That’s So Celiac Wedding

Today, is a big day for That’s So Celiac as the face behind it is traveling from Miss to Mrs.! I am filled with so much love, appreciation, joy, and happiness even amongst all the craziness that 2020 has brought. I get to marry my best friend and we get to start a new season of life together.

Even though 2020 has not been super kind to anyone, I have had a blast planning both of our weddings [we postponed our big celebrations until 2021 and will be utilizing the original wedding plans as a blessing / renewal of vows in front of everyone]. I did not let having celiac disease fill me with fear or anxiety that I would not be able to enjoy all the things leading up to the big day like food tastings, cake tasting, etc. However, I was successfully able to enjoy all of those things and want to share with others on how to do the same!

Here are the questions I asked the food vendors and cake vendors when choosing who we would do tastings with then utilize for our big day:

·      In regard to food safety and kitchen knowledge, is your staff and kitchen able to handle cooking and serving someone with celiac disease?

-       If the person sounds like they do not know what celiac disease is and/or that their staff can do it, I use it as a teaching moment and ask if I can speak with the head chef.

-       If I am not comfortable with the information provided after talking to the head chef, then I simply did not schedule tastings

·      Is food prepared in a designated spot in the kitchen and/or with designated cooking utensils?

·      Is there cross-contamination in the kitchen?

·      How will the food be labeled for gluten free needs?

·      Have you catered to an event that required the dietary restrictions / food safety like celiac disease?

·      Is there a specific gluten free menu that I need to order off of or is the “regular “menu” adjustable to my dietary needs?

·      In regard to the cake, what type of ingredients are utilized?

·      In regard to the cake, are separate utensils utilized to ice and decorate the cake?

·      In regard to the cake, how the tiers separated to make sure there is no cross-contamination?

The vendors we have for our original wedding did an amazing job at adhering to my dietary needs and I was able to eat almost everything, and they truly understood the severity of needing to safely be able to eat! Our Florida vendor took food safety seriously as well, but we were not able to do a taste test due to COVID-19.

Everyone’s wedding day should be filled with love, joy, excitement, and a little bit of good nerves [If there is such a thing]! I hope your autoimmune disease does not hinder any of those positive emotions and you are able to find vendors that can not only cater to your dietary needs, but also make your day stress free and not like you are left out of all the little things!

If you live in the Dayton, OH area, I can recommend you the vendors we did tastings with and who we are utilizing. If you are in the Greater Tampa Bay area, I can recommend you the vendor we utilized as well!

Here are a few of our engagement photos to share with you all before I overload you all with wedding day photos! Photos are done by Emily Mathewson Photography.