Meal Option Prices

BarneyMc

My fiancee and myself are due to get married next May. Anyway the standard meal includes just the options of salmon or turkey & ham. To add in beef as an extra option costs an extra €4 per person which works out at about €600 as we expect 150 guests.

We don't want to seem mean so which of the following would you suggest:

Stick with salmon and turkey & ham
Upgrade to salmon, turkey & ham and beef (extra €600)
Mix it to salmon & beef (extra ?)

What's the norm at a wedding?

seosamh1980

I absolutely hate turkey and ham as a wedding option, it just strikes me as so Christmas wedding 1987. I'd leave it out entirely as an option and I personally would go with beef or salmon if they were my choices (I know lots of people in turn hate those choices!), would they include chicken as an option too? It's a cheap one for them to provide so most places should be happy to as they save money if people order it, but it gives your guests another option. Our package included steak or fish and we got chicken added as another option with no extra cost (they're only delighted to serve cheaper chicken than the steak or fish, wish is why I always order red meat or fish, never chicken or turkey!).

jlm29

I LOVE turkey and ham! Reminds me of Xmas, and I love Xmas!
Go with what you want, and can afford. If you're worried about people thinking your cheap, then those people aren't important enough to be at your wedding.
"Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind"... And all that jazz!

January

We went with the cheapest option of Chicken (with a leek and tomato sauce type thingie over it... there's a silent option of steak but it has to be ordered in advance and will only be on certain tables, my fussy uncle won't eat chicken... ) and most people seem ok with that. Our wedding is on New Years Eve and we thought Turkey & Ham would be too much a week after Christmas (and besides it is 8 euro extra on top of the chicken option!)

We went with bacon & cabbage (with an Irish Whiskey sauce) or chicken stuffed with apricots as the meat options.

What do you like? What do you think your guests will like? Ignore the 'norm' go with what you're happy with.

Moonbeam

it depends on what you want,there maybe other options too.
My husband wanted turkey and ham despite about 10 other choices so it was that or sea bass.
There were different beef options some were 0 more the most expensive was about 8 euro more and it was still a choice of 2 main courses.
If you add the beef it will still probably be a choice of 2 and you do not have to have a fish choice.

BarneyMc

Thanks for all your varied suggestions! Will see what they can do for us.

BarneyMc

Got this explained. The extra €4 per head just gets beef onto the menu. It's still an option of 2 so the options are:

1. Beef or Salmon
2. Beef or Turkey & Ham
3. Salmon or Turkey & Ham

Looks like it's the good ole Beef or Salmon option. Any comments?

pooch90

All have their benefits.
Beef & salmon are fairly standard and is what people are half expecting heading in.
Beef/ T&H leaves no option for the vegetarians but I'd assume the hotel will have a veg option, just not on the menu.
Salmon/ T&H gives the fish and white meat and red meat so would be the most versatile in my opinion.

I'm half thinking of having pork at ours as I'd like something a little different to beef/salmon and I personally am not a massive turkey fan.
What i was thinking too was that most packages have a starter, soup, main, dessert, tea&coffee and cake.
I want (provided OH is on board) is to do an option between the starter and soup instead of 2 courses.
Our hotel do big portions of mains so I don't see the point in filling up the guests before the main.
Also half tempted to serve the cake at the drinks reception too as it will be more appreciated at that point.
If there's any left then throw it out during the evening food.

BarneyMc

pooch90 wrote: »

All have their benefits.
Beef & salmon are fairly standard and is what people are half expecting heading in.
Beef/ T&H leaves no option for the vegetarians but I'd assume the hotel will have a veg option, just not on the menu.
Salmon/ T&H gives the fish and white meat and red meat so would be the most versatile in my opinion.

Interesting points. I still think we Irish expect beef when we go to a wedding. I think then that leaves no other option but salmon as otherwise all the vegetarians will get is a pasta dish. :eek:

January

BarneyMc wrote: »

Interesting points. I still think we Irish expect beef when we go to a wedding. I think then that leaves no other option but salmon as otherwise all the vegetarians will get is a pasta dish. :eek:

Real vegetarians don't tend to eat fish anyway. You can ask them for something alternative to a pasta dish for the vegetarians. Ask some of your veggie friends what their favorite dishes are. It's nice to put some thought into the veggies rather than just taking the pasta dish the hotel offers.

BarneyMc

January wrote: »

Real vegetarians don't tend to eat fish anyway. You can ask them for something alternative to a pasta dish for the vegetarians. Ask some of your veggie friends what their favorite dishes are. It's nice to put some thought into the veggies rather than just taking the pasta dish the hotel offers.

Yes a good point and my fiancee is a vegetarian - well a fish eating one :eek:

That would give the meat eaters a good choice and maybe come up with something different for both the fish eating and non fish eating vegetarians!

tatli_lokma

BarneyMc wrote: »

Yes a good point and my fiancee is a vegetarian - well a fish eating one :eek:

That would give the meat eaters a good choice and maybe come up with something different for both the fish eating and non fish eating vegetarians!

Then she's not a vegetarian, shes a pescetarian!

As a vegetarian, please please for the love of god put a little bit of thought into the meal and actually have a proper vegetarian option - i.e not fish, not with any fish/meat stock, no parmesan or other animal rennet cheese. The amount of chefs who think that parmesan is veggie is unreal, and the amount of hotels that slap a bowl of pasta and dolmio type sauce at you is also very disappointing. Something fresh, simple and tasty is much better than something fancy which isn't actually veggie but just has no meat!

Gatica

I think many hotels will tell you what the option for vegetarian is, and you can tell them whether you're happy to server that to your guests or not.

Personally would prefer beef over turkey and ham. Beef tends to be reasonably good, whereas turkey/ham cooked badly can be quite dry and very boring.
Salmon or Beef are good staples. If it's costing you such a huge amount of money though, as suggested you could request to have chicken...

Fagashlil

pooch90 wrote: »

All have their benefits.
Beef & salmon are fairly standard and is what people are half expecting heading in.
Beef/ T&H leaves no option for the vegetarians but I'd assume the hotel will have a veg option, just not on the menu.
Salmon/ T&H gives the fish and white meat and red meat so would be the most versatile in my opinion.

I'm half thinking of having pork at ours as I'd like something a little different to beef/salmon and I personally am not a massive turkey fan.
What i was thinking too was that most packages have a starter, soup, main, dessert, tea&coffee and cake.
I want (provided OH is on board) is to do an option between the starter and soup instead of 2 courses.
Our hotel do big portions of mains so I don't see the point in filling up the guests before the main.
Also half tempted to serve the cake at the drinks reception too as it will be more appreciated at that point.
If there's any left then throw it out during the evening food.

We had pork at ours, went down a treat. Had a choice of pork and beef and a silent option of salmon which I refused to tell anyone about as the smell of fish makes me so ill, hubby told his granny about it cos apparently you can't have a wedding meal without fish:rolleyes: we also served our soup course during the welcome reception, as we got married in winter so was something to warm people. Cake we served with the evening food, and people took more with them the next morning and we brought the rest down the pub the next night.

Moonbeam

serving soup at the reception is a great idea in the cold.
We had mulled wine and i didn't get any of it!! or the canapés.
We served cake with the evening food too,people were way too full after dessert.

dazed+confused

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Then she's not a vegetarian, shes a pescetarian!

As a vegetarian, please please for the love of god put a little bit of thought into the meal and actually have a proper vegetarian option - i.e not fish, not with any fish/meat stock, no parmesan or other animal rennet cheese. The amount of chefs who think that parmesan is veggie is unreal, and the amount of hotels that slap a bowl of pasta and dolmio type sauce at you is also very disappointing. Something fresh, simple and tasty is much better than something fancy which isn't actually veggie but just has no meat!

I am very quickly flicking through my wedding inviations to make sure none of them say Tatli Lokma!

tatli_lokma

dazed+confused wrote: »

I am very quickly flicking through my wedding inviations to make sure none of them say Tatli Lokma!

Why? does a vegetarian guest deserve less of a meal than a meat eater? very hospitable indeed. You wouldn't serve a meat eater a bowl of crappy carbonara, so why should a veggie be expected to be grateful for a bowl of soggy pasta with tomato sauce?

dazed+confused

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Why? does a vegetarian guest deserve less of a meal than a meat eater? very hospitable indeed. You wouldn't serve a meat eater a bowl of crappy carbonara, so why should a veggie be expected to be grateful for a bowl of soggy pasta with tomato sauce?

I hate vegetarians having special orders cooked up at weddings, all the while the rest of us are eating a dried up piece of beef or some crappy farmed salmon. I find that the vegetarian option usually reflects the quality of the rest of the menu and if thought has gone into it then this shows in both options. Vegetarians aren't the only ones that often have their tastebuds insulted at weddings!

tatli_lokma

You are always more than welcome to request the vegetarian option if you are being so badly treated as a meat eater! Very rarely are there 'special orders' cooked up on demand at a wedding for veggies - they are pre-prepared just as the beef or fish option is. That said, there is no reason why either the meat or veggie options cannot be tasty meals. There are numerous veggie options that taste better if made the night before, so there really is no excuse. Equally there is no excuse for a trained chef not to know that fish is not veggie, nor is putting chicken stock in an meal.

Generally I have a big breakfast before a wedding and usually have a sandwich or something in the bar of the hotel while I am waiting for the B&G to arrive. With the exception of 2 weddings I have never had a nice veggie meal and always ended up hungry if I don't eat something earlier in the day.

I have been at several types of occasion - not just weddings - where the meat meal was well received by everyone, and yet the vegetarian option was nothing better than a soggy pasta dish, or tasteless stirfy.

At the end of the day, we all know you cannot please everyone - there will always be a few guests who won't like the meal no matter what you put in front of them. Even if you have a michelin starred chef to make the meal someone will moan about it. But my point is that if you are going to give a lot of consideration to what to serve the meat/fish eaters, at least give half of that time in consideration for veggies and don't just give them any aul sh!te as long as it has no meat in it.

dazed+confused

tatli_lokma wrote: »

At the end of the day, we all know you cannot please everyone - there will always be a few guests who won't like the meal no matter what you put in front of them. Even if you have a michelin starred chef to make the meal someone will moan about it.

And there was me thinking it was about celebrating the day with the bride and groom! People seem to be judging weddings now on if they're getting bang for their buck and if the meal was worth the amount they put into the card!

tatli_lokma

dazed+confused wrote: »

And there was me thinking it was about celebrating the day with the bride and groom! People seem to be judging weddings now on if they're getting bang for their buck and if the meal was worth the amount they put into the card!

Oh here we go that old chestnut. So facetious. Anyone who has read my posts knows I am very much the sort of person who advocates celebrating the day and hate the 'covering your meal' mentality.

The truth is for any party - be it a wedding, birthday party, anniversary party - to be a success there are basic elements you need:
Good food
Good music
Good atmosphere

Most people organising a wedding do their best to tick those three boxes. Hungry people are grumpy people. And giving a veggie a soggy bowl of pasta won't fill them full of joy. Because I go to a wedding to enjoy the day with the couple and don't want to be in a bad mood I look after myself with a sambo at the hotel. I appreciate that most people who are not veggie or have veggie mates don't realise how crap the food is at a wedding. They choose the other meals, have tastings for them but assume the hotel will have a decent veggie option and often don't realise it is often crap. I was simply giving insight to meat eaters to be mindful of their veggie guests.

Any friends who have made the effort to ensure a good veggie meal have had my absolute appreciation and it always made me feel welcomed as a guest. And surely as a couple that is one of the main aims of your party - to make people feel welcome and enjoy themselves?

BarneyMc

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Oh here we go that old chestnut. So facetious. Anyone who has read my posts knows I am very much the sort of person who advocates celebrating the day and hate the 'covering your meal' mentality.

The truth is for any party - be it a wedding, birthday party, anniversary party - to be a success there are basic elements you need:
Good food
Good music
Good atmosphere

Most people organising a wedding do their best to tick those three boxes. Hungry people are grumpy people. And giving a veggie a soggy bowl of pasta won't fill them full of joy. Because I go to a wedding to enjoy the day with the couple and don't want to be in a bad mood I look after myself with a sambo at the hotel. I appreciate that most people who are not veggie or have veggie mates don't realise how crap the food is at a wedding. They choose the other meals, have tastings for them but assume the hotel will have a decent veggie option and often don't realise it is often crap. I was simply giving insight to meat eaters to be mindful of their veggie guests.

Any friends who have made the effort to ensure a good veggie meal have had my absolute appreciation and it always made me feel welcomed as a guest. And surely as a couple that is one of the main aims of your party - to make people feel welcome and enjoy themselves?

Point made, I will make a point to ask the hotel to provide a good meal for EVERYONE.

January

tatli_lokma, being a vegetarian yourself could you suggest some dishes that you might like to served at weddings?

Moonbeam

I usually find the vegetarian option at weddings fine.
For my own I spoke to them about the specifics and they more or less told me to choose what I want and they would see if they could make it.

freshpopcorn

I actually studied Hospitality Management at college and have worked in hotels.
When it came to weddings.
Turkey & Ham and Salmon: Normally went down good enough depending on the groups of people. I'll just be BLUNT snobby people had a tendency to complain about Turkey & Ham saying it's only for Christmas and it's the cheap option. apart from them people were happy enough tough. Normally people ate it tough.
Salmon normally went down well enough.
When people had Beef & Salmon: Beef can be messy because sometimes the beef isn't cooked to order and people would be saying it's over done or not done enough. Thats one of the biggest disadvantages of beef, some people also find it a bit tough. Some people love it tough. Same story with the salmon.
When you had Beef, Turkey & Ham, Salmon: It depended on the group of people that was coming in sometimes beef was a hit and sometimes it was the Turkey & Ham.
Sea Bass is becoming very popular on menus instead of Salmon because some people feel Salmon is dated.
When it comes to Vegetarian dishes normally 4 or 5 star properties carter better and they generally will work with you if you want something special.
Sometimes pasta dishes can be messy and people are never really happy with them when they find out it's the vegetarian option.

tatli_lokma

Folks, apologies. I thought I had already responded to the post asking for suggestions.

Here are just a few:

Starters - interesting salads are good, even in winter a warm salad is nice.
Some ideas - beetroot, walnut and goats cheese salad (with rocket). Or pear & walnut.
A twist on a bruschetta/crostini is nice - eg. tomato and bean crostini or bruschetta with roasted veggies.
Vegetarian pate with toast.
Caramelised onion tartlet, with gorgonzola and mascarpone and figs (this could be served as a main too but bigger. This is a favourite of mine and something I make in a small version a lot for with drinks or as a starter and goes down a storm with meat eaters also!)
An old favourite of the wedding meal - vol au vent with mushrooms and a white sauce. Very kitch, but very tasty!

For main, a nice vegetable gratin of some sort with seasonal veg and a decent salad of mixed leaves.
If its a winter wedding, a vegetable pie of some sort is nice and filling (although if you have a pastry starter and/or dessert, it would be too similar).
Char Grilled haloumi cheese with jewelled couscous.
Melanzane Parmigiana (which is an aubergine and parmesan bake, but need to make sure its veggie parmesan).
Vegetarian mousakka or a decent veggie lasagne

All of the above are just kind of basic suggestions, but I am conscious of a wedding being a 'banquet' style meal for the hotel where they usually have large numbers to cater for so they need veggie options they can make in advance and just heat up with minimal fuss.

If I got any of the above at an event - wedding or otherwise - I would go home happy with a full belly.

Teyla Emmagan

ALL of Tatli's suggestions sound delicious. I am not a vegetarian, but I would personally choose any dish on that list above Turkey and Ham.

Electric Sheep

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Folks, apologies. I thought I had already responded to the post asking for suggestions.

Here are just a few:

Starters - interesting salads are good, even in winter a warm salad is nice.
Some ideas - beetroot, walnut and goats cheese salad (with rocket). Or pear & walnut.
A twist on a bruschetta/crostini is nice - eg. tomato and bean crostini or bruschetta with roasted veggies.
Vegetarian pate with toast.
Caramelised onion tartlet, with gorgonzola and mascarpone and figs (this could be served as a main too but bigger. This is a favourite of mine and something I make in a small version a lot for with drinks or as a starter and goes down a storm with meat eaters also!)
An old favourite of the wedding meal - vol au vent with mushrooms and a white sauce. Very kitch, but very tasty!

For main, a nice vegetable gratin of some sort with seasonal veg and a decent salad of mixed leaves.
If its a winter wedding, a vegetable pie of some sort is nice and filling (although if you have a pastry starter and/or dessert, it would be too similar).
Char Grilled haloumi cheese with jewelled couscous.
Melanzane Parmigiana (which is an aubergine and parmesan bake, but need to make sure its veggie parmesan).
Vegetarian mousakka or a decent veggie lasagne

All of the above are just kind of basic suggestions, but I am conscious of a wedding being a 'banquet' style meal for the hotel where they usually have large numbers to cater for so they need veggie options they can make in advance and just heat up with minimal fuss.

If I got any of the above at an event - wedding or otherwise - I would go home happy with a full belly.

We demand recipes!

Gee_G

I was just having a read of this thread and all of your opinions and views are good so I wanted to ask you this.

We are hoping for a marquee wedding and have been in contact with some caterers regarding a pig on spit/BBQ meal. Firstly what does everyone think of this?? Its not just an average BBQ, its like a fancy BBQ menu(this is how I'm trying to describe it to my family anyway ha)

Also, if I was to have canapes with a champagne/sparkling wine reception on arrival, not long before the meal itself, would you still have to do starters?
I'm just interested in peoples opinions on this as a few of the caterers have said it is usually one or the other.
Thanks

tatli_lokma

For obvious reasons the thoughts of a pig on a spit makes me want to heave! Surprisingly I know a lot of non veggies who also think it's rather unpleasant. You would be surprised how many people are quite squeamish about these things and a lot of people aren't keen on pork, even if they eat ham or sausages.

I have been to a number of BBQ type events, two weddings and the rest were work related where money was no object. Without exception they all felt a bit 'grab and growl' bun fight type of thing. I know the formal sit down isn't for everyone but at the same time for me personally a kind of hectic buffet BBQ isn't ideal for a wedding.

If you do go for it and have it in the format of guests still sitting down to eat and being served then I think you still need to do a starter. Usually the champagne and canapés are served as guests arrive and the couple are having photos taken. It's not really going to fill people up and could be a couple of hours still before people get a proper meal. So I think you would still need a starter of some sort.

Gee_G

tatli_lokma wrote: »

For obvious reasons the thoughts of a pig on a spit makes me want to heave! Surprisingly I know a lot of non veggies who also think it's rather unpleasant. You would be surprised how many people are quite squeamish about these things and a lot of people aren't keen on pork, even if they eat ham or sausages.

I have been to a number of BBQ type events, two weddings and the rest were work related where money was no object. Without exception they all felt a bit 'grab and growl' bun fight type of thing. I know the formal sit down isn't for everyone but at the same time for me personally a kind of hectic buffet BBQ isn't ideal for a wedding.

If you do go for it and have it in the format of guests still sitting down to eat and being served then I think you still need to do a starter. Usually the champagne and canapés are served as guests arrive and the couple are having photos taken. It's not really going to fill people up and could be a couple of hours still before people get a proper meal. So I think you would still need a starter of some sort.

Thank you for your reply.
Good to hear from someone had been at one of these kind of BBQ events.
I guess I am just looking for something a bit different which is what I'm getting from having the marquee I suppose but I think the price of full sit down meals for a marquee is just crazy!
Thanks again!