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

For me - anything but chicken! You so often get an incredibly dry lump of chicken at English weddings (I’m English before anyone piles in)

I would go for a set menu, especially if you select dishes with wide popular appeal for your group of guests, which you probably have in mind.

I can understand people expecting a choice at a meal they were paying for themselves, such as an office party, but a wedding breakfast is different, and a set menu should be sufficient.

A simple way for the vegetarian/vegan choice is to provide a vegan set menu which should satisfy both groups.

If the omnivores don’t like the meat main then they can choose the vegan main. I assume there’ll be a buffet later anyway?

I've never been to a wedding without a choice of meal, it's the norm here in Ireland. We'd a choice of two starters, lamb, beef, seabass or vegetarian at ours just over 10 years ago, we were in a position to do so and the quality of food was a major consideration when picking a hotel. Do what you can afford without struggling.

I have only ever been to weddings with one choice & a vegan option. Just keep it simple

Thanks everyone. Interesting to hear everyone's view & we will definitely pick a choice for our vegan guests & a different one for our vegetarian guests
To be honest I didn't expect a choice of meals to be so popular 🙈 as we've attended sooo many weddings over the last 4 years and never had the option .. we just ate what was offered 😂
Our caterer already charges £120 pp and that's without the wine & Bubbles so an extra £5pp it's just adding to our budget.
We will have evening food with a choice of 4/5 different things so hopefully no one will starve 🙈

What the fuck are you eating at £120 pp?!

Mine charged £40 and the food was absolutely superb - several people asked for the caterer’s details afterwards as it was so delicious.

I think for the sake of £5pp I’d give a choice.
I’ve been to both and definitely preferred having a choice.

That caterer knows how to charge!!😱

I much prefer weddings where there is a choice, usually meat, fish or veggie.

If you don’t give a choice then you should choose something which lots of people will eat.

No choice vote here, one meat, one vegan and one veggie.

@Honeyroar

Your caterer sounds cheeky. As long as they pre order, why should it cost another £500 for 100 people to have a choice?? I think they’re trying to bump their bill up. In this scenario I’d go with the original plan -a set meal and a veggie/vegan option (an option for each if poss)

That's exactly what I was going to say. People don't need to have a choice on the day and it doesn't cost any extra if it's pre ordered.

Our caterer already charges £120 pp

I can't believe they have the nerve to ask for extra. Who's your caterer, Michel Roux jnr?

Blimey, my caterers charged just under £40 a head for a 3 course meal 3 years ago.

We served everyone the same meal. No-one raised any allergies, dietary requirements etc. so everyone had the same bar a relative of DH's - the caterers tweaked the main course slightly for him to avoid an ingredient he hates. Children had a child friendly dish.

I go to a wedding expecting everyone to be served the same, except for dietary requirements. I've only been to two weddings where there was a choice. Every wedding I've been to was in England, bar two in Wales.

To be honest I didn't expect a choice of meals to be so popular

Realistically it always will be if you offer it, but depending on your crowd you could then get swamped in changes of mind, even on the day, and all the fuss that goes with it

Since you're already making decent provision for veggies/vegans and caterers can easily look after special diets, I'd leave it at that

£120pp? What on earth are you eating?!

Most weddings I’ve been to have had a set menu plus veggie/vegan option. I would do that. IME outside Mumsnet most people enjoy most things. It may only be £5 a head but it adds up.

I’ve never been to a wedding with a choice, it’s fine

I would say you choose and save the money

My parents paid for our food and insisted on offering choices of mains but we had set starters and desserts and the choice was certainly appreciated so what do I know

We had a set menu and emailed all guests to make sure they were all fine with that option.

@HoldingTheDoor

Personally I've never attended a wedding where there wasn't a choice. I'd prefer to offer my guests options, assuming that it's financially feasible to do so.

I've never been to a wedding which had a choice.

We didn't offer a choice, just asked for any dietary requirements. People were happy with it.
Also agree that not all vegan meals are nice for vegetarians! I like a bit of cheese and dairy products!

I've always been to set menu weddings. Of course your caterer will suggest the more expensive option

I don’t you’re being unreasonable, the catering company is. We’re getting married and our venue had us pick 3 of each course from a list for our guests to pick 1 out of the 3 options for each course. I would prefer that as a guest as there’s a lot of food I wouldn’t eat if it wasn’t to my taste. That said I wouldn’t complain either as I know how expensive weddings are and £5pp extra adds up quickly. I think you should do what is best for you!

We went with options but we knew we wanted really good food and it was the one thing we didn't scrimp on. It was all still pre-ordered but it made the day more enjoyable all round.