My venue is only requiring total meal count per table, not by guest, but I was hoping to be more specific and indicate meal choices on the place cards. On the RSVP card I asked to "initial an entree selection for each guest." Well, that didn't work. Out of 60 invitations sent, only about 5 came back with initials rather than "1 beef, 1 chicken." What I'm worried about is that by the time the wedding rolls around, people won't remember what they ordered and someone who requested beef will say they ordered the chicken, etc, and that will screw up the meal counts the venue prepared.
Should I maybe do the place cards by couple and indicate total meal choices for that couple on the card? Or just leave it alone and let the waitstaff "take orders" like they said they will, and hope everything works out well?
Re: Place cards/Meal choices
The wait staff wanted to be able to see the cards to lessen the amount of interruption to the conversations of the guests at the table.
Ex: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Smith (on front) / 1 red sticker and 1 yellow sticker on back (means beef and chicken).
I did the same thing as OP (asked for initials, didn't get very many) and got similar results. I did almost what Banana suggests here - I still made individual place cards, and just put one of the color codes on each. I figured that if I reversed people's preferences or they didn't remember, the couple could easily sort it out amongst themselves.
If the catering company/venue and waiters are all trained to do it a certain way, and do it that way at probably 2 weddings per week, 50 weeks a year, I'd stick to that. I wouldn't want to be the one event asking them to learn a new way and not mess it up!
You could try a middle-ground solution to help minimize potential issues. On each couple's or family's place card, you could indicate the total meal choices, such as "2 people - 1 beef, 1 chicken." This would assist the waitstaff in managing the meal distribution and also serve as a reminder for your guests about what they originally ordered.
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