Okay, this topic is coming up quite a bit in my world and those of my talented vendor friends, so I thought I would step in and write a bit about it so that you, bridey, can stop killing us with all of the back and forth. Here's the deal, your wedding isn't until November or December, but for sake of the invitation, you need to know what you're serving at the wedding so that you can complete the insert for the invitation. Sound familiar? What is a girl to do? Well, here's a little test. Let's see how you do:
a. Call your wedding venue and demand a tasting?
b. Email your wedding planner (or invitation vendor) stating "emergency" in the subject line?
c. Panic, I mean your wedding is only six months away; why isn't anybody getting back to me?
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.

NONE OF THE ABOVE! Bridey, a tip? Relax. Everything is going to be okay. I swear, I'm totally not meaning to patronize, but everything will be okay. Let me walk you through this one, because it's a very valid point, although if your wedding isn't for six months or so, frankly, you don't matter to most of your vendors right now (sorry, but true story!). I know you don't want to hear this, but your venue, caterer, etc. are in the middle of a very busy spring wedding season. And if your wedding isn't until late fall, I can assure you that the last thing they want to do is hear from you, let alone arrange a tasting so that you can figure out what to put in your invitation.

So, what should you do? Well, it's actually quite simple. You can decide to serve a duet, or two proteins on each plate, such as a beef or a fish (keep in mind, duets can get a bit pricy). Or simply serve everybody the same dish (don't worry, your caterer and/or venue will take care of any vegetarians who identify themselves) such as chicken or beef. But, if you are determined to give everybody a choice, and you are completely torn on what those choices are going to be, beef, fish, chicken, pork, etc. then listen up! More often than not, you are allowed two choices (not including a vegetarian option), and if you are not sure if you want to serve beef and chicken, or beef and fish, or fish and chicken, then look down because I am about to fix everything:

_____ M.... _________ Accepts with pleasure, blah blah blah

_____ from the land

_____ from the sea

Done. Bridey, that's all you need to write on the insert. That's it. From the land indicates that it's going to beef, chicken, pork, game, etc.... Hense, from the land. And from the sea is clearly fish. It's not necessary to describe how each dish is prepared. I mean, most of your guests won't remember what they ordered anyway so why get into all of the details? Also, remember that you can't please everybody, and in the world of allergies, gluten issues, dairy issues, etc., there is no way you can. So, don't not choose something that you love because somebody you know has a shellfish allergy, or so and so isn't eating gluten. Trust me. Those guests will make themselves known either on the response card or at the event. So, simplify this for yourself. Right?

Okay, bridey, now that you know how to take care of this part of the puzzle, settle down and give your vendors a little room to breathe. Cool?

Image via Designspiration