
But you as a party caterer should pay attention to the table. You can’t use a make shift one, dress it up to hide the frame and call it good. Remember, all your best dishes will be on there, including the food that your clients paid 75% of the fee for.
While inexpensive makeshift tables are out of the question, you should definitely consider the ones that you can dismantle and store when not in use. If you’re feeding 300 people, you’re going to need two or three of these long ones to accommodate your chafing dishes and bulky centerpieces.
Then, of course, one more aspect of buffet table setting you have to keep a close eye on is the way you dress the table. Usually it’s a couple of white table cloths arranged neatly and pleated to hide the ends (where they meet across the table), but for simple home parties, you can use your dinner table if the width allows one large centerpiece and a couple of dessert trays arranged around it.
You can have one custom made for parties, but make sure to check the materials. Most go for the hard plastic tables that are hardy enough to withstand he elements (you can use these for outdoor parties during the summer). Some people who dislike the thought of washing sauce-smeared tablecloths simply invest on the materials used for the surface of the table, such as ceramic tiles, lacquered wood, marble and glass.