XP -- Rehearsal Dinner Entrees

reppunzel

My FIL's have graciously offered to cover the costs of our rehearsal dinner and told us to select the menu.  We can choose from the restaurant's menu, and they will print custom menus for our group.

Children under 10 will order off the standard children's menu.  We are inviting five in the 10-20 age range, the rest of the guests are over 21, most in the 35+ range.  To my knowledge there are no vegans (guest list or SO's) and I don't think there are any vegetarians.

I was thinking of doing 2 beef options, 2 chicken options, 2 seafood options, a dinner salad and a vegetarian pasta.

So far I have:

- Steak with choice of two sides
- Pot Roast with smashed potatoes and choice of side
- Bruschetta Chicken (balsamic glaze, mozarella, tomato bruschetta and basil) with grilled tomatoes or broccoli and choice of side
- Chicken Fingers with choice of dipping sauce and two sides
- Grilled Tilapia with rice pilaf and choice of side
- California Chicken Salad (romaine and spring mix with shredded carrots, bleu cheese crumbles, candied pecans, strawberries, mandarin oranges and dried cranberries; topped with grilled chicken).  The chicken could be left off to make this vegetarian, and without the cheese and chicken, it could even be a vegan option.
- Tuscan Pasta (linguini with a Parmesan/garlic butter/roasted tomato sauce, topped with tomato-basil bruschetta).

For the second seafood entree, we could do a battered fish and popcorn shrimp plate, or shrimp scampi pasta.  I'm not a big seafood person, so I don't know which would be a better selection.  I think the fried option would be more popular with the younger ones, but we already have the fried chicken fingers ... but maybe the adults would prefer that option as well.  Thoughts?  Opinions?  Preferences?

Also, is this enough options?  Too many? 
FWIW, we will have an assortment of appetizers and basic drinks (tea, water, lemonade) for people to munch and mingle as they arrive.

Thank you for your insights!

beautifulmama28

i say the scampi

reppunzel

Thanks for the feedback!

Retread, 10 is just the limit the restaurant puts on the children's menu, the oldest child who will be ordering from it is my 7-yr-old nephew and there are options on there that range from "kid" choices (mac-and-cheese, hamburger) to smaller sized "adult" meals like grilled chicken and steak.  We're using their standard kid's menu rather than a custom one because it comes in a newspaper format that has coloring for the younger ones (4 and 2) and articles, word searches and activities that I know Noah will really like (science stuff!).
The next up in age is 11 and will order from the adult menu. 

If we were to narrow it down to just one in each category, which would "y'all" suggest/prefer?  So far sounds like the scampi would be more popular than the fried fish.

right1thistime

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_second-weddings_xp-rehearsal-dinner-entrees?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:35Discussion:3cebd6db-9d83-43cb-a278-48a2ceafe418Post:c722ec2d-21df-4a6f-b701-b6e37eb8306a">XP -- Rehearsal Dinner Entrees</a>:
[QUOTE] - <font color="#ff00ff">Steak with choice of two sides
</font> - Pot Roast with smashed potatoes and choice of side
 -<font color="#ff00ff"> Bruschetta Chicken (balsamic glaze, mozarella, tomato bruschetta and basil) with grilled tomatoes or broccoli and choice of side
</font> - Chicken Fingers with choice of dipping sauce and two sides
 - Grilled Tilapia with rice pilaf and choice of side
 -<font color="#ff00ff"> California Chicken Salad (romaine and spring mix with shredded carrots, bleu cheese crumbles, candied pecans, strawberries, mandarin oranges and dried cranberries; topped with grilled chicken).  The chicken could be left off to make this vegetarian, and without the cheese and chicken, it could even be a vegan option</font>.
 - <font color="#ff00ff">Tuscan Pasta (linguini with a Parmesan/garlic butter/roasted tomato sauce, topped with tomato-basil bruschetta).
</font> For the second seafood entree, we could do a battered fish and popcorn shrimp plate, or <font color="#ff00ff">shrimp scampi pasta</font>. 

I would choose the options I highlighted in pink, if I had to narrow it down to one of each selection.  If the restaurant is letting you have as many choices as you want, I would leave what you selected- and add the scampi. 

handfast4me

I do something each year for two large organizations I'm with--we just give folks the option of one chicken, one beef, one fish, and one vegetarian option. 

We always go pot roast, grilled chicken (your bruschetta chicken would sub in here), we do a broiled fish, such as ahi ahi, and the Pasta dish.  I can't eat fish, so I won't offer a suggestion on that one. 

reppunzel

Thanks, Retread.  This process has made me very glad that we are doing an hors 'douvres reception (mid-afternoon) so that I don't have to deal with entree choices for the wedding! 

Thank you for all the replies -- I tend to overplan for food, so I really appreciate ALL the feedback.  If I didn't know my family tree better, I'd swear there was an Italian/Greek grandmother back there somewhere ... "Eat!  Eat!  You've had practically nothing!  All skin and bones!" 

reppunzel

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_second-weddings_xp-rehearsal-dinner-entrees?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:35Discussion:3cebd6db-9d83-43cb-a278-48a2ceafe418Post:0654c9a9-03f9-4c72-977e-b93d25ca7238">Re: XP -- Rehearsal Dinner Entrees</a>:
[QUOTE]Reppunzel, you are worse than Italian/Greek, you are SOUTHERN.  Southern women don't believe they're good hostesses unless their guests are so gorged with food that their bodies must be rolled to the doorway when it's time to leave.......
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

<div>
</div><div>ROFLOL ... yup, that's it <em>exactly</em>!  Nurture vs. nature, huh?  :)</div>