Plated Dinner do I need a menu?

klcanning · June 2013

I'm having a plated dinner where guest will select their food type when RSVPing. I'll have a pretty decent description of each meal type. Do I need menus at the reception? It seems like a silly cost if they are already understanding what they are getting!

Maggie0829 · June 2013

The only time menus are needed is if your guests are picking what they want to eat at the reception. Since they are picking at RSVP time, then menus would just be a waste.

LAM524 · June 2013

alisonmarie658 said:

I think it would be fine to skip the menus. Just make sure that there is a way to indicate to the venue staff who is getting what for dinner!

Any suggestions on how to indicate this?

Jen4948 · June 2013

No menus necessary. You can use color-coded place cards to indicate to venue staff who should be served what meal.

misssunshine17 · June 2013

Skip it. They already ordered.

FilthyRichKitten · June 2013

You don't need them if they already selected their food. You could do one for aesthetic purposes. You could even just do one menu stand per table like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/205054589253748434/ or this: http://pinterest.com/pin/410038741042734902/.

Does the venue keep track of who ordered what or do they just want to know so they have enough ingredients? I've been to work events where it specifically says at my seat what I've ordered, but I've also gone to weddings where they asked in advance, and then again at the table. People could have forgotten what they ordered and picked the other choice. I would imagine they account for a little of that though.

klcanning · June 2013

Thanks guys! This is all awesome advice. I'll make sure to indicate the caterer how many of each kind of plate at each table and also try and include a coding system on the name tags to help coordinate.

harper0813 · June 2013

I know you already responded, but like PPs said, menus aren't necessary. We are still providing them, however, as we are serving a chilled soup before dinner rather than salad (our menus makes AMAZING chilled soups in August and September only, using local and in-season ingredients... Mmm!) and we don't want to freak anyone out.

So they're handy if you're serving anything unusual or unexpected. Like a purposefully cold soup or beef carpaccio or something.

Kate61487 · June 2013

I agree that a menu is definitely not necessary, but I for one generally appreciate it. I never remember what I ordered - even if I'm pretty sure I got chicken I have no recollection of what type it was, so I like to have the reminder. I also appreciate knowing how many / what type of courses there will be. If there's going to be several dessert options I like to know to save room; if the side veggie is going to be asparagus I like to know to fill up a little more on salad since I won't be eating the veggie, KWIM?

OjitosVerdes · June 2013

Kate61487 said:

I agree that a menu is definitely not necessary, but I for one generally appreciate it. I never remember what I ordered - even if I'm pretty sure I got chicken I have no recollection of what type it was, so I like to have the reminder. I also appreciate knowing how many / what type of courses there will be. If there's going to be several dessert options I like to know to save room; if the side veggie is going to be asparagus I like to know to fill up a little more on salad since I won't be eating the veggie, KWIM?

This. Definitely not necessary, but I also appreciate it for these reasons. We're planning on having menus both as a reminder for people, and because the descriptions of the food/entree details are wonderfully detailed, but are also so long that we probably can't get them on our RSVP cards. We thought about putting them on our website so people have more info to base their decision one. Lastly, but related to my first point, FI and I are self-proclaimed foodies and love food details - so while we might only remember that we chose the chicken and not that it was "Roasted free range chicken breast with oven dried tomato and pancetta ragu, served with chive & roasted shallot risotto and shaved asparagus", we'd definitely appreciate that reminder of what we're eating as we're sitting down to dinner. But again, that's our weirdness/preference and menus definitely aren't required/necessary.

ETS: I love @filthyrichkitten's idea of doing one or two per table.

SomethingBeautiful08 · June 2013

You can also take the "color code" idea loosely by matching a graphic to a menu item. I.e. if you are having a garden them, you could have a rose sticker represent the beef, a daisy be the chicken and tulip be the veggie option, or a heart, star and horseshoe... whatever fits.

manateehugger · June 2013

Yay! I saw this thread and got worried that people think menus are silly for a plated meal. I love the look of them and was planning to throw them on top of the charger.

Jennyandscott14 · June 2013

If there is a menu and guests have already "ordered" isn't there a chance of causing confusion and having guests change their orders?

Kate61487 · June 2013

Jennyandscott14 said:

If there is a menu and guests have already "ordered" isn't there a chance of causing confusion and having guests change their orders?

I've never thought a menu meant I got to change what I'd already picked (and as I mentioned previously I usually don't remember what I got so whatever they set in front of me I assume is right). Perhaps it's because I've never been to a wedding with table-side ordering? If the guests meal is marked on their card they won't be giving any kind of order so there's no risk in them changing it.

Plated Dinner do I need a menu?

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