Knowing which guest gets what meal

slr31

I don't know why I didn't think of this until now, but when a couple or family RSVPs with multiple meal choices (i.e.  a family of 5 states that 3 will have chicken while 2 have vegetarian....), how do I know which meal goes with which guest? I have to designate via a color sticker or something similar on the guests' place card so catering may deliver the proper meals to the proper people. I know I could just call each couple or family to clarify, but I really think that's going to be way too much work. I really can't think of any options, but has anyone here happened to go about this (or will go about it) in a different way?

aMrsin09

In hind site I would have listed each name with the meal choices, but since you didn't I think the only way is to call or email.
Can the caterer live with "this table gets 5 chickens and 3 beefs, and this table gets..." and then when the service starts the waiter can ask who got what?  Although that will be more expensive because the cterer will have to account for those that change their minds.

slr31

That might be smart, just assigning dishes per table. I didn't even think of that. However, in some cases, the children are not sitting with their parents, thus breaking up the RSVP unit (we're having a "cousin" table, since most of them are old enough that they wouldn't want to sit next to their parents all night, lol). I might just send them a casual text, though. If they still remember who ordered what, that is, lol.

Simply Fated

Is it possible that the recpetion site can be flexible and on the day of, they can ask the guests what they want again?
Also, were you planning on assigned seats or just assigned tables? Because if you weren't going to assign the actual seats, then the servers were going to have to ask what people wanted, anyway.

slr31

Well, we are only having assigned tables. The venue wanted me to include some sort of color coordinating system to let the staff know whose meal is whose. For example, all those in attendance who wanted chicken might have a blue dot or sticker or something on their escort/place card, and all those who wanted beef might have yellow. I think the site manager will let the staff know how many beefs/fish/chickens are going to be per table, and once the staff arrives with the meals, the stickers/dots will instruct them as to who gets which meal. 

aMrsin09

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_knowing-guest-gets-meal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:857146ac-f6a4-42b6-8244-e61f8ab78443Post:3545c6fe-2bb4-432b-96b0-750e646e1d92">Re: Knowing which guest gets what meal</a>:
[QUOTE]Well, we are only having assigned tables. The venue wanted me to include some sort of color coordinating system to let the staff know whose meal is whose. For example, all those in attendance who wanted chicken might have a blue dot or sticker or something on their escort/place card, and all those who wanted beef might have yellow. I think the site manager will let the staff know how many beefs/fish/chickens are going to be per table, and once the staff arrives with the meals, the stickers/dots will instruct them as to who gets which meal. 
Posted by slr31[/QUOTE]
Yeah, then you need to start making some phone calls.  Sorry.

[Deleted User]

We were up against that problem, too. I guess I should have read up on TK about it before we sent out our invites.

Everything worked out for us, we did the color coded thing. In fact, that is what our reception venue recommended. The waiters simply picked up the place cards (which had the persons name and table # on them) and when they came back with the meal, they just called that person's name. Yes, I wish it would have been done differently, but it all worked out. Everyone ate their meal and we celebrated, so we were happy.

kayakrunhike

We only ran into this with a couple people, mostly with families who had kids with the same initials (they initialed the entrees they wanted on the RSVP cards).  Truthfully, since everyone was seated with their families, I guessed which meal went with whom.  I figured if I guessed wrong, they'd be right next to each other and could just swap. 

Color coding was something my venue suggested, but we ended up just putting C for chicken, B for beef or P for pasta on the back of the escort cards.  It probably won't work quite as well if you have more than one beef or chicken, etc, option.

All that being said.. if you're splitting up the families, you're gonna have to call.  Texting the kids would be fine.

mkrupar

Yeah, you're going to have to call. Having the waitstaff ask the guests at each table what they ordered can cause many problems. The biggest one being people not remembering what they ordered, or changing their mind (they really wanted chicken when they RSVP'd, but decided today was a beef day). This will cause problems with the caterer because they will prepare the number of dishes based on the numbers you gave them (100 beef, 45 chicken, 4 veg, etc.). Your guests might also wonder why they even had to RSVP with a choice if they were going to be asked again what they wanted for their meal.