For any of you who may have followed any of my previous wedding posts, I posted once about how to word my RSVP's to limit the number of people who come to the wedding due to our space constraints. I got many varied responses on this matter, but ultimately decided to place a line on the RSVP's that read, " ___ Seat(s) have been reserved in your honor" and filled in the blank as was appropriate to each person being invited (i.e. if they are single, married, etc.) We didn't want to specify it as a "no kids" wedding, because there will be a handful of kids there... so we allowed each invitee to decide who they will bring to the wedding, up to the amount of seats reserved for them...
We also have 2 entree choices at our wedding, so on the RSVP, I put something like this:
____ # chicken
____ # steak
and expected each RSVP to contain the number of each dinner requested for the invitees.
Well, we've begun to receive our RSVP's back, and I foresaw this as a problem, but really hadn't thought through a solution, and now I'm fretting about what to do about this...
Example:
An RSVP comes back with Mr. & Mrs. Smith will attend, 1 chicken dinner, and 1 steak dinner.
I have no idea which party wants which dinner, so I have no way of informing the waitstaff which person ordered which dinner. UGH
I had planned to place a white dot sticker on the back of the wooden place holders for each person to signify that person ordered chicken, and a red dot for steak. But with the way I sent out the RSVP's, I don't know who wants which dinner.
What can I do about this now? Of course, some people forget which they ordered, especially if they like both dishes... I know I've RSVP'd and forgotten what I ordered, so I hate to rely on the guests to remember which dinner they ordered. And I need to be sure that I have enough of each dinner prepared to meet the actual orders of the guests...
Any thoughts?
Ok, thank you ladies. I feel better now. I think I will just place all the dots on the head of household's placecard, and then the waitstaff can ask the specific family members which meal they chose, or just put one dot on each place card, and let them switch if I guessed wrong! I'm sure it will balance out in the end. I know they will have some extras of each meal, so I'm sure it will all be ok. :)
Just put all the colored dots on the back of the head of households place card and the wait staff can ask that person who gets which.
It seems to me the wait staff won't know who the people are anyway and could just ask at the time. I'm guessing they'd go to the assigned tables and could look up people by name and just ask: "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I have you down for one chicken and one steak. Who preferred the chicken?" You might ask at the venue how they usually handle this.
Relax comes to mind. :)
It will work itself out. Say one couple is a chicken and a steak and the dots are on the wrong place cards. They will swap dishes after they are served, problem solved.
Again relax.
Heck I am so laid back about my wedding I have no dress and no reception hall. I will probably get worried around June, maybe not, who knows. :) I'll stuff um all in my back yard if need be. :p
I would send out an email saying something like "We received your RSVP. Thank you so much. We noticed that one of you wants chicken and one steak. The caterer has asked that we find out who wants what so the waitstaff knows who to give what plate to."
Then you're blaming it on the caterer. If you don't have their email, call them. If they're friends of your mom or dad or the future in-laws, ask them to call.
Good luck and congrats!
Usually the bring out the entrees and the recipients will kind of nod to the chicken and wave away the steak. It will be OK. Waitstaffs are used to this. People will speak up to get what they prefer.
EDITED: Is it too late to make chicken and cow hats for everyone to put on as they come in to the reception? LOL J/K!
We do this all the time when planning events here at work. Preprint a bunch of small, cute plaquards (say orange for chicken and green for steak--or use your wedding colors) with "steak" and "chicken" on them. As guests arrive at the reception, designate a Bridesmaid/Groomsman to ask guests as they arrive what they ordered and hand them a plaquard to set at their seat. It will work itself out in the end.
I wound't worry about it at all. The wait staff will ask once they are seated. And if a couple get the wrong meals, they will just switch them.
Just have a great day. It will all work out fine.
Have you talked to the restaurant or caterer about this to see if they need an exact count? I've been to weddings where we marked our dinner choice on the rsvp, but at the reception, the waiters took our order before serving. Some people couldn't remember what they selected and the waiter said it was no problem, they use the rsvp's to get a general idea but make extras of both entrees in case people change their mind or for the additional surprise guests. If this is the case for your wedding, you won't need to worry about placing colored stickers on your guests place cards.
I believe the staff just asks them which they ordered when they are seated. =)
Everything will work out fine.
I assume those seats are reserved together so if it is a couple could their placard read "The Smiths" and then have one steak and one chicken colored dot. Then the couple can fight amongst themselves as to who will eat which entree. It will still give the wait staff enough guidance as to what people are eating.
How about putting lines at the bottom for the names to be added by the adressee (sp) and have the person put a "X" next to the meal of their choice?
Chicken Steak Child
Sarah Jones X
Mike Jones X
Neil Jones X
Then when you get them back you can add the stickers to the name place cards. People don't have to remember and you will just need to have the wait staff count the numbers at each table prior to service. You could also add a "Veggie Option" for your non-meateater friends.
Hope this helps. Best Wishes!
One solution that will take someone at the door of the reception or going around tables to check people in. Make up a spreadsheet with the Invitation name in one column number of seats in another, number of chicken and number of beef each in their own column. Then when they are checked in give them a dot to place on their own place holder.
Example (hoping the formatting works when this is posted).
|Name |Seats |Chicken |Beef
|Smith |3 |2 |1
Note: The formatting didn't stick so I put a | where the entry should be in a new cell.
Then when they come in, check by their name and give them 2 white dots and one red. To make it even easier, just give out one set of stickers for either beef or chicken.
It's a little work but I think any solution is going to be at this point.
I would let the people sort it out the day of. It is not uncommon for one person to take an order at a restaurant and then someone else deliver and ask who had what plate. If you have 8 people at a table and you know that 4 people ordered steak, then send the servers there with 4 steak dinners and the people can speak up. I'm sure the caterers have handled worse.
Or you could follow up and ask which wanted which. Maybe delegate this to your maid of honor?
Relax! I've been to lots and lots of dinners and who gets which has never been indicated ahead of time for the wait staff. The wait staff brings out the plates and each guest says which one they want. I suggest you talk with the restaurant and where ever you're having the meal. I suspect this is no big deal.
Unfortunately the only way to truely clear this up is to call everyone. Sorry... What a mess... but surely something you'll laugh about in the years to come when you look back on you wedding day!!
your idea to put it on the back of the name thing is is a good one. If one couple orders one of each. they can easily switch. Plus the wait staff knows to verify before putting the plate down.
Don't worry. Have fun!
