Beef or Salmon tickets! HELP!

Hi, looking for a bit of advice on a minor but annoying issue, the hotel where im getting married insists on a policy of handing out tickets that say 'beef' or 'salmon' to people as they come in to the reception room for the meal, the guests then leave them in front of them at the table and the staff then go around and collect them once everyone is seated.They do this instead of taking the order at the table and when i queried it i was told that they find it a more efficient way of taking orders as it gives them a good indication of how many want fish so they can get cooking it straight away (so it will remain fresh) and also it alleviates the issue of people claiming they ordered the other dish.Quite frankly i think this is a ridiculous way of operating, what is the big deal with going around and simply taking the orders. I know that most people will obviously decide what they want quickly etc, but i find it quite tacky as people are entering the dining room that there is some member of casual staff standing there saying 'beef or salmon' and handing out tickets to guests. i would like my guests to just be able to sit down and look at the menu and order without being put on the spot like that!Dont know why its bugging me but it really is!I guess when paying that amount of money for what is essentially a carvery dinner, i would like this to be done normally, with pad and pen!not asking too much is it?! Problem is hotel in question have been working with this method since time immemorial and refuse to budge on it. How can i make it clear that i dont want to break with their tradition but i dont want it on my wedding day and thats that???!!!!

This is very strange I have never heard of it before and I wouldn't be happy with it either. Have you spoken to them about it? Have you told them you're not happy with this method of taking orders and you'd prefer it to be done at the table as it should be in my opinion. I think it sounds so lazy and quite impersonal. I also think guests won't be used to this and will wonder what the hell is going on when they are asked this question on way in to sit down. I definitely think you should talk to the hotel about it.

I have spoken to the hotel about it, and this was the response i got. the whole efficiency thing etc. it was made very plain that this was something i do not have a say in, it is the way they have always done things.:( i'm not going to let it go though, its bugging me too much!just dont really know how to put it to them again in a way that actually work if you get me!?

That is certainly a new one on me. OK well lets see... if they won't budge on it maybe theres a way to make it classier. Do you have a theme or colour scheme picked out? I'm thinking something like the american thing of escort cards but I'm not sure how to make it work. What type of centre pieces are you having? Are you having a table plan?

Thanks for reply, i dont know anything about escort cards really!My colours are indigo and ivory, and having just candelabras and lillies as centrepieces, and yes will be having a tableplan, not done yet though! was thinking more along the lines of an approach i could take with hotel manager to convince them to make the exception for this once and just take the order as normal!I dont want to offend her by suggesting that is unclassy and tacky, but need to get point across!

Would you compromise and ask guests to indicate on their RSVP which main course they want? I've seen this alot and it's not as tacky as handing out tickets! I would put my foot down-i'd hate this at my wedding. It's like something you'd expect on a school tour or something!

Escort cards usually tell you which table you are at. They can look really pretty. I was at a wedding last October and when we went into the room they had this tree there and we had to find the leaf with our name and it told us what table number we were at. [img:34k1n8hr]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs911.snc4/72479_1657692800008_1167764993_31829578_151074_n.jpg[/img:34k1n8hr] [img:34k1n8hr]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs566.ash2/148801_10150091552488923_576128922_7123101_5571050_n.jpg[/img:34k1n8hr] So you could do something like that, that would double up as your table plan and then leave a space on the back for people to write their choice on and leave a silver pen on each table. Theres all sorts of different ideas for escort cards and you could come up with a type that suits your colour scheme and style of wedding. Heres some ideas.... (But the possibilities are pretty much limitless) [img:34k1n8hr]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x164/fayeandgreer/Paper/EscortCards.jpg[/img:34k1n8hr] Also since the hotel are insisting on this I'd be making sure they were paying for the printing or printing them in house. It would be a novelty for people and they wouldn't realise it was actually a 'ticket' system. Its just a thought.

Thanks so much for your replies, those escort cards look deadly!nice idea and one i will think about!yes my BM was suggesting that we put it to the hotel again and explain that if they cant do it the usual way, then we should just send the menu out with the rsvp. ah hopefully it work itself out!cheers girls!