Wedding breakfast- choice of meal?

[tan28]

Hey everyone.
Currently in talks with our catering company.... who are suggesting we give people the option to pick from a few starters/ mains & pudding.
They charge an extra £5 for that.
However every wedding we have attended we just got given one option and we had no issues with that.
My plan is to pick a set menu & a vegan option for our vegetarian/ vegan friends.
AIBU towards our guests? Should we offer them the option to choose what they want to eat? Our caterer wants a reply by tonight and I'm questioning myself now
TIA x

£5 pp seems ridiculous

I think that’s cheap to be honest. It’s much more hassle to serve choices than a set menu

We had 5 or 6 choices at a 5 star hotel BUT they asked people to select their choice a week before the wedding.

If we didn't want a la carte we could have picked 2 or 3 dishes out but we felt it's nice for people to have the choice.

Everyone raved about the food and being able to select exactly what they wanted.

Would your caterer do that? Then there wouldn't be any waste or a £5 per head charge as they would know exactly what to order/cook.

I don't know that I've ever had a menu choice and generally been happy.
I'd avoid fish or anything gamey if no choice though.

I also agree with the vegetarian/vegan thing. My vegetarian friends are getting really pissed off with meals now being plant based when they might want cheese and cream etc

I think if you can afford it, giving a choice is lovely.

I think a choice is best, I had a choice at my wedding just two options for each course. It saves people leaving food and people going hungry. £5 is super cheap, I wouldn’t hesitate.

Please don’t ask people before hand for their choice of food, who knows what they feel like to eat a month in advance.

I've never been to a wedding with a choice!

As long as allergies, vegans, veggies and religious requirements of guests are met you will be fine.

It's not worth spending £5 per head more.

Weddings I've attended have been a mix of choice and set and I can't say I'm bothered either way BUT I'm not a fussy eater. Having said that, the fussier eaters I know have never liked any choice on a menu!

There’s really no justification for a caterer charging £5 extra for a choice - ask people ahead of time to chose from three options say and they can cater accordingly

@Christmas1988

Please don’t ask people before hand for their choice of food, who knows what they feel like to eat a month in advance.

Most people are surely capable of picking a menu choice of food they like and will therefore eat? How is that worse than a having to eat a set meal? Tomato soup / goats cheese / mushrooms - one of those I wouldn't eat so if pick the latter ones depending on the main Salmon / chicken / v risotto - one of those I wouldn't eat, one I'd eat preferentially Spotted dick / Vegan Torte / Eton mess - one I'm not very keen on, one I'd eat preferentially. Done. You could feed me goats cheese starter, chicken dinner and vegan chocolate torte any random meal and I'd be happh

I have never been to a wedding that didn’t offer choices.

However, it wouldn’t bother me if there was a set meal. Just go for something fairly generic- chicken. Not too strong flavours. Then most people will be happy.

It’s hard to find a universally liked dish - but it’s into one meal people. Between starters, main and desert I am sure everyone will have plenty of good food

@mrsbyers

There’s really no justification for a caterer charging £5 extra for a choice - ask people ahead of time to chose from three options say and they can cater accordingly

It's more work though isn't it. If they're making 2 or 3 options for each course, that's more planning, ordering, prep and cooking.

@Wnkingawalrus

£5 pp seems ridiculous

I think that’s cheap to be honest. It’s much more hassle to serve choices than a set menu

For probably around £500 extra unless they're hiring one chef per choice, it is a lot. It's a deterrent to not give people the choice

@Christmas1988

Please don’t ask people before hand for their choice of food, who knows what they feel like to eat a month in advance.

Eh? People do this all the time! Christmas, staff parties etc Any booking I've made for more than about 10 people has required preordering.

Whenever I’ve been to a wedding with a choice it’s been a bit airline “beef or chicken, beef or chicken, beef or chicken” assembly line and the meals haven’t been much different.

The best actual choice meals I’ve had have been family-style where each table got a platter of meats, eg lamb chops, chicken skewers, kofte, etc, plus bowls of different salads and side dishes, so everyone could help themselves and get a varied plate. Plus it helped conversation flow/broke the ice a bit as we passed bowls around.

Just go for something fairly generic- chicken. Not too strong flavours. Then most people will be happy.
Except people who like food, or the ones who are paying huge amounts of money to serve up… bland chicken.

If I am hosting, I would offer a choice.
That is because I know how frustrating it can be when both the regular meal and the vegan meal can’t be eaten because of allergies. Sometimes even the rolls aren’t safe. It’s no fun to be at a wedding with absolutely no food.

When other people host. They typically offer no choices.

Usually it's meat option (either chicken or steak generally but once we got sausage swirl!) And veggie. That's it. Never ever had a choice. What a faff trying to take orders like it's a restaurant.

It's more important to have nice canapés and a good, plentiful, well catered evening buffet. Bacon butties later are the best!!

I have been to dozens of weddings and only once been offered a choice. That was quite recently though so maybe it's a new thing. An extra £5.00 per person will soon mount up. I would go with vegan option as well but it gets complicated if there is a lot of choice .

@Blossom64265

If I am hosting, I would offer a choice. That is because I know how frustrating it can be when both the regular meal and the vegan meal can’t be eaten because of allergies. Sometimes even the rolls aren’t safe. It’s no fun to be at a wedding with absolutely no food.

When other people host. They typically offer no choices.

Usually people would ask for any dietary requirements with the rsvp. I’ve never come across a wedding caterer that said they wouldn’t cater for gluten free for example. Most offer menus that limit the issue, but they would easily replace a bread role if necessary.

I’ve been to weddings with a choice, and weddings without, and it hasn’t made any difference to my overall impression or enjoyment of the wedding. In fact the one with the best food was the one without a choice, so I don’t think it is even a strong indicator of quality.

I agree with you, except that I think vegetarians should be allowed a vegetarian meal! (Not vegetarian but it does seem a bit rubbish for them that everything is now vegan. By that logic they’d be no meat option either)

Don't do it. You'll never please everyone, so just have a vegan/veggie option.

First rule of catering: don’t offer choice. It gives people too much leeway to start nitpicking. Everyone knows the meal is going to be pretty mediocre anyway - that’s standard. I’d go lowest common denominator - what most people will eat without moaning too much: vegetable soup, whatever the closest thing is to a Sunday roast (prob chicken as more people will eat chicken than beef or lamb), and a vegetarian equivalent, and profiteroles. Honestly, I’d rather that done well than faffing about with different meals. Make sure everyone gets a massive Yorkshire pudding with their roast regardless of the meat chosen and that should keep everyone happy.

For probably around £500 extra unless they're hiring one chef per choice, it is a lot. It's a deterrent to not give people the choice

You would likely need additional people in the kitchen, plus plating up is more labour intensive so probably more people there. Then you need an extra person to check every table as it’s going out. Then there’s someone to sort issues on the day (because no one bothered to tell the venue there has been a change to the seating plan….)

If you go to a Christmas party what you tend to see if everyone who ordered turkey gets it at the same time, then everyone who ordered fish, and so on. At a wedding they need to serve by table.