Wedding guests and their dietary needs

You need to know your crowd. Both were unnecessary for me, but every circle/family is different.

Both fiance and I are vegetarian. Nobody else coming to the wedding is. We're doing a family style dinner where we have two choices of entrees. We're going to do one entree of meat and one vegetarian entree.

I felt it was important to have a good gf/vegetarian dinner available. I wanted to make sure everyone had a nice option. Plus, I'm not gf or a vegetarian, but sometimes I just prefer it for my meal. We're doing a chicken, stake, and layered grilled vegetables with a red pepper sauce.

As a vegetarian by religion, I would always appreciate having an veg entree option!

You can ask for dietary restrictions on your RSVP. I am vegetarian and FH is allergic to poultry (I know.. weird). So yes it is always important to at least ask.

We had one vegetarian and one person who was gluten free. We had a buffet dinner. Those two people were served plated meals specially prepared for them.

I am gluten free and I have a few guests that are too so I am more catering towards their needs and mine since I don't want them not to have a great time for eating food that they can not have and plus I understand the struggle of getting a meal you think is gluten free but is not

It's very important. Think of it this way: if someone isn't a vegetarian, they can still eat a veggie meal, but someone who is a vegetarian will likely not eat if you only offer meat options. Same for gluten free.

Excellent question

We just let our venue know how many gf meals we needed, and they provided them. We had a pasta that was vegetarian, a meat and a seafood option.

I will be doing what Mrs. Knolle did. I asked the venue (who is also the caterer) in advance how they handle that and they said they would make special plates so I asked on the RSVP for people to indicate any dietary restrictions. I have a couple cousins with celiacs so obviously I knew that but other guests (like family friends) I didn't realize I had other issues. I think it's really polite to ask.

Thankfully our venue is very accommodating

Yeah we asked for any dietary restrictions on our RSVP. i'm vegetarian and always really really appreciate when people ask and then host accordingly! we are doing a cocktail style reception with dinner stations and each station will have a veg option with one gluten free option as well, and we requested a couple of special plates for our vegan pals. good venues should be able to accommodate.

You would be surprised. I had no idea that my friends had really specific dietary needs until we asked on the RSVP card. That's one of the reasons that buffets aren't as good as plated.

I have a vegan and a vegetarian coming , as well as soy, gluten, & corn allergies (all in one family)

So options are very important to me!

A vegetarian option is super important. I've been a vegetarian for 9 years and it's always the worst when there's no options for me. You should check with your guests because you never know about dietary restrictions. I have 1 vegan guest, 3 vegetarians, and 2 gf, so of course I'm going to give them an option!

Your caterer may offer special accommodations if someone is to have a dietary restriction but it doesn't mean you have to offer it for everyone. Though I think having a vegetarian option is standard

Definitely talk to your caterer about it! For example, we have seafood in all three courses of the meal and two of our guests are allergic to seafood!! Our caterer was able to come up with great alternatives for these guests, and they will feel comfortable and not go hungry. It can be done on a small scale, so you don't have to offer the option to every guest.

We are having a gluten free menu because some of our guests have gluten free diets .

I would definitely ask about dietary restrictions on your RSVP as many of your guests who might have allergies, intolerances, or moral preferences may not make you aware of it otherwise. As someone with tons of food issues I have learned how to discreetly make inquiries at restaurants and big gatherings so as to not interrupt the flow of things or make others feel the need to work around me. But if I was locked in at your wedding with no options I would be very uncomfortable. Most caterers can help you chose a menu that is inclusive and then label things accordingly. Simple variations can make a world of difference (gravy made with cornstarch for GF, or string beans made without bacon or ham for vegan/veggie as examples) without impacting the overall menu too much. When I got to big events with buffets I love it when things are labeled at the buffet (contains wheat, soy, nuts, meat, etc) and it makes it very easy to chose my meal without anyone being the wiser.

Our entire appetizer and dinner menu minus the optional rolls is GF. The wedding cake will not be GF but I think that's understandable.