Building your menu

If you're serving a choice of dishes, add them to your menu and guests pick theirs right inside the RSVP — no separate form to send, and a clean headcount for the kitchen. Open the Food & menu section of your event to start.

Turn the menu on

In Food & menu, answer "Want guests to choose a meal?" with Yes, add a menu. That opens the builder. The menu is included on every plan, and turning it off later keeps your dishes saved — nothing is lost, it's just hidden until you switch it back on.

Add your dishes

Under Build your menu, choose Add food or menu item and type the dish name (up to 60 characters), such as Roast chicken or Cheese pizza. Add up to 60 dishes; each one saves on its own as you go, with a quiet Saving… / Saved marker and a green check on each saved dish. Press Enter after a dish name to drop straight into a new row. If two dishes end up with the same name, you get a gentle warning so guests don't see twins. Use Move up and Move down on a dish to put your menu in the order you want — guests see it in that order.

For anything that needs more detail, open Description, photo & dietary tags on a dish to add:

• A description (up to 140 characters) — a serving note or key ingredients, like "with roasted vegetables and gravy."
• A photo — upload a JPG, PNG, or WebP under 5 MB to show the dish (a menu can carry up to 60 dish photos). You can replace or remove it anytime.
• Dietary tags — mark which needs the dish suits (Vegetarian, Gluten-free, and so on). These are covered fully in Dietary tags and restrictions.

Names alone are enough to launch — start simple and add descriptions or photos only where the menu needs them.

What happens next

You don't send anything. Once the menu is on, guests reach a menu step during their RSVP and choose their dish from your list; a guest bringing others picks a dish for each of them too. The step is titled Guests pick as they RSVP in your builder to make that clear.

Guests see your whole menu first — every dish with its photo, description, and dietary badges — so they can compare before they choose (a long menu tucks it behind a See the full menu line). The dropdown for each person then lists the dishes with their badges too. A guest who changes their answer to Yes, or adds people to their party, is taken straight to the menu step so nobody is left without a meal.

As replies land, a live Menu breakdown tallies each dish and its share of the total, so you always know your counts. The counts include guests who said maybe or haven't replied yet (everyone except those who declined), so you can plan for the kitchen early. Full details on reading and exporting those counts are in Meal counts and catering exports.

Collect allergies and dietary notes

Separately from the dish choices, you can gather free-text allergy and dietary notes. In Menu settings, turn on Collect allergies & dietary notes. That adds an optional "any allergies or dietary needs?" box to the RSVP and lists the replies back to you for review. It's off by default, and because it's tied to the menu, turning the menu off turns note collection off too. See Meals and dietary choices.

Set a deadline for meal choices

If your caterer needs final numbers by a certain day, open Menu settings and set Meal choices close on. It's optional — leave it empty and guests can change their meal until the event. Before the date, guests see Choose by and the day. After it, they can still see what they picked, but they can't change their meal or allergy note, and they're told to contact you if something has to change. The rest of their RSVP stays editable. Choices stay open through the end of the day you pick. Use Clear date to take the deadline off again.

Get told when a guest changes a meal

When a guest changes their meal or updates an allergy note, you get a notification in your bell (for example Jess now has Veg). Several changes from the same guest within an hour are rolled into one, so your bell doesn't flood.

Editing after guests have replied

You can add, rename, reorder, or remove dishes at any time. Renaming a dish keeps the guests who chose it attached to it, so their counts stay correct. If you remove a dish that guests already picked, you're asked to confirm first. Their pick stays saved, but they're asked to choose again, and until they do they show as Dish removed in your counts, your caterer PDF, and your exports. Your Guest picks step lists the affected guests with a Message them button. It's still best to rename rather than delete once replies are in. Once the event has ended or been canceled, the menu becomes read-only (you can still download the PDF).

Common questions

Do I have to add photos and descriptions? No. A dish needs only a name. Descriptions, photos, and dietary tags are optional touches for when the menu benefits from them.

Is choosing a meal required for guests? No — meal choices are optional for guests unless you tell them otherwise in your invitation. Anyone who skips it simply has no dish recorded.

What image formats can I upload for a dish? JPG, PNG, or WebP, under 5 MB each. You can replace or remove a dish photo whenever you like.

Can guests change their meal later? Yes. Guests revisit their choice anytime from Manage your RSVP — until the Meal choices close on date, if you set one. See Changing an RSVP.

What's the difference between dietary tags and the allergy box? Dietary tags describe what a dish suits (a badge next to it). The allergy box is where a guest types their own needs, like a nut allergy. Tags come with the menu; the notes box is a separate toggle.

Related articles

• Dietary tags and restrictions
• Meal counts and catering exports
• Meals and dietary choices
• How RSVPs work