I’ve been to a fair few banquets in the UK (and seen more on TV) and they’re always held on long tables and how important you are determines where you sit on the table. But from what I’ve gathered from American TV, Americans use round tables, and how important you are determines how far your table is from the principal’s.
Is my understanding from TV correct? Do Americans not use long tables? Why not? They seem to make waiting much easier.
I’ve been to banquets in both the U.S. and the U.K. I must go to different ones than you do. Other than the fact that there will sometimes be a head table and it’s better to sit there, where you sit didn’t matter in any of the banquets that I’ve been at. It may be true that long tables are more common in the U.K. and round ones are more common in the U.S., but I haven’t been at enough to be sure.
In my youth, I used to work at a place which included a banquet hall.
They used to use the “long table” method for huge parties - such as, 500 people - and then use the individual table method for smaller parties. I’m not sure exactly what you meant by “make waiting much easier” but my preference as a server was individual tables. They are much easier to manuver around.
Over the years I’ve been to several banquet functions (I’m in the US). It does seem as though the trend has changed from “long table” to “round table” even for large parties.
I thought that round tables mean that everyone is equal, with no seat being in a favoured position, as in the King Arthur legends.
Longtime professional (US) events person here. In some places in the U.S., the fire marshal will allow greater room capacity when long tables are used instead of round tables. Certainly, you can seat more people in a given space at long tables than at rounds. Rounds, however, are thought to be more conducive to conversation, creating a sort of sub-dinner-party of eight (comfortable) or ten (crowded) people around a centerpiece. In arranging seating for charity fundraisers, proximity to the speakers’ table is a big deal. The table numbers are often mixed up. The speakers’ table is Table 1, but the rest of the tables may be marked from the back of the hall to the front, making it harder for D List attendees to do the math to figure out just how far down they are, in hard numbers.
One advantage of round tables is that it makes simultaneous service, throughout the hall, easier. Also, if there are multiple entrees that have been pre-selected by the guests, each table’s server only has to memorize the clock positions of diners on one table to know who gets the beef and who gets the salmon.