Entree choice - which meat?

I don’t like lamb personally and I’m not huge on red meat... I think you should do one or the other and possibly a chicken. I get that you like lamb, my husband and his family LOVE it .. our venue offered miniature lamb chops for hors d'oeuvres and we almost included it .. but then decided we were better off adding something we know more then just a handful of people would enjoy

I love lamb so I would be happy, but if lamb isn't cooked amazingly it can be dry and or stringy. I also think lamb isn't necessarily controversial but it might seem too different an offering a meat for more traditional folks. My family think adding sour cream to mashed potatoes is crazy talk! Lol Does it have to be a red meat option or can it be a chicken dish instead?

Oh oops .. I think I read it wrong 🙈 I thought you wanted to include both lol.. if it’s beween the two I’d do the beef dish

Hmmm...ultimately go with what fits best with your vision for your wedding. However, I'd definitely want my guests to enjoy their food (especially since we are paying so much for it), so I might lean towards the beef.

We're not wild about doing a chicken dish I think because none of the chicken dishes seemed sufficiently "fancypants" to complement the rest of the menu.

The fish options we're looking at are seared branzino and lobster risotto, and since the venue has a nautical theme and is right by the water, we definitely want to include a fish entree.

I'm also trying to keep in mind that I've been to plenty of weddings where I didn't like either entree option or nothing at the buffet but like...you get what you get and you don't get upset. Since there will be a vegetarian/vegan option as well, should that satisfy most people if we do lamb, fish, and veg? It's tricky to figure out between trying to make sure everyone is happy and has what they want/need and not going crazy in the process. We're even ordering a special vegan/allergy sensitive cake for our vegan guests. When I started planning, two cakes is not something that had even crossed my mind!

Lamb is less common so it might be more of a risk. I think it depends on the area and type of fish you are serving if that would be considered your “safe” dish that the majority of people would like. If you are on the fence, I’d probably go with beef because it’s more common and something that most red meat eaters would enjoy. I’m a little biased because I hate lamb and only eat white fish but would happily have beef.

I think the moment you invite guest you take their comfort into conceriation. I would never want to serve two entries that would make my guest side eye it. I wanted my guests fed and happy. I knew if they weren't they would leave early to get food.

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I agree that we need to take their comfort into consideration but I'm just wondering how far that extends. If we have a meat, fish, and vegan/veggie entree, I'm hoping that would cover everyone, I'm just trying to make it so no one comes after us with torches and pitchforks if we do decide on the lamb.

I've honestly never heard of someone being offended by lamb. They should try mutton if they think eating a younger sheep is worse haha because there is a reason people eat lamb! I'd be more worried about people not liking lamb or fish. I think pickier people don't like lamb and a lot of people don't eat fish. Personally, I LOVE lamb and come from a family of sheep ranchers. Could you not have a silent vegetarian option and just have 3 options on the buffet?

I feel like having lamb and fish as the only entree options could be pretty controversial since those aren’t things that are as universally liked... my FH is not generally a picky eater at all but fish and lamb are actually the 2 things on earth that he doesn’t like lol. If you really like the lamb could you take out the fish option and substitute chicken or something more universally liked?

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I just don't feel lamb is popular. People might not even want to try it because what they THINK it might taste like.

I couldn't do a veggie opinion because my body runs better on meat as a protein. Now, I would be really happy with your seafood dish, but people are weird about seafood.

I think you are safer going a beef option to make sure your guests are happy then worrying about how fancy the menu is.

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We have a silent vegan option that I know people will be ordering since I have a good handful of vegans and vegetarians, and it'll be listed on the menu as "vegan entree available upon request". I might also just ask the venue what happens if someone doesn't like any of the options, and do they have anything simpler on standby. Has anyone had experience with something like that?

I feel like I've asked for that myself before because I had dietary restrictions for a long time and never wanted to impose my needs on an entire wedding, so I didn't say anything in advance, but it's been so long that I can't recall how that went.

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So it's not in budget to have 3 entrees on the buffet?

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It's a plated dinner, so we don't have a buffet where folks can just go up and choose. We get to select two entrees listed on the menu, and then we get to select a vegan entree that's available upon request. So there will definitely be three entree options, just not three in the meat/poultry/fish category. We only get two there.

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I'm actually with you on this! We are having a two option plated dinner plus a silent vegetarian option. Due to religious beliefs and health issues we have decided to have one option as fish and am leaning towards a beef choice as the second. Which for some might not be to their liking. I guess you have to go with you can't please all the people all the time!

I think lamb is fine - really anything but just chicken and fish is fine. I actually get really annoyed at weddings when the two options are chicken and fish. I don't like fish a lot of fish and I am particular about how I like my chicken cooked and a lot of times a wedding doesn't have perfectly cooked food for every guest as they are usually feeding 100+ people. As one of my best friends once said 'red meat a little over cooked still tastes like red meat, but chicken a little over cooked is gross'.

If someone has a huge problem with lamb and doesn't like fish they will likely ask for the vegetarian option.

So a friend just brought up that if someone likes neither meat nor fish nor vegetarian option they’re going to be upset. I’m really picky about how chicken is cooked, and honestly, none of the chicken options looked appealing. “Breast of chicken” sounds nicer than just saying “this here piece of chicken” but it’s still a piece of chicken. I think we will probably have to skip the lamb and anyone who likes neither beef nor fish nor vegan is going to have to make peace with one of them for the night. The cocktail hour has 8 passed h’ors d’oeuvres, a crudite station, a cheese station, and a pasta station, so it’s not like we’ll be starving people.

View Quoted Comment This seems like the better option! Beef is a bit more universally liked than lamb, so I think you won’t have *too* many people who are unhappy with beef, fish, or vegan. Vegan is really your catchall here, because even if someone isn’t pleased with it - they’ll still be able to eat it without any real worries of how it’s prepared, etc.

My FH and I are both vegetarians. We really wanted to have only vegetarian food. When we floated the idea around family there was a lot of backlash. Ultimately we decided it was more important our guests were catered to then ourselves. My parents are also paying for the catering and my dad wouldn’t settle for no meat. We will be having prime rib, salmon and a ravioli (veggie option). That being said you won’t be able to please everyone. I’m sure some people don’t like lamb but there are also going to be people who won’t eat the red meat. So you’ll have to roll the dice either way. Is there a way you can list the vegan option as not silent? That way people know what it is. If it’s not marketed as only “vegan option” those who aren’t inclined to your meat choices might pick it as a substitute with out the stigma of it only being for vegans. Either way as long as people are fed it’ll be okay. Don’t stress too much!

View Quoted Comment I mean this could happen wether you do beef or lamb lol, loke I said I’m not a huge fan or red meat .. I don’t eat fish.. and I probably wouldn’t pick Vegeterian without knowing what it is first ( I do like mushrooms at all and I feel like there are mushrooms in all vegetarian options lol)... but I would pick the beef and be content - I don’t know what I’d pick if it was lamb fish or veggie
to be honest