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We aren't having beef at the wedding so no, I don't believe that everyone "Expects" beef. We are however doing a choice between chicken, salmon or pasta. It is nice to have choices as a guest. Can't the venue do something else that would be comparable to the price of the chicken?
It's always nicer if people get a choice, but do what you can afford.
I don't think everyone "expects" beef necessarily. You also have to think about your guest list. Are there a lot of people that aren't red meat eaters? You might consider the old chicken or beef option. But if price is a really big concern, go with chicken for everyone.
I don't think anything is "required" but rather it is a bit more considerate to provide your guests choices. When you are trying to accomodate a great number of people it is typically more successful to give them a greater number of choices.
That being said no you don't have to have beef but if you can accomodate for the extra choice in your budget then I would suggest doing so, or at least providing a second "meat" option.
Our contract didn't allow for more than one entree choice (apart from veggie substitutes as necessary), so five of us had a tasting and just picked the one we liked best. Nobody complained about the lack of choice, they were too busy raving over how good the food was!
The last wedding I went to offered chicken marsala or mac and cheese as the entrees on the buffet. And it was awesome. :)
I think it's fine. Where I grew up there weren't usually a choice of entrees, so for me it's a nice surprise when there's a choice, but I don't expect one.
Do what you can afford. There are people who will be happy with the chicken you give them and then there are people who will never be content no matter how many choices they have. So don't worry about it and just do what is feassible for you.
Side story: we had FOUR entree options at our wedding. Chicken, fish, beef, veggie. We had a guest call to tell us that she doesn't like any of the options and if we could just order her a filet mignon instead. HA!
I expect chicken and I actually prefer chicken to beef. Not everyone expects beef. You do not need to have a choice.
If you can't afford it, don't do it! As long as you are giving more than one option, you are fine. Even if the options are Chicken or Veggie.
We had 3 choices because some people couldn't eat beef due to religious reasons, the Europeans didn't like to eat fish and chicken was.. well.. boring (and well-known for being 'cheap').We also had a vegetarian option. The venue charges the same for all eventhough the vegetarian menu (3 courses) cost $120 less:(
As a guest, I would appreciate a choice. I don't care so much if it's expensive or cheap but a choice would be nice. Normally though, I'd pick beef or lamb.
We're having a buffet that will have a chicken option and a vegetarian option. FI is from Texas and is all about red meat, but he actually suggested that we didn't need to serve beef.
I've been to weddings where everyone got the same thing, and I was fine with that.
If you can't afford to have a choice of entree then don't do it! It's not worth breaking the bank! I think your guests will be fine with whatever you choose to offer. After all, it's your wedding and you are paying for it, not your guests!
I think if you can afford it offer a choice, but otherwise it is not a must. I mean, guests are eating for free.... they can get over it if they have an issue with it lol.
there are many less expensive cuts of beef besides the typical prime rib or beef tenderloin. check with your venue if they can do a striploin roast or something. it should be similar in price to your chicken dish, maybe a couple $ more. then you can offer the choice to your guests.
We aren't doing beef, but a salmon option instead. It was a bit cheaper and I LOVE SALMON! I would eat it for every meal if I could (but not from a can). Anyways, I think that having a choice is nice (not everyone loves chicken) but I don't think the other option HAS to be a beef dish.
It's nice to have a choice but it's not "expected" to have beef at a wedding - in fact, it's often hard to get beef cooked to everyone's individual liking, so chicken might be better and easier. It is nice to have a choice - is it possible to have a fish dish too?
I think it's nice to have a choice, but not expected. We are doing chicken marsala and stuffed tenderloin on the same plate (and veggie of course), and not offering a choice. The caterer actually gave a discount for doing that because then the servers don't have to deal with figuring out who has what dish.
We did chicken and fish no beef, my parents complained at first but so far no guests have commented!!!!
@meowkers I can't believe she called and asked for filet mignon that's NUTS!
I will say, I do think it's nice when there is a choice coming from someone with food allergies.
I am allergic to gluten, mushrooms and onions and often times the entree choice allows me to pick whichever of the choices has the least of them.
However, if it's not in your budget, it's not. I would just make sure the one choice is something versatile.
Great example:
I went to a wedding and the choice was like an apricot chicken stuffed with cheese. It was breaded so it was not gluten free.
Maybe talk to the venue and see if you can make the chicken choice very versatile for people that may be dairy and gluten free. I say this because most veggie options are cheesy pasta dishes. Hope that helps!
My FH and I decided to do a hors d'oeuvres reception BECAUSE none of the venues in our area offer choices (other than vegetarian) for banquet-style receptions. So that tells you how important I personally think choices are to guests (and to myself & my FH).
However, I understand bugetary constraints can influence these things. (FH & I aren't having an open bar at our wedding for this reason, which is something that I know many people would disagree with me on the "okay-ness" of.) What I would suggest is to find out what the vegetarian option would be, and what the chicken option would be, and put those on your RSVP cards, so that people can make an informed choice.
Also, like a PP mentioned, keep a weather eye for allergies/food intolerances/religious restrictions.
I think just chicken's fine. I'm a pescetarian (fish-eating vegetarian), and we're not including a vegetarian option on the reply card- crab cakes & flank steak- if someone can't eat either, they'll let you know- I always write "vegetarian option requested, please" on reply cards.
Choices are nice, but not necessary.
As for beef being “expected” at weddings, as a guest I don’t “expect” any particular food, especially now that people are getting more creative with wedding food and thinking outside the “chicken or beef” box. Also, I’ve always thought beef was ill-suited to being cooked and served en masse because everybody has different temperature preferences.
I say do what you want! CHoices are always nice of course, as a non beef eater we are not having beef at the wedding and i have only had ONE person complain. Our choices are fish or veggie
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Hi Bees!
I'm having a "disagreement" with my FI. At our venue we can have a choice of entree, however there is a big price difference between chicken and beef - like $13 per person. I say we just give everyone chicken (of course there is a veggie choice). He's insiting that "everyone expects beef at a wedding." What do you think? Is it ok not to have a choice? Or do we go with the choice of chicken or beef and just swallow the extra cost?