Wedding guests and their dietary needs

With so many food allergies and dietary needs these days I think it's important to offer a variety which includes gluten free, vegetarian, and non shellfish options.

@Blair Waldorf has a very very good point. Food allergies are no joke, and there should definitely be no cross contamination. I would also second PPs advice about letting people with special food needs/allergies serve themselves first to avoid issues.

We asked guests to identify any allergies or intolerance on the rsvp section of our website so we could notify caterer ahead of time.

Definitely offer a vegetarian option. You're going to need to know your guests and whether or not they have gluten intolerances. A lot of times, a caterer will have a gluten free dish to offer in place of a pasta, breaded chicken, etc.

They should be able to make accommodations for guests with restrictions. FH and I are ethical vegans, but I am also gluten-free. At my friends wedding this past fall they made sure the banquet hall served us food we could eat.

I'm not a vegetarian, but will pick the veg option if it sounds yummy!

Make sure significant allergens are clearly marked. I'm making sure we have gluten free and no nuts because I can't have gluten and my mom has a very severe nut allergy. However if someone brings a plus one with an allergy having allergens marked on the food labels would make it easy on them so they don't have to ask about everything

We knew we had 6 gluten free guests on our guest list, so we grilled the venue about their ability to offer gluten free options. A vegetarian entrée option was already being included. I also knew my Grandmom has a severe shellfish allergy and DH severely allergic to cherries.

The venue's answer was that they could absolutely accommodate any dietary restrictions necessary. They told us to pick the first course and the two entrées that we wanted, and they'd worry about substituting an alternate dish if necessary. We ended up picking a shrimp and pasta dish for our first course, so our gluten free, vegetarian, and my Grandmom got a goat cheese salad. It turned out that both of the entrées we selected would be gluten free so long as the sauces were removed and we didn't have gluten in the sides we picked, so that was really easy.

I also talked to our baker about doing a small number of gluten free cupcakes. DH and I both have dietary restrictions of our own, so we tend to be pretty sensitive to those that tend to go places and have to pass on things because it's just not something they can eat. His aunt was one of the GF guests and she was tickled that someone made sure she could even have dessert.

I knew when we made our guest list we had some guests that were gluten free or had food allergies, but there were several people I just didn't know whether they had those issues. We listed our two main entrées, the vegetarian entrée, and the children's meal as entrée choices and then I made a note at the bottom of the RSVP card to let them know a GF option was available. On our website, I expanded on this and explained that guests with dietary restrictions could still choose any entrée, but needed to indicate on their card that they were GF or had a food allergy so we could alert the venue and they could make any necessary modifications.

Lots of great feedback. Thank you every one!!

Very important! I'll be honest though and say I didn't really think about it until my sweet nephew (age 3.5) developed really severe food allergies. He can't have dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, or gluten.

We made sure to have one of our main entrees (our chicken one) by default gluten-free. Anyone with specific food needs is being accommodated. Plated meals were best for us because of this.

And my nephew gets to eat the same children's meal as the other 12 kids, just modified a bit. Our caterers are amazing.

Edited: Forgot one of my nephew's allergies.

Veggie yes vegan...know your crowd. I know none of my guests were vegan

Vegetarian option is a given. I'm doing chicken, beef, veg, and child for options - and asked people to give any allergies or dietary needs/preferences when they rsvp'd.

And I'm relaying all of this information to my caterer.