Would it be weird...

Simky906

Would it be weird if we had 1 or 2 menus on stands at each table at our wedding reception? ETA: Or have 2 menu cards displayed on the appetizer table during cocktail hour?  

Our budget just took a hit and I suggested cutting menu cards, since they're not really a necessity. FI really wants them though, so this was his suggestion. So it's either do one of these, or do cards for everyone and find something else to cut. 

What do the knotties think?

SBmini

Will people be selecting their meals? Is it a buffet? A pre-determined plated dinner? I don't think I've ever been to a wedding with a menu. Either I selected the chicken 2 months prior, or it's a self explanatory buffet. 

sarawifenow

I would put the stand on the appetizer table. Too often, the table I am sitting at during a wedding reception gets too crowded and I end up knocking something over.

mysticl

I have been to a wedding with a menu. It was a buffet. I couldn't figure out why there was a menu.  

Simky906

It's a plated dinner. We did provide a detailed description of the meal on our website (if anyone looks at that) but the response cards just have the generic chicken, beef or vegetarian option. FI thinks people will appreciate knowing exactly what they'll be eating since it's unlikely anyone will remember the exact description even if they looked at it. Plus, we may be offering three different types of cake and he wants to give people time to weigh their options.

Cookie Pusher

Could you print the menus yourselves? That would save a lot of money.

Simky906

@cookiepusher I've thought about that as well. It's just a little tricky because we don't actually own a printer anymore so we would have to use the one in our building's computer room. I'm not sure what it can do as far as different sizes of paper and whatnot, but I will look into that as well.

If we do programs I'll do them that way since I found an 8 1/2 by 11 template but I played around a bit with it and 8 1/2 by 11 is just too big for individual menus.

 

hellosweetie1015

Former Office Depot print shop expert here! *waves*

H'okay, sch'o. Here's what you (can) do.

- Lay out your menu using an 8.5x11 page, but put TWO menus on each page (5.5x8.5). ALSO THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: USE A PDF. MSWord (ETA: nothing not-Adobe does, actually, now that I'm thinking about it, and sometimes Adobe doesn't either. Just do the PDF.) doesn't port formatting from computer to computer, so if you go to a different computer the formatting could be significantly different and that's a PITA. Trust me.

- Go to an office supplies store with a copy shop. Ask to see their nice papers (linen, resume, parchment; different weights like 24#, 32# and 65#, different colors like ivory versus white, as well as any other color options they might have available, anything ranging from granite to a light blue to something called "almond" which is just a brownish ivory). Buy two sheets of your choice, and also a box of the same paper. (97% of the time they sell the paper they use in the copy shop, in the store.) The Southworth Linen 32# is VERY nice, comes in ivory or white, and is sturdy but NOT heavyweight. 100 sheets will be about $17-20, plus maybe 50 cents MAX for the two sheets you buy from the copy shop.

- Go to your building printer. I promise, 32lb is not heavyweight, your printer should be able to handle it.

- TEST YOUR PRINTER with plain paper. The linen paper will have texture on one side but not the other, most likely, and you need to know which way the printer actually prints. Take a sheet of plain paper, mark it front and back, top and bottom, pink and purple, whatever, and then remember which one is facing up. Then test-print on it and see which side it prints on - the one you had UP or the one you had DOWN. 

- Load your test sheets of the 32lb paper, one where it will print on the texture, and one where it will print on the not-texture. Print two copies of your menu template, so that you can decide if you want the texture or not.

- Print your menus on the paper you bought. 100 sheets = 200 menus.

- Take your menus back to visit your friendly neighborhood big-box office supply store. Tell them you need them cut in half. It should cost $1.00< per 250 sheets. (Office Depot is 75 cents, and I would assume Office Max, being owned by Depot, is the same now. Staples... eh, you're on your own.)

TADA! Spiffy, nice-papered menus, at a reasonable size, for less than $25 (as long as you need less than 200.)

Ex2TA: OR you could do them 8.5x11 and stand one up on each table. I don't think it would be weird to have a communal menu if they aren't ordering it.

Fran1985

@Simky906 check out vistaprint's postcard section- they don't actually have to be postcards you can design almost anything you want and have a blank back. You can do 100 for $10 bucks right now

beethery

If you need design help, I can lay it out in a nice legible setup, 2-up like @CaitTDid23 suggested. PM me the menu deets and I'll get it rolling. (also if you have a fancy font that you'd like for the Menu title up top, I can incorporate it)

theartistformerlyknownas

Word will output to a PDF nowadays. Design them 3 to a page (8.5x11 landscape, and then either set it up as 3 columns or use rectangles that are 3.66x8.5 to give you your guidelines. Make your pretty menu, copy/paste it into the other 2 boxes, delete your guidelines if you used them. Save as PDF. Upload your file to Kinkos (FedEx Office now), pick your paper color, etc. Their online thing is super easy. You'll only need to print a few since they're 3 to a page. If you don't have a paper trimmer, have them cut them into thirds. Pay online, probably less than $10, go pick them up when they call and tell you they're done.

hellosweetie1015

lolo883 said:

Word will output to a PDF nowadays. Design them 3 to a page (8.5x11 landscape, and then either set it up as 3 columns or use rectangles that are 3.66x8.5 to give you your guidelines. Make your pretty menu, copy/paste it into the other 2 boxes, delete your guidelines if you used them. Save as PDF. Upload your file to Kinkos (FedEx Office now), pick your paper color, etc. Their online thing is super easy. You'll only need to print a few since they're 3 to a page. If you don't have a paper trimmer, have them cut them into thirds. Pay online, probably less than $10, go pick them up when they call and tell you they're done.

Word WILL output to a PDF nowadays! I LOVE THAT FEATURE (just about the ONLY one in Word I can actually say that about!) But will 3-up be WAY too small? I mean, that's the size we typically made bookmarks out of. I don't know if the menu would look crammed into it at that size or not. With the 2-up size, you've got the space to not look crammed (most of the time) but when you get into 3(+)-up it can (not always but sometimes) look very much so.

Also: Watch out for your margins/printable area of your printer; most printers can't actually print all the way to the edge so they usually leave less than a quarter inch of unprintable area, but when you're in need of that level of precision it's worth it to keep that unusable quarter inch in mind and adjust accordingly; you might end up with either bleedoff from the unusable space or uneven sides on the edge pieces (which wouldn't bother most people but would honestly drive me up the wall, at least with my own. I dunno if I'd notice it if I was a hungry guest curious about what delicious meal I was about to consume.)

Also: Proofread. I will proof for you GLADLY because I am THAT ASSHOLE about spelling. Grammar... eh, grammar kind of is a game to me. But I saw a super minor typo (meant to say "us" but said "is") in an advertisement for a doctor's office I was in today and IMMEDIATELY the office lost points.

theartistformerlyknownas

3-up from landscape is the size of a tri-folded brochure/ takeout menu; seems plenty big to me since you're only listing 3-ish things. 3-up from portrait orientation would be too narrow.

hellosweetie1015

Fair point. I dunno, I like the larger size myself but that's a lot of personal preference - I always have to "frown" at take-out menus, and then people ask if I don't like that place.

Simky906

Thank you ladies for the awesome suggestions! I will definitely let y'all know if I need help with formatting and proof reading (and I will most likely need help).