Design the Menu for Everyone, Not the Exception
Photo: elegant vegan fine dining plated dish wedding catering, via i.pinimg.com
There's a particular kind of menu that appears at far too many weddings and corporate dinners. Ninety-nine guests receive a beautifully composed plate. One guest — the vegan, the coeliac, the person with the allergy card — receives something assembled from whatever was left over: a risotto that arrived at the table looking apologetic, a dessert of fruit salad in a wine glass.
We'd argue this approach fails on two counts. It tells a guest that their needs were an inconvenience. And it tells everyone else that the caterer wasn't really thinking. Our view is simple: dietary requirements shouldn't be bolted onto a menu at the end. They should shape it from the very first draft.
Start with the Brief, Not the Dish
When a client comes to us with a list of requirements — a table of halal guests, a coeliac mother of the bride, a vegan best man, a nut allergy in the party — the temptation is to design the menu first and retrofit. We do the opposite. The brief becomes the creative constraint that the whole menu is built around.
This isn't just principle; it's practical craft. A menu designed from the outset to be gluten-free by nature, rather than by substitution, is simply better food. Think of dishes built on naturally free-from foundations: a slow-braised lamb shoulder with dauphinoise potatoes, a rich aubergine and tomato ragù, a dark chocolate and sea salt torte thickened with nothing but chocolate and cream. Nobody at the table notices what's missing. Everybody notices what's there.
Know Your Briefs — and the Law
Some requirements are preferences, some are medical, and some are matters of faith. Treating them all identically is where caterers go wrong.
Allergies and coeliac disease are safety issues, full stop. Under UK food law — Natasha's Law, introduced after the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse — prepacked and labelled food must carry full ingredient labelling, and any competent caterer should operate rigorous allergen controls, from separate prep areas to documented ingredient traceability. Ask any prospective caterer how they handle cross-contamination; the answer should be detailed and immediate.
Halal and kosher requirements are about sourcing and preparation as much as the final dish. Certified suppliers, dedicated handling and honest communication about what can and cannot be guaranteed on site.
Vegan and vegetarian guests are the fastest-growing brief we receive, and the standard has rightly risen. A 2025 vegan option should be a dish you'd order in a restaurant, not a vegetable plate with the protein removed.
The quieter briefs matter too: low-FODMAP, dairy-free, sulphite-free, pregnancy-safe canapés. A good caterer asks. A great one asks before the client thinks to mention it.
One Menu, Many Ways
Our preferred approach for weddings and corporate events is what we call the one-menu principle: design a single menu where the majority of dishes are naturally inclusive, with careful adaptations rather than separate alternatives.
That might mean a starter that is vegan as standard — a charred hispi cabbage with hazelnut-free romesco for the nut-allergic guest. A main where the protein changes but the accompaniments, sauce base and presentation stay identical, so the vegan guest's plate looks like it belongs at the table, not beside it. Desserts served from a clearly labelled station so guests with allergies can self-serve with confidence.
The result is subtle but powerful. No guest is singled out. No guest eats differently. Everyone eats well.
Ask Better Questions, Get Better Food
If you're planning an event, the most useful thing you can do is collect dietary information early and share it fully — including severity, not just the allergy name. And when you brief your caterer, don't ask whether they can cater for vegans. Ask how they design menus around dietary briefs, how they manage allergens in the field, and whether the vegan option is one they'd proudly serve to everyone.
The answer to that last question tells you everything about the caterer you're hiring.
