Allergies and dietary requirements: what to ask your guests

Ask about allergies and dietary requirements person by person, when they reply to the invitation, and pass them to the caterer with the name and table of each guest concerned. An allergy must always be reported, even if the guest “will be careful”.

Allergy, intolerance, choice: three situations

An allergy can have serious consequences: the caterer must prepare a separate plate, with no contact with the food in question. An intolerance calls for an adapted dish. A dietary choice, such as vegetarian or no pork, is handled with a replacement dish. The caterer does not organise their kitchen the same way in all three cases: always specify which it is.

How to ask the question

Ask it for each person, not for the household: “one vegetarian” in a family of four does not tell you whose plate it is. Offer the common cases as tick boxes and leave a free line for the rest. Don't forget the children or the suppliers who dine on site.

What the caterer must receive

• The person's name.
• The diet or food to avoid, in the guest's own words.
• Their table and, if possible, their seat.
• The meal concerned: dinner, brunch, drinks reception.

During service, a special plate is carried to a specific seat. Without the table number, the maître d' has to ask the room, and the plate arrives cold.

Frequently forgotten items

• Drinks reception: the cocktail pieces often contain nuts, shellfish or gluten.
• The dessert and the wedding cake.
• Last-minute changes: a guest replaced by another doesn't have the same dietary requirements.