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Accommodating for Food Allergies at your wedding
Aunt Mary is allergic to peanuts. Your friend Charlie is lactose intolerant. Bridesmaid Ashley doesn’t eat gluten. The list goes on and on when you are planning a wedding and accommodating food allergies. What is the best way to make sure that all your guests’ dietary needs, and your own, are met at your wedding reception?
Talk with your venue. Before the invitations go out, find out what meal options your venue has to offer. If you and your fiancé have dietary restrictions yourselves, ask about what gluten-free, peanut-free, vegetarian, etc. menus they may be able to put together for you. At blue, we have planned specific meals for our brides and grooms, and even planned entire weddings around dietary restrictions! Take a look back at Sam and Brendan’s entirely vegan wedding that we hosted last year.
Ask your guests for dietary restrictions. It cannot hurt to leave a space for guests to list their dietary restrictions on your RSVP card. Whether your guests are choosing their entree or not, it will be good to know which guests have certain restrictions.
Share those restrictions with your venue. Once your guests have made their meal choices and/or sent their food allergies, be sure to share this information with your venue. Your wedding planner will appreciate the entire guest breakdown of who ordered what, and highlighting those guests who do have certain dietary needs will be important for them to note. This way, your venue can inform you if there are any issues that need to be addressed before the big day. (For example, if Aunt Mary ordered the salmon and it comes with a peanut sauce, you’ll want to fix that!)
Label your place cards. Writing each guest’s food choice on the inside of their place card is a huge help to your venue. For guests with dietary restrictions, consider going the extra mile and also listing their food allergies or restrictions. Though your guest will likely let their server know about any allergies, if any guests had an entree that was altered to their needs, this will help the staff to know immediately.
With proper planning, hosting a vegan wedding or having a dairy free dish for Charlie at your wedding will be as simple as eating the meal itself. To learn more about the various food options we have at out event center, contact our staff and we can start customizing your special, tasty day!