Too Many Choices

Too Many Choices

January 16th, 2007 @ 11:30 am by Mrs. Emerald
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For our traditional sit down dinner reception, I initially assumed that we would give our guests a choice of entrees, be it chicken, beef, duck, or whatever. But the more I think about it, the more complicated it seems to get! Am I wrong? For one thing, we aren’t even scheduled to have our menu tasting until early to mid summer (our wedding is in early September). We’d have to bump up our tasting so we know what we’re serving, in order to put the correct entree choice on the card. Then we’d have to go through the whole hassle of having people mark down their choice on the response card. Another thing is, on most of the sample response cards I’ve seen (on invite websites, knottie bios, etc.), this does not seem to be common… Most cards I’ve seen have simple text along the lines of:

(M) __________________

__ Accepts
__ Declines

Kindly respond by blah blah blah date…

I wouldn’t be so concerned about this right now, except for the fact that our invitations are currently in the design process. So if we are going to have meal options, we need to figure it out relatively soon. I’m also afraid that if someone is RSVP’ing for multiple people, they won’t mark down who wants what, and then we’d have to call everyone just for the sake of chicken or beef. Would we write something like this? It looks awfully messy to me, but how else do you know?

(M) __________________

__ Accepts
__ Declines

__ Chicken ___________ (name)
__ Beef ___________ (name)

Kindly respond by blah blah blah date…

Of course there is the option of serving a “duet” of both chicken and beef to everyone, which would make everything a lot easier. I sent out an email to our Catering Director to find out the additional cost, and if it’s not unreasonable, this would oviously be the easiest solution. But even if it’s like $3 or $4 per person… times that by 200 guests and it’s still a decent chunk of change. Although it would prevent some unnecessary stress. Is it worth it?

Are you giving your guests meal choices, i.e. chicken or beef? If yes, how are you wording it on your response card, and do you forsee it being a hassle? And for any of you ladies who have already gone through this, please share!

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13 Responses to “Too Many Choices”

Guest

Tessa

I think it’s too much stress for me. I’m having chicken, and whoever doesn’t want it, doesn’t have to eat it. Haha! That’s just me, though, I’ve heard of people having options for their guests, but I wouldn’t want to do it - it’s probably a lot more extra work than I think!

1/16/07 @ 11:39 am (reply)

Guest

I have two entree options for my guests.

I had the same concerns that you did (ie too complicated, how would I know who wants what?)…

What I ended up doing was just this:

(M) __________________

__ Accepts
__ Declines

Please initial your entree selection:
__ Beef
__ Fish

My hope is that people will either choose the same thing (so, 2 beef or 2 fish), OR, that they pick up on the word “initial” and place their initials next to the selection that they’d like. Assuming that guests put x’s in each spot, I’ll have to call and double check on who wants what for dinner.

Hope that helps!

1/16/07 @ 11:39 am (reply)

Guest

PhillyM

I did the same thing as N for my recent wedding. Worked out well-everyone either wrote down a number or initialed. Even if they forget to initial, you’ll at least have the correct number of each entree calculated. Most caterers simply want that-how many of each entree per table. Even if you have to guess which half of the couple ordered what, at your wedding that couple can figure it out between themselves.

1/16/07 @ 11:47 am (reply)

Guest

we’re doing a choice but aren’t going to find out which in the party got what (unless it’s a kid’s meal) - so if Mr and Mrs A want a fish and a beef, one will get one and the other will be served the other - if it’s wrong, they will switch the meal since presumably they will be sitting together. it’s not a big deal and that way they put a number by how many of each choice the couple wants.

also, i think a dual option (fish and chicken on the same plate) is usually cheaper? my caterer said it was b/c then they know exactly how much to bring and don’t have to spend time (labor cost) sorting out who ordered what.

1/16/07 @ 11:57 am (reply)

Guest

Does your venue require that you tell them ahead of time how many of which entrees to preprae? Otherwise I would forego it.

My venue did not recommend that we put a choice on the RSVP. We just selected entree choices which they will offer to the guests the night of the wedding. Seems easier this way.

1/16/07 @ 12:07 pm (reply)

Guest

Maggie

at our venue we have to have colored tickets so that the servers would know which entree to serve. I stressed about knowing who wanted what and tried all sorts of complicated ways to word the response card. In the end my venue coordinator and I decided that I would have an envelope for each couple/family/etc, with all their tickets inside. That way they can distibute it amongst themselves, and I no longer have to worry about place cards, seating, etc. Now I just have a line for each entree option and ask for the number selecting each item.

1/16/07 @ 12:14 pm (reply)

Guest

Iris

Yes, choice of entrees. I’m surprised how many takers there were for vegetarian. If you are having a kids’ menu (i.e., cheaper per head) be sure to make it super clear up-front that that is the only choice for 12-and-under; otherwise parents will sign up their 4-year-old for the filet mignon and lobster. Not so funny — that is happening to us right now… and the only way we decided to invite kids in the first place was because we thought we could afford them at the kids’ rate. Sigh…. everyone thinks their kid is a precious gourmet.

On the happy side — My caterer doesn’t need to know who is eating what, just how many of each dish per table, then guests are on the honor system to claim what they ordered in advance. She recommends that I jot their selection on their escort card (pencil inside is fine; no blatent color-coding necessary) so if they forget or change their mind (because something else looks more scrumptious day-of), they can be “held” to what they signed up for.

1/16/07 @ 12:19 pm (reply)

Guest

Iris

Forgot to add — we opted against the combo plate. It was just too hard to manage. Anyway couples like us will order opposite dishes and then share or trade. : )

Also we got a deal on a “winter wedding package” (January - March), so if you are in the off-season, be sure to ask for winter rates from EVERY vendor.

1/16/07 @ 12:22 pm (reply)

Guest

Mrs Ant

haha this reminds me of a flight attendant who once asked me “Feather or Leather?”

it was so funny!

1/16/07 @ 1:47 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

KEG

We did the following for choice at our wedding. It was much more artfully done then my below example but I don’t have a picture. And we had cards that had only one line if only one person was invited.

[ ] accepts with pleasure
[ ] declines with regret
{option 1} {option 2} {option3}
____________ [] [] []

_____________ [] [] []

So they would check a box for the option they wanted.

1/16/07 @ 2:02 pm (reply)

11.

Guest

twelvetigers

We’re just having chicken. The beef costs more!

1/16/07 @ 3:26 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

Pencils

I asked my venue, and they laughed. They said “we’ve been doing this a very long time, we know pretty much how many of each to make, don’t worry about it. It’s like a restaurant, you don’t have to call in your order the day before, right?” So, it doesn’t matter.

1/16/07 @ 10:21 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

wren

I say . . . serve vegetarian. Good for the people, good for the planet, good for uncomplicated RSVP cards, and good for the budget.

1/17/07 @ 12:21 am (reply)