Cool Tips For Setting Up The Perfect Buffet Table

Provide plenty of serving utensils

To prevent guests from using their hands when making their own plates of
fruits, veggies or bread, be sure to stock the buffet with a spoon for
each menu item.

Put drinks on a separate table from the food

Getting a drink, especially if there is coffee, with its attendant
pourers and packets of sugar, is a different flow. It’s a separate
station, and you need to make it easy for people to swing by and refill
their glass, without pressing through the buffet line. You also want it
near the kitchen, as jugs of water and pots of coffee are heavier than
food trays, and more prone to spillage.

Plates at the front, cutlery at the end.

A rule of thumb is not to make people pick up their forks, knives,
spoons, sporks, or cups at the beginning of the line. All that should be
at the beginning of a food line are plates, and maybe napkins. All
cutlery and anything else that has to be juggled goes at the end (or,
even better, on the tables where people will sit down and eat).

Arrange the food table strategically

Put most plentiful or cheapest types of food at the beginning; push the scarcest or most expensive to the end. 

Don’t leave the buffet unattended

Even though it is a buffet, endeavour someone is on ground to monitor
it. This will ensure that the buffet is properly monitored and
coordinated. It will also prevent the buffet from being a mess.