The Wedding Dietary Restrictions Guide (That Your Caterer Will Thank You For)

Why dietary restrictions matter more than you think

Here's a number that might surprise you: at a 150-person wedding, you can expect 15 to 25 guests with a dietary restriction. That's not a fringe case. That's two full tables.

Get it right and nobody notices (which is the point). Get it wrong and your vegan cousin eats bread rolls for three hours while everyone else enjoys the main course. They'll remember. They'll mention it. At every family gathering. Forever.

The most common restrictions you'll encounter

• Vegetarian — No meat or fish. The most common restriction by far.
• Vegan — No animal products at all: no dairy, eggs, honey, or butter in sauces.
• Gluten-free — No wheat, barley, or rye. Important: this can be a preference or a serious medical condition (coeliac disease). Ask.
• Nut allergy — Can be life-threatening. Your caterer needs to know about cross-contamination, not just ingredients.
• Dairy-free / Lactose intolerant — Different severity levels. Some can handle butter; others can't.
• Halal / Kosher — Religious dietary laws. Talk to the guest directly if you're unsure what's needed.
• Shellfish / Seafood allergy — Common and often severe.
• Low-sodium / Diabetic — Less common at weddings but important to flag for older guests.

How to collect dietary information

The RSVP is your best friend here. Add a simple field: "Any dietary requirements?" with a text box. Don't make it a dropdown — restrictions are too varied to fit neatly into categories.

Some guests won't fill it in (even if they have restrictions). Others will write a novel. Both are fine. The field exists so people feel comfortable mentioning it without having to send an awkward separate message.

Two weeks before the wedding, cross-reference your list. Anyone you know has a restriction but didn't mention it? A quick text: "Hey, just confirming with the caterer — you're still gluten-free, right?" Problem solved.

Organising restrictions in your seating chart

Tag each guest with their dietary need. Most seating chart tools let you add labels or notes — use them. When you export your chart to PDF, those tags travel with the guest's name.

Here's a seating trick caterers love: cluster dietary restrictions lightly. You don't need an all-vegan table, but seating three vegans at the same table means one plated service run instead of three separate trips across the room. Faster service, hotter food, happier guests.

The same logic applies to kids' meals. Group the children (or seat them near parents) so the caterer isn't zigzagging between tables with chicken fingers.

Communicating with your caterer

Your caterer needs three things from you, and they need them at least two weeks out:

1. A complete count by restriction type. Not just "5 vegetarians" but "5 vegetarian, 2 vegan, 3 gluten-free, 1 nut allergy (severe), 1 halal."

2. Severity levels for allergies. There's a difference between "prefers not to eat gluten" and "will have an anaphylactic reaction if a crouton touches their plate." Flag the serious ones clearly.

3. A seating chart with dietary tags visible. This is the game-changer. When your venue coordinator can see that seat 4 at table 7 is the nut allergy, the right plate goes to the right person. No guessing, no asking, no risk.

A clean PDF export with names and dietary tags is worth more to your caterer than a hundred emails.

The allergy safety checklist

• Inform the caterer about severe allergies in writing, not just verbally.
• Ask about cross-contamination protocols, especially for nuts and shellfish.
• Confirm that the venue's kitchen can handle the restrictions. Some can't.
• Have the caterer label plated meals (a small card or coloured marker on the plate).
• Brief your wedding party: if someone has a severe allergy, at least two people should know where their EpiPen is.
• For buffets: label every single dish with allergens. No exceptions.

Don't forget the bar

Dietary restrictions don't stop at food. Many cocktails contain dairy (cream-based drinks), eggs (sours with egg white), or nuts (amaretto, Frangelico). If you're doing a signature cocktail, make sure there's at least one option that's vegan and nut-free.

For wine: most people don't know that some wines are filtered using animal products (casein, gelatin, isinglass). If you have strict vegans, ask your venue about vegan-friendly wine options. They exist and they're not expensive.

The golden rule

Nobody should have to ask "is there something I can eat?" at your wedding. If you collect the information early, tag it in your seating chart, and communicate clearly with your caterer, every guest sits down to a meal that was made for them.

That's not extra work. That's hospitality. And it's easier than you think.