How to Handle Food Allergies at Your Wedding

Having a food allergy is a more serious concern then food preferences, like strict vegetarianism. Vegetarians and vegans always can find something good to eat at the buffet, but people allergic to some products never know, whether they were used to cook the meal or not. So if you know that some of your guests are allergic to special food, you'd better start as early as possible.

Find out about your guest's allergies. You can use your invitations or wedding site to find out, whether some of your guests have food allergies or not. Ask about it and then address each one on a person-to-person basis. Gather all the information about allergies and pass it to the caterer, so you can make up a menu that will be suitable for everyone. Nobody says, that you have to cook special gluten-free cake or meals for those allergic to it (you can, if you want to), but you need to provide an option. Also remind the caterer to use separate equipment to cook nut-free (gluten-free, dairy-free) meals and serve them.

Hors d'eouvres. Hors d'eouvres might be tricky for the guests. Although small quiches with goat cheese and nuts sound really delicious, your guests don't know what's in them. The problem is that all hors d'eouvres are too small to see, whether they include some food they should avoid or not. That is why you should communicate with the caterer, the chef and the waitstaff and tell them about any food restrictions at your wedding. They will help you find many ways to handle the situation. For instance, you can keep a small sign with ingredients used to prepare the appetizer on the tray. This way you let people know what they're eating and they don't need to worry.

Large wedding reception. When you have a large wedding reception, it's really hard to make absolutely everyone happy. In this case, if the majority of your friends are vegetarians or avoid some kind of food, then you can discuss appropriate dish options with the caterer.

Use buffet. Buffet is one of the best options to accommodate a large amount of food restrictions. Try to provide different meals, so guests can pick up anything that they can eat. For instance, they can skip adding some peanut sauce while helping themselves to vegetarian lasagna.