food allergies, what to do!

I think adults have the right to the following: genuine food allergies, a moral/religious objection to a food (such as keeping kosher or being vegetarian), and a restricted diet that has been thoroughly vetted by a medical professional. So, thinking you should go gluten free because cousin Joan did doesn't count.

You are also entitled to no more than three food dislikes, which you should carefully select. Mine are raw onions, canned tuna, and mushrooms. Though if those items are put in front of me, I politely pick around them because I'm an adult.

^^ AGREE with you Shannon! That is the reason we were specific with our options. My brother has Celiac, so it bugs the CRAP out of me when "oh i don't eat gluten because Suzy lost 10lbs by not eating it." Just stop it lady. The gluten free option at my wedding was much more unhealthy than our standard options.

FH has bad food allergies. He usually asks or just goes with the flow and doesn't eat. I'd say with buffet style meals he prefers to eat before or after the event and not bother the couple.

His allergies can be extensive such as nothing mixed with dairy and he doesn't want to burden the couple. He also is allergic to pork, mushrooms, nuts, along with dairy products. He has an epi pen he cares with him and has been tested for all these allergies. He gets very bad skin reactions to if he eats these things.

So people will either tell you their food issue or not bother with it. Might be a good idea to have cards out listing ingredients of each dish.

I had to do an absolutely insane elimination diet last year to figure out if my migraines had dietary triggers. I even created a color-coded cheat sheet with red for not allowed, yellow for limited quantities, and green for safe. I literally could not have onions, chocolate, citrus, caffeine, alcohol, smoked or cured meats, most cheeses, vinegar, and on and on. It was monitored by my neurologist and was part of a larger series of tests.

Aside from having to say I wasn't pregnant when I declined blue cheese, sushi or wine, it wasn't so bad. The only bad part was getting side-eye from people. Those who diagnose themselves with dietary issues make life SO MUCH harder for those of us who really do have restricted diets!

We put a line on our rsvp cards that encouraged guests to contact us if they have any food allergies or intolerances. No one contacted us about it lol, but I wanted to make sure people knew that they could reach out to us if needed.

My son, FH and FFIL have severe allergies (to the extend we have Epi-Pens with us 24/7) -

I have seen all three of them have a severe reaction, I am including a note on my response card.

I was also advised by my venue to make sure all allergies are noted prior to the final head count being submitted...

Also - since I know my son's, FH and FFIL's allergies (peanuts, nuts, seeds and shellfish to name the major ones - life threatening) - FH and I are not choosing items with those triggers.

And yes, there are a lot of people use the word "allergic" to mean a food gives them a negative side effect (gas, upset stomach, etc) but a true allergy mean's you can't consume it without severe negative side effects (hives, anaphalaxis, swelling and distonic reactions)

ETA: Even my son knows to ask before he orders anything to make sure there are no allergins (and he has done this for years now!)

I have a dye allergy and FH has a allergy to raspberries so we did ask our guests about allergies before picking our menu. I already knew one of the flower girls is allergic to carrots and couple other guests have allergies so I wanted to make sure they could eat. My caterer is great she makes everything organic so that helps some with allergies.

We ended up picking foods that that worked for all the allergies and some guests have told us that if something has something they are allergic to it's ok as long as it's small amounts.

My flower girl that is allergic to carrots but can eat them as long as she has her medicine before she eats them.

I never even thought about this! I have a BM who has severe diet restrictions and I keep joking that I will tape a bag of bbq pringles to the head table... when what I really should be doing is asking my caterer if they can make something special for her. *slaps self*

We've got some funky allergies in our guest list: gluten, garlic, and pineappple for example. We're being as proactive as possible by asking guests repeatedly to let us know about allergies in advance.

It really depends on how much you want to go out of your way to cater to your guests specific needs. I offered beef, fish, chicken, and veg options. I knew one guest was gluten free so I reached out to her to ask what she wanted. I just got an invite to a wedding and the options were short ribs or grouper. I am a vegetarian so neither of these options will work for me. The person didn't say there was a vegetarian option available so I just put grouper and I will possibly eat some of the sides or not eat at all. I HATE being that person that makes it difficult for others. If someone doesn't ask me, I don't go out of my way to tell people I won't eat it- I just don't. I would never bring my own food to a wedding (I usually do to work lunches), I will just pretend it's ok and eat before and possibly after the wedding. I don't want to cause any trouble for the bride. So if you don't indicate there is a specific option on your invite or the website, most people will just deal with it and not ask you. It's one night. Do what you want, don't make it hard.

I have serve food allergies, and most of my friends know of this so they made sure to warn about certain items that where being served at the wedding to stay away from. But usually I will ask does this contain anything with soy or nuts. I also make sure to bring benadryl and my epi-pens for the just in case or opps I shouldn't have eaten that. Also most ppl who have serve food allergies know to ask the server before hand, if they don't its on them then. You have to be responsible enough to know what you should and should not be eating. It can be hard though if places cross contaminate you can't control it and it does happen but the person needs to be smart and not continue to eat the food.

We put a line on our website saying to contact us if anyone had dietary issues. We did a plated meal. Half my family is vegetarian and a lot of DH's keep kosher (not so far as requiring actual kosher food, but in not eating milk and meat together, or shellfish and pork at all, etc.). We made sure we had a fish and a vegetarian option and kept everything ingredient kosher when we planned the menu. DH has one friend who has a disease--not Celiac, but I can't remember what it is-- and his doctor is always changing his diet, but he was able to eat one of the options. We also have a mutual friend who let us know about her nut, soy, pineapple and egg allergies, and we talked to our caterer and let them know who she was. The caterer was able to tell us that 90% of our food was ok for her to eat, and I made sure this person knew about the 2 apps that had stuff she couldn't eat in them. I made sure that MIL knew about the vegetarians in my family when she planned the menu for the RD, and everything was fine. We got a ton of compliments on the food. My grandfather also has heart failure and his diet constantly changes depending on meds, so my mom gave me the list of what he can't eat and our caterer was able to modify his plate-- low sodium sauce on his beef, brown rice instead of potatoes, etc.

We put a space on the RSVP for any allergies. Amongst our guests we have one mushroom allergy, one mild nut allergy (who actually didn't bother putting it on the RSVP but I know about it anyway - she doesn't usually worry as it's not like she goes into shock or anything) and one gluten free diet. TBH I think the gluten free might be the biggest issue but I'm sure the venue can cater to it.

My mom has a Gluten allergy - she was never diagnosed with Celiac's simply because you have to eat gluten in order to be tested for it. She had stopped eating it on her own and didn't want to go back just to have a diagnosis. When we're out at a restaurant, they only way to get people to understand is to tell them she is celiac. I can't even count the amount of time's she's been asked "Are you really allergic to gluten, or do you just not want it." Its ridiculous.

My venue is awesome - they have several plate options that are gluten free. I myself am not asking on the response cards, but I do know I have a few peanut allergies and a couple of vegetarians.

The wedding i am part of in january has a mile long (ok mild exaggeration) list of allergy issues. and they are real allergies - its so significant we started a discussion blog to deal with what we are facing.. i am hoping it will help us and other brides/families.. its just our thoughts and experiences /opinions http://weddingbuffetallergies.blogspot.com/