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[151949]

I've done both. I have a large buffet that easily will hold the food if I want to put out a buffet service and use a pretty centerpiece but I mostly put the food on the table to be passed.

[Carmie]

I only keep a centerpiece on the table when we are not using it.  

I think they are beautiful, but not practical while we are eating.  Even if food is served from the buffet, there is not enough room on the table for non essential items.

They would  probably work when you have only a few people, but we usually have over 30 people when we entertain.  I would even hesitate to put one on the buffet table.

[proudlyfromNJ]

If I have four people or under, food goes on the table. For family gatherings the food goes on the peninsula. My table is very narrow. No way could I fit all the food on the table. With my small dining room and hutch, I had to get the most narrow table I could find.

[CANDLEQUEEN]

if it is 6 people or less, I put the food on the table, but if it is more, then we do Buffet Style. I have a Centerpiece on my table when it is not in use!!!! I change it out for the seasons as well..... 

[OKPrincess]

We usually go to my sisters house and eat buffet style. There’s 10-12 of us and no centerpiece. No longer have traditional holiday meals since Mom is gone. 

[ALRATIBA]

No centerpiece.  Just not my style.  

[gidgetgh]

The 1-2 times a year we have people over (Thanksgiving and/or Christmas Day) we put the food on the kitchen counters and leave some on the stove burners and serve ourselves from there. We eat at the kitchen table. On Christmas, it’s just 7 of us. Thanksgiving it’s 9 maximum, if everyone comes, and we eat at the kitchen table and the overflow sit in front of the tv in the living room. 

We have dining room furniture and never use it. I love looking at it though. We have my mom’s dining room furniture. When we got it a few years ago, I donated ours to the Habitat for Humanity Store. 

Both my family and my husband's are very casual. 

[Mj12]

I do not like centerpieces for our table so that's that for us.  But whenever we have more than 4 people, we serve dishes on top of the serving buffet in the dining room (with a covering on the top).  We love that buffet piece.  That way, the dining table isn't filled up with bowls and serving plates, and people just get up and help themselves.

[vermint]

We put food all over the kitchen, including the stove, the island and the kitchen table when we have our typical 15-25 people. Everyone lines up to serve themselves. There may be a small centerpiece on the dining room table, but none on the folding table(s) we set up in the living room.

[chrystaltree]

I do it both ways.  It depends on how many people are dining.  I generally set up a buffet for a large group, I use candles but not a big centerpiece.  If it's a small group of 4 or less, I serve the meal and I do use a nice centerpiece.