Getting Hitched Without a Hitch

So I couldn't get married and not share a bit of the foodie joy with my readers. And while last Friday was a day of perfect bliss for me, the food angle actually had the potential to become a rather involved juggling act. For when my beloved and I decided to wed and keep our gathering to about a dozen people, that didn't clear the wedding feast challenges from our lives. You see, his mother, father and sister all have food allergies. And not the same food allergies, even!

When faced with such a challenge, the first rule is simple: Be flexible! You may have particular ideas about menus, venues and such, but when your loved ones need special consideration, you can save yourself a lot of frustration by making that your priority and letting everything else fall in place behind it. In my case, I had gluten, dairy and soy allergies to consider and because I made making our meal and dessert choices cater to those, figuring things out became a matter of figuring out which options would work and then choosing from them.

Which brings us to the second rule: Get ideas from others, especially those most familiar with the allergies (which is usually the person with the allergies or the person feeding said person). In my case, that meant getting ideas from my future in-laws, who had a fantastic suggestion immediately. It just so happens that Madison's best Mediterranean restaurant, Bunky's Cafe, is also one that caters to a wide variety of allergies and is a favorite of theirs. I took their suggestion and looked into it further, only to discover that they also have a charming party room in the basement for private gatherings! I got in touch with them and they were fantastic, even suggesting that our small group could just order off the menu for our wedding luncheon and they would make sure anyone with allergies would have many options. It was perfect!

And then there's dessert. What do you do when you want to offer a special dessert to your guests, but have three different allergies to consider? Well, you can't get everyone their own dessert ... can you? Actually, that's exactly what we did. Gourmet cupcakes are all the rage and there are several shops that specialize in cupcakes and weddings. So I got several recommendations and called around. Some didn't cater to allergies at all. Some would make gluten free cupcakes, but their vegan options were dairy free, but not soy free. Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery offered to cater to all allergies and they would deliver the cupcakes to the restaurant, too. And they were only a couple of blocks away from Bunky's! It really seemed like it was all planned perfectly, but it all boiled down to being flexible and working around the special needs of our guests, first. The rest just fell into place. Thank you to all of the folks at Bunky's Cafe and Daisy Cafe and Cupcakery for playing such a vital role in making this foodie's wedding day simply delicious!