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Middle of the table is what we always did when it was just my nuclear family. For bigger get togethers (my mom is one of 7 kids) it was done buffet.

A bit of both- bread, butter, sauces etc on the table. If we do family style it goes on the sideboard after the last person serves.

All on the kitchen counter/sideboard/stove. This is the case for all meals, holiday or night. Nobody got time to wash a bunch of extra serving dishes!!

My husband's family always puts everything on the table, holidays and for regular meals too.

Side table for most of the food. I like to have cranberry sauce and gravy on the table along with salt and pepper. I would have bread on the table too if I served it.

Side note, I also carve the turkey before serving.

This is making me feel better. We always had the food on the tables for holidays growing up. I'm hosting and will have two fairly crowded tables. I was trying to figure out how to split all the food and make room on each table + have double the serving dishes. Buffet it is.

I plate and then serve if I am in my own house as my kitchen is separate from the dining room.

I make it a point to have a restaurant experience, the menu is thought out (appetizer, first, second, dessert courses) so that no one leaves hungry but also doesn't just stuff themselves silly. I have done it the other way (turkey with 1000 side dishes) and it's a waste of food in my family.

Sideboard buffet! We're lucky if there are enough seats for everybody at the table #webefancy

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: My heritage is Italian, so pasta is expected, let me get that out there. We're also adventurous eaters and we typically do not have small children other than my son and nephew. Everyone knows that when they come to my house, I don't serve things family style and they know I will have some interesting choices, but the food will be good and to pace themselves.

When people first arrive, I have two things out: goat cheese and fig jam pizza cut into squares and the Costco frozen appetizer assortment. I serve a mixed cocktail, I like to let guests dictate this so I usually ask my cousin to cover it and he goes to town.

First course is either homemade lasagne or store-bought ravioli with a seasonal sauce, usually butternut squash. I plate that in the kitchen easily.

I serve either roasted cornish game hens or turkey breast as the star of the second course. I do a family recipe stuffing, no idea if it's my aunt's creation or what. The potatoes are a mix of sweet and yukon, oven roasted. Then I do one vegetable, usually string beans, as I can blanch them ahead and reheat them in a frying pan with some olive oil and salt. That's the plate, it's either you get the whole bird or a piece of the breast, no discussion over pieces that they want. At the table, I pass cranberry sauce, both the jellied in the can that I love and the homemade compote style. I haven't been able to figure out gravy, so I buy it, but no one uses it because the brined breast is flavorful and moist. We also have a green salad and this is the only time we eat it at the end of the meal. My aunt started that.

My family eats a ton of fruit, so we always serve it at gatherings. I do grapes cut into small bunches, clementines/mandarins and a nut and cheese platter.

For dessert, I am a fan of individual servings, so I do Ina Garten's apple cranberry crumb in ceramic dishes. Those bake while we eat the food. If I am feeling up to it, I do a pumpkin cheesecake, because we like the flavors combined.

If I had to do two main meats, that would complicate things, is there a reason why you do that?

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I don't put things up for a vote, lol. If I am making it, I serve it how I want. Why not do the mac and cheese in the ramekins? I think that sounds fantastic.

Your husband sounds like my brother, complicated when it comes to food. I wouldn't make two meats, I'd just skip the turkey and serve ham. But I am a renegade like that, I don't buy into "tradition for the sake of tradition." Next year, i plan to serve salmon en croute.

I'm hosting this year and will do dinner as buffet on the sideboard in our dining room, with a few sides (multiple bowls of cranberry and applesauce) on the table. The Turkey will be on the kitchen counter (so my dad has room to carve it) but the kitchen and dining room are open to each other. Probably will serve dessert and coffee in the living room.