Anaphylactic shock? Not on our watch. Your guests may have various dietary requirements, from allergies and cultural restrictions to personal dietary preferences. Trying to manage these can be a real challenge during the planning phase of your wedding, as well as being a worry for the guests themselves, who may be concerned about the food they’ll be able to eat.
At Markovina Estate, we want to ensure everyone has the best possible time, no matter their dietary requirements, and make the planning as easy and streamlined for you as the wedding couple.
Advice for dietary requirements when planning your wedding catering:
When planning for dietary requirements, we want to make things super easy.
Below are some tips that help us arrange for these guests and make the planning experience a complete breeze.
Ask guests in your invitations to notify you about any dietary requirements they may have as part of their RSVP.
Let us know the names and table numbers of the guests with dietary requirements. This will help us identify them when it comes time for dinner service if they require a separate meal.
It’s also helpful if our staff's point of contact, usually your MC, is aware of who these guests are, as it helps identify them to supply their canapés.
Consider including items in your menu that meet dietary requirements if you’ve got a large number of guests with specific restrictions.
These short, easy tips help keep the stress off our wedding couples while they plan their wedding. Let us make all the arrangements for you.
Now that all the plans are in place, what does it actually look like on your wedding day?
Canapés
During canapé service following your wedding ceremony, the Markovina staff serve out various plates of canapés for guests to grab a bite and enjoy delicious food. All the staff know the dietary contents of the food served and can help let your guests know if they can enjoy each canapé. A great example is vegetarian, as at a typical wedding, there are usually several vegetarian dishes guests can enjoy. For guests with more restrictive dietary requirements, such as vegan or coeliac, the kitchen team prepares a separate selection of canapés that meet these needs, assuming they are informed beforehand. For us, this is all about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to enjoy delicious food.
Dinner
Dinner is a time to fill your stomach and enjoy mingling with guests. Your guests will enjoy delicious wedding food; however, the service of dietary meals can differ depending on the service type you have selected for your main meal. For plated service, we prepare a separate meal with the rest of their tables’ plates. For platters and buffets, it's very dependent on the specific requirement. If it's an allergy, we notify the guests when we serve the platters or when they go through the buffet which dishes they can and shouldn’t have. With more restrictive meals, we’ll serve a separate plate to those guests. The exception is if there are many guests with specific dietary needs. In these cases, we set up a dietary section of the buffet, with dishes catered to the group's restrictions. Of course, afterwards, they are free to look through the buffet, as there is sure to be some delicious food they can still enjoy!
Dessert
We have a dessert buffet where there's almost always a bite for everyone. When this isn’t the case, we supply and serve a separate plated dessert to your guests who have restrictive dietary needs so they can enjoy a sweet treat. The special part about dessert, however, is there's always a fruit platter and ice cream/sorbet that will surely be a hit with everyone.
We want to turn dietary needs into dietary excitement and blow your guests away with delicious food. Being someone with these requirements can be challenging, as there’s worry about even getting food. The only concern they should have is everyone else getting food envy! Let these guests know they can be rest assured that the Markovina team will do whatever we can to care for them and ensure they enjoy delicious food catered to their needs.
If you’re looking to book a wedding and have multiple guests with specific dietary needs, visit Markovina Estate and check out our amazing vineyard wedding venue in Kumeu. When planning your menu and wedding, we will guide you through everything to ensure your wedding dream becomes a reality.
