Seating Charts-how did you identify meal options for guests?!

An inexpensive and creative idea is to buy small colored stickers from a local art supply store and affix them to the place cards. Red sticker = Chicken, Blue sticker = Filet Mignon, etc... The banquet staff would know in advance of what color stickers to look for and bring out the right plate to your guest. The key is to make sure the guest has their place card in front of them so catering knows what to bring out. Usually, they'll take a count right after the 1st course is served so they know how many blues, reds (or whatever color you chose) to bring for table #1, table # 2, etc...

Hope this helps and good luck to you!

Cheers,

Robert J. Nicpon

Thank you! I do like this idea-however, We were planning to do our seating chart similar to the pic above. Therefore we would not have place cards. So I am hoping to find out if there are any alternatives to this.

So cute!

We had family style service but for the people who needed special meals, I actually made a separate and very detailed copy of the seating chart and indicated which person at which table needed what, where there was an allergy, where the highchair needed to go, how many place settings were needed at each table, where the guests were seated who needed a piece of my gluten-free cake tier, etc.

It was like 4 pages long and probably kinda OCD but it seemed to go really well.

I am so super glad that you asked this! I have been wondering the same thing!

I am definitely gonna be following this thread to see what answers you get, and to those who have suggestions, thank you!

Most of the receptions that I have been to use a card that has some kind of mark either a stamp or a special design punch that clued the server which plate was to go where, but I see your question suggests that you're not using placecards, I did attend one reception where the server went around and asked - like in a restuarant, but then you have to hope that your guest remembers which option they chose, or have extra of each in case someone changed thier mind

I like that idea kris-I did hear somewhere (this just reminded me!) that we could provide a list of who is sitting at each table and beside each name would be what they are having so that the servers can just ask who is who and give them their meal. WIll have to ask my caterer if this is reasonable/practical to execute.

still though-bring on the ideas/suggestions!

It might depend on how many guests you have and I guess just the mood of your catering coordinator. There was probably an easier way to do it but for me it was a way to quadruple check our seating chart against the guest list, and I gave a copy to our DOC and bartenders as well so they could pay special attention to the people who we knew would be high maintenance and complain a lot (*cough*FIL*cough*)

We also added info like where our parents/families/WPs were sitting, which tables were full of people who don't speak English at all, etc. I noticed FIL wasn't getting enough attention at one point and I asked a waiter to take care of him and she was like, "Oh yes, that's the guy from the note, you bet" so I know they read it.

If you have a seating chart, just tell the caterer which places have which meal. Most will work with you on that. If you have two colors of napkins, another option would be to have the napkins coordinated to which type of meal.

Ie-blue for chicken and white for beef.

I put a little colored dot on the back of the name cards. Then let the venue know a head of time which color meant what. it worked fine and they actually suggested this to us.

All great suggestions. I like the colored dot idea since unless you assign a specific seat at a table, it's still a little bit of a guessing game for the servers...

We went to a wedding where when we found out what table we were at they already had a card with our names on it along with a colored gemstone in the corner. That way we knew not only which table but also which seat. And the servers knew which plate to give us by the gemstone.

Cyndi...i like that idea even more than the dot...thanks!

I'm just realizing that my RSVP cards ask for how many of each dish people want, but it doesn't let them specify who wanted what if they want different things.

so right now i know Mr and Mrs. So and So are attending, and they want 1 chicken and 1 beef...but don't know who wants what.

Ours is the same way, Julie. Worse comes to worse, the couple can swap dishes (?) Not going to sweat the small stuff..as long as the food is good, I'm happy. The servers can take over..I'm sure they're more than experienced in such matters

Ask your caterer what they want is always a good idea

I had a seating chart made to let our guests know what table they would be sitting but I am also doing place cards with an icon of a chicken, Lobster, Pig and Cow to indicate their meal choice.

I think the best thing to do (like Soon to be mrs K suggestion) is to talk to your caterer and see what he prefers. Rather than come up with something on your own that the caterer and staff will have to learn, It would be a lot easier on them to tell you how they normally do it. If there is one person you don't want to upset or make their job harder on your wedding, it's the person cooking your food.

LOL...excellent point, Jennifer. Think I'll do that

Not sure how you could do it without having individual place cards. We're going the sticker route, too.