How to include menu choices in wedding invitations. It’s a question I’m asked nearly every time I meet with a couple to discuss their stationery. Do you have to include a menu in the invite? How do you incorporate menu options? Should you ask about dietary requirements? What about children’s meals? And if you do need to include menu choices in wedding invitations, what style of invite is best? So many questions. I’ll answer them each in turn in this blog post.
Do you even need to include a menu in your wedding invites?
This is frequently the first question and my answer is always no, it’s not a necessity unless you need your guests to re-order from a number of options (see how to do this below). In fact, if you are planning a set menu for everyone (i.e. all the same other than those who have dietary requirements) then I discourage it. To be frank, if your guests don’t know what they’re eating until they arrive on the day they don’t have an opportunity to be fussy and request something different. Harsh (sorry) but true.
How to include pre-order menu options in your wedding invitations:
OK, so you’ve chosen to give your guests different options for their wedding breakfast menu. It’s likely you’ll need them to pre-order and the simplest way to do this is via their reply to your invitation. In this scenario I suggest including the full menu (with all the options) as part of the main invitation detail (pocketfold or concertina invitations are perfect for this). Then, encourage your guests to reply on card with space for their name and tick boxes for each dish they have chosen. Remember you’ll need to know who has ordered what, so including the names is essential.
What about dietary requirements, where do we ask for those?
Either way (if you chose to include menu choices in wedding invitations or not) you should always ask guests to let you know of any dietary requirements or allergies. And again, the simplest way to do this is on their reply card. If you’ve chosen not to include reply cards with your invites then a simple line with the RSVP details will suffice. Something like this:
RSVP by 18th August to ‘your wedding email’
(please include dietary requirements)
Should we include the children’s menu in the invites?
Including children’s menus is where it can get a little more complicated, and you have various options. Depending on the number of children (and the number of families/invites it affects) you can choose to sort the little one’s menus privately (i.e. not mentioning it in the invite at all). If you do want to put something in the invitations then I suggest adding a little extra card with the kiddies options and a separate way for them to reply. That could be their own little reply card (to be returned with the adult ones) or a phone number or email address for their options to be sent to. If you do it this way you can just include the children’s menu choices in wedding invitations that need them.
What type of wedding invite is best to include menu choices?
Pocketfold or concertina style wedding invitations, are perfect for including menu options. Pocketfold invitations can hold a number of loose cards which lend themselves to having a menu printed. The reply card with envelope that is included can be printed on both sides with space for the names and tick boxes on the back, as well as a line for dietary requirements. Plenty of space in that pocket if you want to pop a little kiddies menu in there as well. Concertina wedding invites are also a great option for including a menu. The larger, tear off reply postcard has plenty of room for those option tick boxes too.
Pro tip:
If you have asked your guests to pre-order their menu a few months ahead of the big day, the chances are at least some of them will forget what they chose! How about personalised individual wedding menu cards, complete with their name and meal choice, perfect as part of their place setting on the big day.
Click here to see more wedding menu cards
So that’s my thoughts on how to include menu choices in wedding invitations, and all the associated questions that come with it. In summary, you don’t need to include a menu in your wedding invites unless you have options that need to be pre-ordered. If this is the case then include the full menu details along with a reply card with tick boxes for the guest names and menu choices. You should always ask for dietary requirements, and you only really need to include children’s menus in those invites that are going to families with little ones. Simples right!? If you need to include menu options in wedding invites then a pocketfold or concertina style invitation would be ideal.
If you’ve found this blog about how to include menu choices in your invitations useful, you might like to have a read of these ones too. Click to see them.
Click here for 9 details to include on your wedding information cards
Click here for 7 key things to put in your wedding invites
Of course, if you choose to order your wedding invites and stationery with me, I will be on hand to help you with how to include the menu choices and much, much more. All the wording, how many to order and when to send them. If you’d like to book a quick call, make an appointment to visit me in my Cardiff studio, or just ask me a question via email – head over to my contact page, you can do all that there.
Click here to visit my contact page
Not ready to get in touch just yet? Want to watch from the sidelines for a little bit first? I get it, I would too. Why not come and follow Wedding Invites Cardiff on Instagram, I post daily inspo and planning tips, I’d love to see you there. Or, how about finding me on Pinterest? Tip: pin the image below to your wedding planning board so that you can find it again when you need it!
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