One of the biggest sources of stress in wedding planning occurs when you are trying to keep everyone happy. You have family who won’t want to drive too far to your wedding, friends who don’t like to go to church and that uncle who’ll complain about the selection at the bar. So how DO you keep everyone happy at your wedding? You can’t, all you can do is consider how realistic and reasonable each request is, and adjust your plans accordingly.

The wedding menu is one place which can cause particular stress when you start to think about everyone’s dietary requirements. However, I’m here to help you manage special menu requests with a few tips:

• Ask your guests early about their dietary requirements by including a response card in the invitation as part of their RSVP.
• Consider all kinds of dietary and special menu requirements such as: allergic, gluten free, vegetarian, vegan and cultural.
• Make sure all food and drink suppliers know about the dietary requirements of your guests, this includes not only the caterer but also the cake maker, the dessert bar and the winery as some wines use egg products to clarify their wines.

I make sure to work directly with my couples and their guests with dietary requirements so that everyone’s needs are looked after. As long as your caterer knows about any special menu requirements ahead of time, they’ll be able to make adjustments and substitutions, and no one should be able to taste the difference.

For example, catering to a vegetarian menu can seem limiting, and as though the meals won’t be fulfilling, however, I have a number of delicious vegetarian options such as:

Vegetarian Cocktail Menu
– Focaccia bread and sundried tomato
– Lemon caper Neufchatel toasts
– Eggplant with sweet harissa and mint
– Roasted beetroot with Persian feta
– Roasted pumpkin and chickpea
– Corn and spinach puffs with fig jam
– Sweet potato and chilli cups
– Eggplant and broad bean cups
– Asparagus, grape tomato and herb quiches
– Artichoke tartlets with parmesan
– Zucchini tarts with horseradish
– Sun dried tomato tartlets

– Roasted beetroot, leek, cream cheese and hazelnut tarts
– Stuffed mushrooms
– Arancini balls
– Tiny pizza bread
– Cocktail sliders
– Vegetarian mini baguettes
– Selection vegetarian cocktail pastries

Main Vegetarian Dishes
– Gnocchi with roasted pumpkin, zucchini and balsamic
– Roasted mushroom, spinach and feta pasta topped with pomegranate
– Lasagne layered with eggplant and Roma tomatoes
– Basil pesto tubes, sundried tomato, roasted onion and eggplant with fresh basil parsley and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese
– Zucchini and spinach pasta with black olives and toasted almonds
– Creamy brie filled with vegetables and dressed in zucchini comport
– Roasted capsicum filled with vegetables and rice, spooned over with red onion and zucchini
– Vegetable curry with fresh herbs, served with rice, raita and poppadom
– Fig, herb and fennel salad

All of my menus are designed individually for each couple’s wedding, and I’m always happy to create an inclusive menu for your guests.

Until next time,

Love,
Cindy

Cindy Westphalen owns and operates South Australian based award winning catering company, Cindy’s Classic Gourmet.