Said It Here

Why do wedding venues force a vegetarian option into a two-choice menu?

Venues often mandate that couples pick one meat dish and one vegetarian or vegan dish for every course, leaving guests with fewer overall choices. Expanding the menu or adding an extra meat or fish option can cost thousands of pounds extra, forcing couples to choose between higher costs or limiting what their guests can eat.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Paying extra to upgrade packages or add alternative meat and fish options
  2. 2
    Calling the venue to ask for clarification or negotiate terms
  3. 3
    guessing which entrees guests would prefer

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/weddingplanning2 people · September 2026

when choosing the menu options in which we have to choose 2 options for each (starters, mains and desserts) they are saying that we HAVE to choose 1 meat/fish (ie like chicken, beef) and HAVE to choose 1 vegetarian/vegan option for all courses.source ↗

Cofxex12 · r/weddingplanning · 2 upvotes

I’m just confused because it then limits other people and the options available.source ↗

Cofxex12 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

I’ve looked and I’d be paying an extra £5,000 just to add an extra meat or fish option and I don’t wanna be bloody paying £5,000 for beef! 🤣source ↗

Cofxex12 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

For my wedding, my budget can afford 2 plated options for guests to choose from.source ↗

What do you recommend I go with for the 2 options?source ↗

chalooos-96 · r/weddingplanning · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised