Kids meals or no?

chicky1988 · January 2015

Do you have to have kids meals if you are doing a buffet w/ a ton of food? I mean a lot. Beef tenderloin in butter, chicken, mushroom mac and cheese, mashed potatoes/gravy, some type of veggie, salad and dinner rolls. Plus we are having appetizers before hand. And of course cake after. Do I really need chicken nuggets too? I already think we are having too much food but my parents insisted on the potato lol

Lauderdale Pink · January 2015

How old are the kids? Generally, kids in elementary school intermediate grades (3-6) can handle an adult buffet while second grade and younger might benefit from more age appropriate food. That, of course, is not a hard and fast rule, and exceptions will occur. How many little ones are you hosting? That will also help with your decision. Just remember, the over 18 "kids" like the chicken nuggets too, so if those are on the buffet and not a kids table, you may need to order way more than you think.

AddieCake · January 2015

We had 3 elementary aged kids at our wedding (a cousin and my best friend's stepsons) and I completely spaced on kids meals. Later I panicked about it, apologized, and asked if the kids had eaten at our reception. Their parents thought I was nuts and said yes, they ate plenty. But I think it depends on the kids and their ages. If I had to do it again, I would probably make sure to have kids meals.

STARMOON44 · January 2015

I don't think you need kids meals with that menu. They don't die if they can't eat chicken nuggets for one meal.

kmmssg · January 2015

Your menu is fine for kids and I'll best most of them will enjoy what you are offering.

wrigleyville · January 2015

STARMOON44 said:

I don't think you need kids meals with that menu. They don't die if they can't eat chicken nuggets for one meal.

Seriously. When we were kids, we simply ate smaller portions of whatever our parents were eating.

It's nice that you're thinking of them, but the kids will be fine with beef, chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies. Some of them might even enjoy the mac & cheese (I'd pick the mushrooms out, but that's because I'm a 38-year old child).

caitlinmca · January 2015

I think it depends on the ages, but you could get away with it. We are doing a kids meal just because we are having a salad, stuffed chicken, still deciding between pork or pasta as the second option and then sides and bread which is around 23-29 if we add the pork per person. Whereas, the kids meal of chicken tenders, mac and cheese, and a fruit cup is 8.95 and we only have 9 kids, sorry but I'm not paying an extra 23-29 dollars for kids that may not eat a stuffed chicken, pork or pasta, and I can get cheaper kids meals that they would eat.

Kahlyla · January 2015

My boys are 4 and 5, and they would literally eat all of that. And they would probably ask for seconds...

Jen4948 · January 2015

Your menu sounds very kid-friendly as it is.

floridabride44 · January 2015

If adding a "kids menu" option is an added cost, it's probably not worth it. But if it will save you money, then do it! I know with plated meals the kids option is usually much cheaper than the adult options, so giving kids chicken nuggets is a way to save $$$ (sorry, munchkins, no prime rib for you!) but I'm not sure how that works with a buffet.

lyndausvi · January 2015

Jen4948 said:

Your menu sounds very kid-friendly as it is.

Yep, I think you are fine.

chicky1988 · January 2015

Thanks ladies! We will skip the kids meal and take that off the list of things to worry about. We have probably 4 kids under 2 then maybe 8 that are between 5 and 9 by that time. I think it will be fine and it would be an additional cost so we might as well save some money too. Thanks everyone for your input!

tammym1001 · January 2015

We only had 2 kids at our wedding, but we did kids meals anyways. The only reason we did it is because our buffet was $125 per person and the kid's meals were $11.95 so it saved us $200. I'm pretty sure they both still ate some stuff off the buffet along with their chicken fingers, but there was a ton of food so it wasn't a big deal.

banana468 · January 2015

Honestly, it really depends on the kid.

My daughter is picky. She wants noodles and meatballs and flips her shit if I put a vegetable on her plate. We are working on it but it would be an uphill battle if that was your menu.

That doesn't make your menu bad at all and we'd work to make sure that she was well fed with other things. I'm not going to pick your wedding to have the (SAME) argument with her about what she wants though.

lovesclimbing · January 2015

chicky1988 said:

Do you have to have kids meals if you are doing a buffet w/ a ton of food? I mean a lot. Beef tenderloin in butter, chicken, mushroom mac and cheese, mashed potatoes/gravy, some type of veggie, salad and dinner rolls. Plus we are having appetizers before hand. And of course cake after. Do I really need chicken nuggets too? I already think we are having too much food but my parents insisted on the potato lol

I think you're fine. Growing up, my siblings and I ate smaller portions of whatever the adults ate. I even remember when my baby sister was just starting on solids, my mom would stick some of the broccoli she'd cooked for the rest of us into a little grinder and just mash it up for her.

And I honestly can't remember ever having chicken nuggets growing up. No McDonald's around, and my parents didn't buy that kind of stuff.

A lot of that, especially the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, sounds very kid friendly to me. Yes, you may have a couple picky kids in the mix, but they and their parents can just deal with it. You may very well have a picky adult on your hands who doesn't like anything on your menu either (I'm pretty sure we've seen posts like that on here before), but that doesn't mean you have to get them a certain special meal just because they're picky.

atlastmrsg · January 2015

Does your caterer discount for children? You may want to let them know the number of kids. You might be able to save a few bucks.

[Deleted User] · January 2015

I agree with PPs - your menu is very child friendly, but a kids' menu makes sense if you can save some money!

That being said, kids that are picky eaters will be picky even if you have a special kids' meal. We had a kids' meal of chicken strips, fries, and salad and all but one of the kids loved it. Yet, when asked if he liked his meal, he answered, "the bread is great!". My point is that picky eaters will be picky even if you have a special plate for them but their parents will know what to do and they'll be fine.

[Deleted User] · January 2015

I don't think you do. I would ask your venue what age they use for kids meal cut off. We did family style for our wedding and our venue charged us a lower price for any guests 12 and under because they know that a 7 year old typically won't eat as much as a 30 year old. So even though we didn't have special food for the kids, I made sure when giving a final head count to the venue to tell them how many were 12 & under and how many were "adults". Saved me some money.

WhatawagSBNy · January 2015

chicky1988 said:
Do you have to have kids meals if you are doing a buffet w/ a ton of food? I mean a lot. Beef tenderloin in butter, chicken, mushroom mac and cheese, mashed potatoes/gravy, some type of veggie, salad and dinner rolls. Plus we are having appetizers before hand. And of course cake after. Do I really need chicken nuggets too? I already think we are having too much food but my parents insisted on the potato lol

The only concession I think you need to make is to ask the caterer to make a container of mac and cheese without mushrooms for picky eaters, as well as the regular mac and cheese with mushrooms. Kids who do not want things in their mac may turn down what is otherwise a favorite food.

Every caterer and restaurant I ever worked for happily would do this. You are asking them to use less of an expensive ingredient. Kids do not mess up the table flinging bits they take out of food. And kids who fill up on mac and cheese take very small portions of meat, usually.

We always feed kids what parents are eating except for shellfish and fish, and things with bits of mushrooms or onions or capers or peppers, or any little stuff that makes them turn down a whole dish.

jacobsmawedding15 · January 2015

If you had chicken nuggets in your buffet line...I'd probably go for those instead of the adult meal. LOL.

Kids meals or no?

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