Rsvps: Meal Options & Allergies

I know it may seem crazy but I'm not gonna stress myself out about this. Our caterer is doing buffet style and we'll have two entree options plus sides and a salad. While I do have slight allergies and intolerances for certain foods myself, most people I that I know make other arrangements for themselves to avoid it being done for them. I'm probably lucky to not have anyone coming with something like a peanut allergy, but since it's not a plated dinner, people are gonna choose what they want anyway. I don't have much choice on the menu anyway since it's in house. I'd rather the food taste great because that's one of the things people will remember, and since it's only close family except for maybe 5 guests, I pretty much know if they are allergic to anything.

Ours can adjust for certain people. Like I might have 1 vegan, so they can do something specifically for her. Or if someone has an allergy or something, they can adjust the plate specifically for that one person, which is nice. They also avoid peanuts in all their dishes. That’s the one allergy I knew about before choosing the food.

My fiance is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, so there will be no nut products at our wedding at all.

Beyond that, we have a few vegan guests and one gluten free. We are having a buffet and the vegan items will be marked The gluten free guest will be served a plate kept separate to prevent contamination.

Guests will have a menu at their place setting of what is on the buffet and the vegan and vegetarian items are marked so they know what to look for.

We have one allergy and we will have to have a separate meal for him. No dairy whatsoever and of course I chose Italian. Ooops!

We had a line for allergies/intolerance and a seperate line for dietary choices (veg*n, kosher, etc). We made a spreadsheet and tallied them all and sent it over to our awesome caterer who made sure to have special dishes for our guests with restrictions.

I was a vegetarian for over ten year before I met my husband so I understand how much is sucks to go to a wedding and have the couple go "Oh here's a side salad! Hope you're full!" I also have two food allergies which are annoying, I get, but a very real risk for me. I have never understood a host who doesn't want to be bothered by potentially hospitalizing a guest...

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Whoa. That's one cool caterer!

Allergies aren't fun. Pine nuts could send my DH to hospital and one friend can't have any seafood touching her plate/meal (i.e. if chef used the same tongs for grilling fish and steak) or she'd go straight to hospital. Yikes.

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Smart idea to have the descriptions on the menu. Sounds like you have a savvy buffet plan!

Yep, we had food allergies (including H), intolerances, religious preferences, and four vegans....but our awesome restaurant made it work for everyone. Heck, the vegan dish was so gorgeous/delicious looking I wished I had ordered it!

Having the ingredients listed is such a nice thing to do! I became lactose intolerant two years ago (I was she I was a baby/toddler and then grew out of it but it came back) so I’m still adjusting to what I can and can’t eat after eating a lot of dairy for so many years. And I don’t have to completely cut out dairy as not all cheese has lactose so it’s a guessing game sometimes or just playing it super safe when I go out to eat. At a baby shower recently it was catered with delicious looking stuff that I didn’t know if I could eat because I didn’t know for sure what was in it and I can’t chance it as I get really sick and it’s prerty painful. I’d never expect anyone to cater to my intolerance but ingredients would just be super helpful for someone like me!

We are doing buffet. They keep having most expensive option be the one with a vegetarian choice. Is it like that in other cities and states?

We were lucky. Our reception was at Legal Sea Foods, which is very conscious of allergies. They assured us that they could find substitutions for any guest.

Of course, our guests were also older. And I don't know whether older people have fewer allergies, or are just less cognizant of them, but it's pretty rare to find an older person who has significant allergies.

That's a great idea! Awesome of you guys to do that!

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease almost 5 years ago (it will be closer to 6, at the time of our wedding.) With that being said...our entire wedding is going to be gluten free--even anything fried. We have an amazing caterer, where we do NOT have a pre-set menu--we build it from the ground up. We get a choice of two proteins and a vegetarian...so most other people should be good. We have a few with shellfish allergies, but it's not to the point where it will hospitalize them...and we are only having shellfish at the cocktail hour, so they can avoid it.

Crazy what allergies are around, these days!

I’m with you Saydee. I’m the type of bride who is not going to over-accommodate or be worrying myself over someone’s potential allergies, likes/dislikes (vegan, vegetarian etc). If they don’t like the choices, for whatever reason, they don’t have to eat it. If they do have strong food allergies, it’s on them to take initiative & inform us. Our wedding is about us & a celebration of our love. Not about making sure I’m mommin’ each of our guests