Children and food at reception

DigForVictory

Expectation management is key. State what's on offer & be clear that children will each get a box with sandwiches, crisps, an apple & carton of juice. A toy if budget & inclination permit.

Make it as simple for yourself as possible, get a friend to assemble the boxes on the morning & let the little monsters get on with it.

Anyone whimpering off to Mummy becomes Mummy's problem if you are sufficiently clear in advance.

pelirocco

Paella? ......anyone have a seafood allergy ?

duchy

I was thinking that too-a lot of people won't eat seafood.....will you be offering an adult alternative ?

shop-to-drop

Paella and hog roast are two of my kids very most favourite meals.

I'd be nice though and buy some of those carboard lunch boxes and put a sandwich in clingfilm, a yoghurt or jelly and packet of crisps in it. Let all the parents know they are available for any children that don't want to eat with the adults. These would do for both meals too and can be prepared the day before.

gemma84_2

pelirocco wrote: »

Paella? ......anyone have a seafood allergy ?

Sorry should have said it will be a chicken and chorizo paella with a smaller vegetarian offering.

JimmyTheWig

gemma84 wrote: »

Sorry should have said it will be a chicken and chorizo paella

Sounds delicious!

flea72

Gloomendoom wrote: »

If you are working to a tight budget, hog roasts are a good way to stop your guests going hungry without spending a fortune. Standing up to eat it isn't mandatory.

Flour on my face or a rumbling stomach, I know which I would choose.

A hog roast costs about £400 to feed up to 100 people, so £4/hd for one pork bap for each guest isnt that cheap. If you want plates/cutlery and some salad/spuds thats more money on top

I know it isnt mandatory to stand up and eat, but a pork bap is an eat with your hands food, so most people will stand to eat, as the likliehood is if its not a proper sit down meal, there are usually less tables/chairs than guests.

If you dont want to spend a fortune, then i would just provide a cold platter of food, per table, rather than an actual buffet as that way you can limit/control how far the food goes. Tesco deli counter do a pyo buffet selection of 25 items for £5, ie chicken tikka, prawn toast, pork pies, sausage/spring rolls, satay, add some crisps, olives, breadsticks, etc. meze style and youre done. Can easily be assembled on platters the day before, wrapped in clingfilm and kept in the fridge until needed

I know the OP didnt really want a typical buffet, but by presenting that type of food in a different way, puts a twist on it. By putting food directly on a table where people are sitting you also give the impression of it being a more expensive sit-down do, rather than a queuing herd at a buffet table

scmp

Hi,
We are having our reception in an open barn at an old Victorian farm in June and we have opted for a hog roast as well.
We have 64 adults for the hog, local rolls, new potatoes and coleslaw, 3 vegetarians and 3 who only eat chicken.
20 Children 10 who would be happy with the hog and 10 who we have no idea about.
Our plan is to have a simple buffet for 20 with vegetarian sandwiches, quiches, fruit and vegetable Crudit!s , sausage rolls and chicken goujons. This is for the children mainly and we have a home grown vegetarian stew from the allotment served with local rolls. We will also have salads and pasta salad.
We have more vegetarian stew and lamb stew for later on when the camp fire pits are going
We have picnic tables with sown table cloths and jars with flowers in under the cover of the barn and outdoors there will be picnic blankets where the games will be. *please don't rain!*
All our family know we are outdoors types, everything is local produced... even the beer We even have free camping on the invites and everybody knows about the fires etc. As it is a big BBQ/festival idea we have even told people to wear sensible shoes!

I think we have covered everybody and it is quite clear on the invitations so i do not see the problem. If you have a 3 course sit down meal in a hotel for £20 a child would they really eat it all anyway??
I hadn't thought of putting childrens dinners in lunch boxes but now i have seen this i may have to re look at the plans! It is so cute!

Nada666

What sort of children do not like chicken, sausages and rice? If it isn't seafood then they aren't likely to plead allergies or end up projectile vomiting. Having revealed that I don't see any reason why you think you need an additional menu for the children.

Justengaged

I think it's very kind of you to think of those 10 children, but personally I don't think you should stress yourself thinking about it too much.

I know children can be picky, but if they don't eat pork or rice then it sounds like they are overly fussy they can eat before they come to the wedding if it's a big problem.

I don't see why you should put on extra food just for them same as others, I know you want to keep everyone happy, but it's essentially free food for them, if they don't like it then you shouldn't have to pay extra just for them, it's not like they're going to starve.

Put some basics down and let them please themselves, there will be cake there too, which no doubt they'll gorge on too anyway.