Finding a caterer to accomidate lots of special needs?

charbakes

I'm really nervous about finding a caterer. I've already met with one and explained my particular needs and they straight-up told me they don't budge from their pre-set menus. Both my FI and I are vegetarians, and we're not going to serve meat at our wedding. I also have guests with special dietary needs. I own a bakery and I pride mysaelf on accomidating dietary needs, from gluten-free to vegan to allergies, and it's important to me that everyone can eat at the wedding, and the caterer I met with basically told me that if people have special diets they should just deal with it.

Since I own my own bakery, I want to contribute part of the menu as well. So the cake, cookies, sweets, and maybe even some savory appetizers. However, I don't think I or my staff will be able to handle salads and starters and dinners for 100 people.

Have any of you ladies experience something like this, special dietary needs or the need to accomidate a menu? How open have your caterers been about it? Did you have to bend or scrap the caterer all together and find some other solution?

jessicabessica

Our venue was an inn, and the chef met with us and we customized the menu based on what we wanted and what she thought went over well at past events.  I would post on your local board to get specific recommendations for caterers/venues like this, because I'm sure they are out there.  

kmmssg

Any caterer not willing to budge from their regular menu really isn't who you need.  All you can really do is starting calling more caterers and asking them how flexible they are, and you can also post on your local board for recommendations.  Good luck.

[Deleted User]

Does your venue have a prefered vendor list?  That would be a great starting point. When I was hunting for venues several listed specific caterers that you would have to hire. 

lyndausvi

My venue had no problem catering to our needs.    DH is a chef and always caters to his clients needs.

As a pastry chef I would think you would have some insight to caterers, no?  Maybe not, but my DH knows most chefs around here, at the very least he knows someone who knows someone.

rlavach

My venue also had no problem catering to my need to have all of the non-meat dishes be vegan. Clearly, these just aren't the right caterers for you. Keep looking and perhaps look for recommendations on your local board for caterers that have worked with vegetarians before. Although that really shouldn't be necessary, because they should all know how to alter their menu.

charbakes

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_finding-a-caterer-to-accomidate-lots-of-special-needs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:525bbf48-32b1-4195-9c10-a267cb801595Post:9e2777af-78e4-4348-b292-4bca0bd0e606">Re: Finding a caterer to accomidate lots of special needs?</a>:
[QUOTE]My venue had no problem catering to our needs.    DH is a chef and always caters to his clients needs. As a pastry chef I would think you would have some insight to caterers, no?  Maybe not, but my DH knows most chefs around here, at the very least he knows someone who knows someone.
Posted by lyndausvi[/QUOTE]

The ones I know I've listened to hours of griping from about accomidating special needs. Not so much the vegetarian stuff, but the food allergies and intolerances. They have such poor attitudes about it, I don't want to bother with them.

ElisabethJoanne

Our caterer is relatively new. They're obviously hungry for another recommendation from a large event. We gave them a list of about 9 allergies and said, "No special plates. Keep this stuff out of ALL the food." The list included onions and soy and wheat, oats, and rye. Their response was, "No problem, and we'll double-check with our suppliers."

I can't remember if I found them on yelp or Facebook, but these new vendors where our recommendation or unsatisfaction could make or break their business, has really worked for us so far, for catering and photography.

It also helped that we knew what foods we wanted, in addition to what we didn't want. We knew we wanted asparagus, chopped liver, and potatoes or rice.