Food options

I would say take a quick poll of 20 friends and family without telling them why and ask if they would prefer beef or chicken. If more than 1/4 say chicken I would say that you may want to consider it unfortunately. Or ask the caterer if it's possible to order chicken for half the guests (ie $30 a plate for 50 guests, $34 a plate for the other 50) and when it runs out it runs out. This way you shouldn't have too much extra food but you will have an option for those who don't eat red meat or double portion for those with big appetite. My best friend got married last summer and at our head table only 2 out of 10 of us chose the beef (personally I love roast beef or steak at a wedding - but the others chose chicken or fish).

You also may want to prepare for a few vegetarians (I would ask on the RSVP to indicate if a vegetarian meal is needed) with a nice salad or couscous dish because they likely won't be satisfied with potatoes, beans and carrots unfortunately.

I wouldn't add another meat. That is good enough!

Is there a vegetarian/vegan option? So long as you offer that, your meal sounds fine.

I would have multiple protein options, or make sure there's plenty of the sides to fill up on. I don't prefer red meat for example, and we have a few vegetarian guests as well at ours.

People do remember the food at a wedding. If you can afford it I'd add the chicken option. It's probably a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of your wedding budget

We are having options as we do have some people who don’t eat red meat, don’t eat meat and some who are a piscetarian! I think it would be worth the extra $4 (but I guess that depends on your budget and the amount of people coming. $4/pp can add up quickly!

That $4 totally makes a difference. I changed my whole food plans over an extra $8 per plate lol. All I would say is make sure that any vegetarian guests are accommodated too. It's a buffet so if people don't like the beef, they can fill up on something else

We opted to do 2 meats, and the price difference is $10 (although, they also add a few more sides).

You could leave a space on the RSVP for people to write food preferences. But, I think one meat is fine, especially if it's all you can afford. I think it's more important to host a wedding you can afford than to host a wedding with options!

Provide people with options, add the chicken. Think about what would you like at a wedding? That should help you answer your own question

I'll ask what your guest think.
I know my FH side of the family there had been 2 weddings last year and they all complain about how tiny was servings. So we knew we needed 2 meats in our budget.

I would also see if you can find out what your guests prefer. I know in my family two people have red meat intolerances and my FH prefers chicken haha. Are you big eaters/foodies? That also makes a difference too for variety.

We will be around 50 people and our buffet is huge! But the FH and I are foodies. We have Dijon salmon, filet mignon, BBQ chicken breasts, three types of salads and roasted potatoes. All the tables will have jalapeno cheddar muffins and breadsticks. This isn't including our hor d'oeuvres/gelato bar at cocktail hour and the starter salad before the buffet. Plus our wedding cake for dessert and a midnight bar later in the evening.

It's definitely something to consider. Not everyone will like roast beef so having an alternative is definitely a good idea. Maybe just provide a small amount of the chicken. You definitely don't need THAT much food, seems like a total waste of money and food. I have a small appetite so I definitely wouldn't be able to eat both, my FH would probably be able to eat both for both of us lol definitely weight some other options with the caterer.

Yeah it is a lot of food for sure, we’re also doing a buffet and we get a potato, meat, two veggies two salads, buns and desserts. I think that’ll be lots since we’re also doing cup cakes and a midnight lunch.

View quoted message I also just contacted the caterer again and got confirmation that since it’s a buffet, if we order both they provide enough for each guest to have both! That is so much food and I feel like a lot of it isn’t going to even get eaten... you’re right, depending on the budget and size.. $4 extra pp doesn’t seem like a lot until you calculate it out!

We debated this too, since we’re feeding 300 guests we’re not doing two meats if we had a smaller guest list then I’d most likely do it but it is definitely not necessary! Just depends on your budget