Left food choice for children off of my invite

hikebikebemerry

I know that this should technically go on the Invites board, but I'm already here, so- 

 We are inviting kids to our wedding. However, we did not indicate a "kids option" on our invite. 

Would it be strange to add a (printed) note to those with children saying, "Children will be provided with chicken tenders with macaroni and cheese on the side." Would it be better to contact parents directly? 

Help me! 

Oh, and I'm supposed to send out invitations this week. 

 ETA: Victory over formatting! 

southernbelle0915

How many families are there with kids?

If just a few, I'd probably call. If it's a ton, I think an additional insert is fine. 

hikebikebemerry

There are 10-15 families with kids.

I kind of like the idea of doing the insert, but I'm stuck on wording at the moment.

ShesSoCold

I think the printed info would be odd and confusing - do people with kids assume the kids are coming? Not count them in the number on the RSVP card? Put them in the number for the RSVP and write in "2 kids"? Not write anything? What if an older kid wants an adult meal? 

If it's unclear, you may be calling these people anyway to verify the info on the RSVP cards. If it was 100 families, I'd say go for it. But for 10-15, personally I'd call. 

hikebikebemerry

ShesSoCold said:

I think the printed info would be odd and confusing - do people with kids assume the kids are coming? Not count them in the number on the RSVP card? Put them in the number for the RSVP and write in "2 kids"? Not write anything? What if an older kid wants an adult meal? 

If it's unclear, you may be calling these people anyway to verify the info on the RSVP cards. If it was 100 families, I'd say go for it. But for 10-15, personally I'd call. 

I was worried that it would be confusing, so I was thinking that I could just add something to the bottom of the RSVP that would look like the other options, so it would something like this:

RSVP by blah blah blah

M_________________

Please indicate entree:

___ Choice

___ Choice

___ Choice

(Attached paper)

___ Children: Chicken Tenders with Macaroni and Cheese

Perhaps that would make it less confusing?

My only hesitation to calling people would be that I don't want them to be forced to made a decision then and there.

erinlin25

We did an insert for the families we invited children.  I had the formal invite and then a separate RSVP card we printed  with the child(s) name and two options for a meal to choose from.

theartistformerlyknownas

I did an insert so families whose kids weren't invited wouldn't get the wrong idea. Said "kids will be provided bla bla bla. Please write in the number of kids' meals needed on your RSVP." No issues.

doeydo

TBH, I always thought it was so weird that children are served junk food at weddings.  I mean, I get that they would not eat as much as an adult, maybe a kiddie size serving would be better though.  *shrugs*

ETA  Also, maybe I want chicken tenders and mac and cheese instead of a fancy pants meal, even though I'm not a child.

hellosweetie1015

smichek said:

doeydo said:

TBH, I always thought it was so weird that children are served junk food at weddings.  I mean, I get that they would not eat as much as an adult, maybe a kiddie size serving would be better though.  *shrugs*

ETA  Also, maybe I want chicken tenders and mac and cheese instead of a fancy pants meal, even though I'm not a child.

I think the point of that is to provide something kid-friendly because kids tend to be picky about strange (new and/or fancy) foods. I know I sure was. It didn't matter where my parents took me, I ALWAYS wanted chicken tenders and fries when we went to restaurants. Or mozzerella sticks.

I think the insert is a good idea. Can you run the RSVPs through your printer and print that extra "Kids will be served chicken with macaroni and cheese please indicate number of kid bla bla bla" at the bottom of the RSVP?

I will have to have chicken fingers and french fries at my wedding, no matter what we do, even though the youngest person to be invited will be in high school. Why, you ask? 

My 17 (will be 18 at the wedding) sister ONLY eats chicken fingers and french fries. FI managed to get her to eat mahi mahi at the beach, and EVERYONE was shocked.

OP, yeah try and run them through your printer if you've got an extra few RSVPs to test on. If not, I think a business card sized insert tucked into those families' invite packets wouldn't be a thing with me. I'm not an etiquette guru or anything, but makes sense not to have a kids' meal insert for families who don't have kids/whose kids aren't invited.

hikebikebemerry

doeydo said:

TBH, I always thought it was so weird that children are served junk food at weddings.  I mean, I get that they would not eat as much as an adult, maybe a kiddie size serving would be better though.  *shrugs*

ETA  Also, maybe I want chicken tenders and mac and cheese instead of a fancy pants meal, even though I'm not a child.

I am more concerned about making sure that the kids eat food. All of the kids are on FI's side, and I got guidance from FMIL and the grandmothers as to what the kids will actually eat.  Apparently, this is what they eat most of the time.  

It's one day, one meal.  Not my place to change their eating habits.

hikebikebemerry

@smichek - That's a good idea, but I think I would be freaking out about screwing up the invite.  At this point in time, I don't have the luxury of having extra time if I screw up.

Chipmunk415

If it helps you feel any better, our invites appeared to offer young children as a menu option for adults. It literally said

_____beef
_____chicken
_____children.

Fortunately most folks either didnt notice or have a wicked sense of humor too. We did indicate on our wedding website what each item was beef - ny strip stack; chicken cor don blu; and kids under 10 got chicken fingers and french fries