Buffet, plated, canapé and live-station service
The right service style depends on your guest count, venue layout and the tone of your wedding or corporate event. We support four main service styles, and can combine them within a single event.
- Buffet service: Well suited to larger weddings and company celebrations where guests move at their own pace. Buffets allow a wide dish range to be displayed, work well for mixed dietary groups, and suit venues with flexible floor space.
- Plated service: Suited to formal wedding receptions, gala dinners and corporate award evenings where a seated, timed courses format is expected. Plated service requires closer coordination with the venue's timeline, which our serving team manages directly.
- Canapé and reception service: Ideal for wedding cocktail hours, corporate networking events or pre-dinner receptions. Options such as Chicken satay skewer, Mini beef slider, Tuna tartare cone and Falafel bite with tahini are served by our team as guests circulate.
- Live stations: Add an interactive element to weddings and corporate events, with options such as the grill live station, shawarma live station or pasta live station prepared and served in front of guests.
Many weddings and larger corporate events combine service styles: canapés on arrival, a plated or buffet main service, and a live dessert or coffee station to close. We discuss which combination suits your venue and guest flow during the initial brief, then confirm final details at the tasting.
Your chosen style also determines staffing levels and setup time, both of which our team plans around your specific venue on the day.
On the day: setup, service and clear-down
On the day of your wedding or corporate event, our own delivery, setup and serving team manages every stage from arrival to clear-down, so organisers can focus on guests rather than logistics.
- Delivery: Food is transported from our kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II) to your venue in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah or elsewhere in the UAE, timed against your event schedule and any venue access restrictions.
- Setup: Our team arrives ahead of guest arrival to set up buffet lines, plated service stations, canapé trays or live cooking stations, working within the space and timing agreed with your venue.
- Service: Throughout the event, our serving team manages replenishment, live-station cooking, plated course timing and general food service, coordinating directly with your venue's event manager or wedding planner where relevant.
- Clear-down: Once service concludes, our team clears all catering equipment, service ware and food stations, returning the venue to its agreed condition without requiring input from your organising team.
For venues in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, our logistics are planned around typical traffic and access conditions for each emirate, and confirmed with you in advance so there are no surprises on the day.
If your event includes multiple sittings, a changing guest count, or a tight changeover between a ceremony and reception, these details are agreed at the briefing stage so the serving team can plan accordingly on-site.
Why organisers choose Dana Prime for weddings and events
Dana Prime has operated since 1998, preparing more than 7,000 meals daily from our own kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II). This scale means we can handle wedding receptions and corporate events of varying sizes without relying on third-party kitchens.
- Own team throughout: Delivery, setup and serving are all handled by our own staff, not subcontracted, giving organisers a single point of accountability from kitchen to clear-down.
- Menu depth: With 136 dishes across 16 courses, we can build distinct menus for a traditional wedding, an international corporate dinner, or a reception that needs to suit a mixed guest list.
- Certified hygiene standards: We hold both ISO 22000 and HACCP certification, reflecting food safety practices applied consistently across our kitchen and delivery operations.
- Established client base: We currently supply client organisations on an ongoing basis, alongside one-off wedding and event bookings, which keeps our kitchens and logistics operating at consistent volume and standard.
- Free tasting before booking: Rather than asking you to commit based on a menu description alone, we arrange a tasting so you can evaluate dishes, discuss adjustments and confirm your selection before any booking is finalised.
We currently hold a 4.9-star Google rating, reflecting feedback from clients across the corporate and event catering we deliver in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and the wider UAE. You are welcome to review our background and past work on our about page, or see examples of our ongoing partnerships.
How it works: from brief to tasting to delivery
Booking wedding or corporate event catering usually starts with a short brief. Whether you are an executive assistant arranging a company celebration or a couple planning a wedding reception in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah, we begin by understanding your guest count, venue, service style and any dietary requirements across the group.
- Brief: Share your date, venue, headcount and occasion type over WhatsApp or by phone. We ask about service style preference (buffet, plated, canapé or live stations) and any dietary needs.
- Tasting: Before you commit to anything, we arrange a tasting so you and your decision-makers can sample proposed dishes. This lets you adjust the menu, confirm portions and finalise the course structure with confidence.
- Delivery and service: On confirmation, our own delivery, setup and serving team manages transport from our kitchens in Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD II), on-site setup ahead of your guests' arrival, live service throughout the event, and full clear-down afterwards.
We prepare a tailored proposal, once your menu, guest numbers and service style are confirmed. This keeps the process transparent: you know exactly what has been agreed before any commitment is made.
For events with short lead times, such as a wedding date brought forward or a corporate event confirmed late, our team can also accommodate faster turnarounds; see our last-minute catering options if your date is approaching quickly.
Throughout the process, one point of contact manages your enquiry, so organisers coordinating multiple suppliers for a wedding or corporate event have a single line for menu changes, headcount updates or timing adjustments as the date approaches.
