THIS ARTICLE COVERS:
Allergens & Dietaries
Behind the Scenes
Brisbane Corporate Catering
Event Catering
Event Planning
Office Catering
Off-Site Catering
Our Menus
Wedding Planner
Wedding Catering
That’s why we’ve created a dietary resource hub, built in-house by the Wine & Dine’m team, to streamline how dietaries are handled in event catering. It brings together a guest dietary form, searchable menus, clear guidance and ready-to-use planner templates, so every requirement is collected, communicated and catered for with confidence, from the first RSVP to the plate in front of your guest.
Nobody knows a guest’s needs better than the guest. Our Guest Individual Dietary Information form lets you send a link straight to your attendees, so each guest with a requirement can complete their own form and submit their own details. We ask that this is done at least 10 business days before your event.
It also tells us how serious and complex an allergy is, which a tick-box on an RSVP can’t. That means a safer, more inclusive dining experience for everyone, and one less thing for you to chase.
Not sure whether your dream menu works for your guest list? Our Allergens & Dietaries page includes a searchable menu guide. Filter our menus by vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free or seafood-free, and see the declared allergens for each dish.
It’s a handy way to spot a good fit early, whether you’re browsing our canapés, plated dining or shared dining options. Just remember these labels are a general guide. A gluten-free dish isn’t automatically suitable for someone with coeliac disease.
A short note like “no dairy” might be a preference, an intolerance or an allergy, and each one changes how we plan and prepare the meal. Our Understanding Dietary Requirements page breaks down the difference between standard menu dietaries, medically managed requirements and individual custom meal requests.
It also explains that complex needs outside what’s outlined are subject to approval, so you’ll know early what to ask and when to check in with us.
Late additions, vague notes, “I think Sarah can’t eat gluten, but sometimes she does”. We’ve seen it all, and that’s exactly why we created Dietary Charges & Common Scenarios.
Here’s the good news first: choosing a menu item already labelled vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or dairy-free doesn’t automatically attract a dietary charge. Charges apply when a guest’s meal needs to be separately assessed, prepared, substituted, packaged, labelled or managed.
The page walks through the situations we manage every week, so you can find the answer to your issue or understand why we need all the information in advance. As we said in Dietaries & Details, we’re not a restaurant, so every meal is made for your guest list.
You don’t need to be an allergen expert. You just need the right questions. Our Dietary FAQs, Tips & Resources page gives you:
Answers to the most common dietary questions
Ready-to-use email templates for guests
Guidance on RSVP wording, deadlines and guest registers
Tips for communicating dietaries on the day
If you’re not familiar with a particular requirement, don’t stress. Pass the information on and we’ll handle the rest. For more on briefing us well, see How to Brief Your Caterer in 10 Minutes and 4 Suggestions on How to Tackle Dietary Requirements.
Every event handles dietaries a little differently. Here’s how the resources work across the events we cater most.
Corporate office events
Say you’re ordering a team lunch for 25. Check the searchable menu guide to see which items are already vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or dairy-free. Choosing those items doesn’t automatically attract a dietary charge. If someone on the team has coeliac disease, ask them to complete the guest dietary form themselves, and our team will confirm what can be safely accommodated. See our corporate catering options for more.
Conferences at scale
With hundreds of delegates, dietary information comes from a registration system, not a single inbox. Drop our form link into your confirmation emails (our email template is ready to paste) so each delegate submits their own details. Our Dietary Charges & Common Scenarios page also covers the situations big events run into, like a guest list where more than 20% of attendees have requirements, or delegates who are swapped in at the last minute. If you’re planning something at this scale, our conference catering guide is a good companion read.
Weddings
Guests span families, friends and plus-ones, and a couple shouldn’t be chasing allergy details during wedding planning. Include the form link with your RSVPs so each guest can share their own requirements and be assured they’re looked after. A seating plan with dietary guests clearly labelled also makes service on the night much smoother. Our wedding catering team can walk you through how it works with your menu.
Private events and dinner parties
You probably know your guests well, but a host’s memory isn’t enough for something like a severe allergy or three or more exclusions. Our Understanding Dietary Requirements page shows what we need when someone follows an individual eating plan such as low FODMAP, keto or “no onion or garlic”. Broad labels like “pregnant” or “diabetic” aren’t enough for us to design a meal, so we’ll need the exact foods or ingredients to avoid. Planning a private event? Our hosting at home checklist has more tips.
Whatever the event: one rule
Choosing not to collect dietary information doesn’t mean requirements won’t come up. Guests get replaced, forget to RSVP or only mention something when the food arrives, which is why we carry reasonable contingency meals for staffed events. The best way to avoid surprises is to collect the information early, from the guests themselves.
Our food is prepared in commercial kitchens where allergens are handled, so we can’t guarantee any meal is completely free from traces. We take reasonable care and apply additional controls to declared medical and allergen-managed meals.
To do that well, coeliac disease, anaphylaxis, severe allergies and multiple exclusions must be disclosed in writing by your confirmation deadline. If something’s unclear, we’ll work with you to get clarification from the guest rather than make assumptions.
Explore our Allergens & Dietaries resources, or get in touch with our events team and we’ll help you plan a menu that includes everyone.
