More Than One Entree on a Plate?

Our buffet plans for each guest taking both proteins (beef & chicken). I think it's nice for them to get a taste of both. I've seen it before for buffet, not plated. Usually each portion is a little smaller.

Would it be the same price? That makes no sense to me because you would think it ups the price because every single person gets both proteins (say chicken and steak). Honestly I think it's a huge HUGE waste of food. We went to a marine corp ball this past year in atlantic city and they gave us filet mignon and chicken. The filet was phenomenal, and I hate chicken (took one maybe two bites of it). Most people at my table at the steak, not the chicken. I would just do meal choices. I think it's a standard and really shouldn't be THAT much more work. You're still gonna need to get a guest count, adding a meal choice to the rsvp isn't a big deal.

It’s called a duet plate. At weddings I’ve been to with a duet plate I usually see people only eat one of the protein options. We had a plated meal and it wasn’t difficult to get people to select a meal choice when RSVPing. And we would’ve done escort cards no matter what.

I’ve seen it done several times. I think it really depends on your proteins and budget.

Our venue offers a duet option too for the same price. So for one of our plates, we paired steak with shrimp. People have the option of choosing other dishes tho that are just one protein. I think if your venue offers just a giant plate of food for each person, that's going to be a giant waste of food. Also, there are a lot of people who probably won't eat something if the juices of another food are touching it.

I'm intrigued by this idea. I've never been to an event that had this but I kind of like it! We go for our tasting this weekend, so I think I'll ask about this

We are doing a duet plate (filet and chicken) I didn't take any pictures of it at the tasting but it did not look like a modgepodge on the plate. For us, the duet plate is slightly lower priced than the filet alone ($75 vs $81 - We would pay the filet price for all guests, not just those who selected it if we had gone the traditional route). The portions are slightly smaller, It is an 8 oz steak instead of a 12 oz steak (which I think is a perfectly reasonable portion) but 1 chicken breast either way. I like this option because beyond not having to track it for RSVPs and not having to chase people down who didn't include their selection, no one has to choose what they want 2 months in advance. I love steak, but some days I really just want chicken.

Ah, ok. Duet plate. Sounds good if it's steak and lobster lol, but not sure if any other combo would be worth it. Who's going to eat chicken and beef? That's alot of food!

Never heard of it. Like many people said combining protein options is harder in terms of flavors. You'd need to pick sides carefully.
Overall I think most people will probably only eat one, if you have steak it tends to be very filling, a seafood side many people just don't eat and if they do even less people like combining that flavor with something else. Chicken is typically good for everyone but putting it next to steak or fish means it'll likely be eaten second or not at all.
I'd be afraid you'd waste food and end up paying more because protein is expensive

I personally wouldn't mind two proteins because I like to eat a lot! Sadly, like PPs mention, there's a high chance food will be wasted and you'll lose money

View Quoted Comment

That's what I was thinking. i don't think we'll do that, then.

I would be really afraid that some people wouldn't eat both, and you'd have more waste. But honestly, if you like both, and it fits your budget, go for it. If you're worried about waste, it really isn't too difficult to get people's choices.

We had the option for the duet plate as well and initially we're "woo'ed" by the option of not having to collect meal stuff for folks (our invites were already printed at the time); the upcharge was a bit too high for us - we figured with the waste of food + $1000 in additional cost to serve our guests two meats it didn't fit in our day and instead solved our RSVP issue by having our RSVPs available online to request meal choice.

Ah I was almost going with a caterer who does this. I actually think it is a good idea because it would technically make for more food and variety and that is always nice. Just check if the cost for it works for your budget and choose a pairing that would go ok together.