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Food for young children at the reception

afton5226afton5226
in Wedding Cakes & Food Forum
Our wedding is coming up in September and we are working to finalize the dinner menu. We are having a plated meal and I think we are leaning towards getting one food for everyone for the sake of simplicity. As of now we are leaning towards prime rib to meet the minimum requirement on food (we are not having a large wedding but the venue has a high minimum on food). But, we want to be practical; buying a prime rib for a 5 year old seems a little rediculous, so we are trying to think of other options for the kids. One thought was maybe get the kids an appetizer for their meal. What have you done for food optims for kids at weddings? Any ideas so we don't waste a ton of food but still feed everyone?
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Re: Food for young children at the reception

  • manateehuggermanateehugger member
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    Make sure you know about any dietary restrictions before you decide on just prime rib. Vegetarians wouldn't be happy, and I know a lot of non-beef eaters. If you only do one entree, I would at least look toward doing a duo so everyone will be happy. 

    Does your venue/caterer have a kid's meal option? Most of them do nowadays. Our kids meal is chicken fingers. 
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  • melb2013melb2013 member
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    I've never seen a kids option at a wedding.  I'd be more concerned about catering to your vegetarian guests.  I ate beef as a child and would have beens sorely disappointed to not be served the same food as the adults.
    If you get a pasta as a vegetarian option, the kids who wouldn't want the beef would probably like the pasta.  Two birds with one stone.

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  • Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    I think definitely a chicken option would be good, especially for the people who don't eat red meat. I don't eat red meat and my fmil doesn't eat it either so we are having beef and chicken, we don't have any vegetarians so we got off lucky with that.
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  • hyechica81hyechica81 member
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    u need to have at least 3 options a chicken fish and steak as well as a veg option. i am assuming your venue has different prices for each meal.. my brother and my sil had chicken steak and fish and a vegtable napolian chicken fingers and french fries were what the kids ate and it was half the price of the adult meal..  if i was a kid and you were giving me a plate with 3 small appitizer bites i would still be hungry. i know when i was a kid and went to weddings i got chicken tenders and french fries. 

    you need to at least have a few menu options. if your venu has set prices for each option like fish is this price chicken is this price and steak is another price u might be suprised that hey everyone wanted the baked stuffed shrimp over the steak and the shrimp was 6 dollars less than the steak 

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  • NOLAbridealmostNOLAbridealmost member
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    Technically it's fine to serve 1 option and accommodate allergies or special dietary needs on a case by case basis. But if the food minimum is high and you're struggling to reach it with the small guest list, I would definitely spring to offer at least a couple options. Guests will really, truly appreciate the choice. In terms of a kid's meal, as your venue what your options are and allow parents to indicate whether a child meal will be necessary. Many children eat the same foods as adults. Many children (particularly those 7 and up) get offended when a children's menu is foisted on them at a restaurant (I know it always upset me when I was around 10 but was short for my age and looked really young).
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  • hyechica81hyechica81 member
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    see if the venue will work with you on food minimums say hey what if only 6 people order the fish and you  have a 20 person mininum can you work with us? i always get chicken at weddings. i am not a big red meat eater and when i do i have really be in the mood for it 
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  • Xstatic3333Xstatic3333 member
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    Our venue offers chicken fingers as a kids option-we communicated with the kids' parents to find out if that would work for them. If you have lots of kids you could make it a menu card option, but be prepared that some older kids might prefer the adult option.

    Ditto PPs on adding some options-I would really try to add a chicken dish, and be prepared to cater to vegetarians as well.
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  • kgd7357kgd7357 member
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    We are doing filet mignon as the main dish. However, the venue is very flexible about preparing vegetarian/gluten-free upon request. The wait staff will ask when they bring out salads. Our venue offers a kids dish (likely pasta) for anyone under 12. We only have 3 kids under 12, so we are just calling the parents and asking what they prefer. If you have a lot of kids and this is a lot of work, see if the veg option can be kid friendly. Perhaps some kind of pasta? I know when I was a kid I would have probably gone for the steak, and my brother would probably go for the pasta or chicken fingers.
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  • Jen4948Jen4948 member
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    I'd 1) ask their parents about food they'll eat (kids can be very picky and/or have dietary issues that they aren't mature enough to take care of themselves) and 2) check with your venue to see how they accommodate kids and their dietary issues.  Then go from there.
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