How concerned should I be about picky eaters/allergies?

Abbyjensen

I have a brother with pretty severe food allergies, as well as several guests in attendance that I know have food allergies, and I am sure that there will be others that I don't know about, or people who are picky eaters.

Part of me feels that people who have specific preferences or allergies know this, and can come prepared to deal with it. My brother always brings a few protein bars or other easy things he knows he can eat since it's difficult to find things at most places. I feel like people should know that options are limited at weddings... You get what you get.

The other part of me wants to ,make sure that there is something to make everyone happy, since I know how hard it is for my brother to sit there and not eat with everyone else. I have already decided I am going to get a dozen cupcakes from a bakery that makes them gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, and soy free (and they are good!). There is a vegetarian option, but how far should I go out of my way to make sure that there is something for everyone?

jessicabessica

I would accomodate allergies as best you can and not worry so much about picky eaters as long as you have some variety.  I would especially want to accomodate close family and friends with allergies. 

I have a friend who has severe allergies to many foods, including wheat, dairy, corn, and some fruits.  I gave her my menu, and she picked out what she could eat and described the preparation she needed.  For example, she requested salmon, potatoes, and asparagus, all cooked plain with no spices or butter.  I asked my venue coordinator, and she had the chef prepare a special plate for my friend.  I would do something similar for your brother. 

We also had guests with gluten intolerance and pre-diabetes issues, but they could be accomodated by our buffet selection.  We also had a vegan option on the buffet, and I asked that the venue prepare vegetables using oil instead of butter so they would be vegan, too. 

mrsmustard12

I think it would be okay to accomodate slightly.  I'm vegan and half my menu is vegan so that takes care of dairy/egg allergies.  I also have a few guests that I know have gluten sensitivities so instead of ordering a totally gluten free cake, I ordered a few gluten free petit fours to serve in addition to cake.

NOLAbridealmost

I'd do the utmost you can for known allergies. Making a special plate is probably the best way to go. There's not a lot you can do to plan for any random allergy that someone may potentially have unless they reach out to you.  If they do, you could offer them the special meal you're giving your brother (tweaked if necessary for different allergies). 

As far as picky eaters, choose generally crowd pleasing dishes, try to make sure there's variety, and hope for the best.  If you're doing a sit down meal you could put a children's option on the response cards and severely picky eaters can get what the kids are getting (I doubt that will happen, but who knows). 

peanutty2

I think if you know people coming have an allergy, you should do your best to accomodate them.  I would feel awful knowing someone was traveling and spending money and getting a gift and I didn't bother to even provide them with a meal like everyone else is getting.  You can't plan for any random allergies you might not know about, but if you know, you should.  Especially for your own brother! 

I'm a vegetarian, and I was a BM for a now ex-friend, and I've known her my whole life.  She didn't even bother telling the caterer they'd need a vegetarian meal.  I only got the side veggies that everyone got and I pretty much starved all night.  I was pretty hurt by it.

As for people who are just picky, you can't do anything about that.  I know I have a lot of picky eaters in my family, so we're trying to choose "safer" foods (chicken parm over a "fancy" unique chicken dish for example).  But I mean, we can't offer 100 things because someone might not like tomato or might not like this vegetable or whatever.  So I wouldn't worry about that as much.

Sharkdiver1980

We also have some guests with some severe food allergies (peanuts and also poulry)... we are doing a Duet meal, that is Beef AND chicken, though we are offering a vegetarian option as well, which is butternut ravioli.

I also made sure I had a special space on my RSVP cards for people to indicate any fool allergies, so I communicate that to the venue (caterer). I had also posted our entire menu, including all Hors d'oeuvres, apps, and dessert on our wedding website, of which there was an insert in the invitiation with the URL.

HTH!

steveandta

I feel like with the cocktail hour and dinner options there are going to be enough options. I have arranged for a vegetarian dish, a stuffed fillet of soul dish, prime rib dish and a mexican chicken (chicken stuffed with pulled pork stuffed with jack cheese and warm salsa) I feel like that is good choices for everyone.

ElleB87

Definitely worry about allergies, don't sweat the picky eaters.