Are Wedding Menu Cards Necessary?

Photo from Project Weddings

Menu cards are not only a nice touch and a great way to personalize your wedding, but they are extremely helpful at assisting your guests with food allergies to quickly identify foods that may aggravate their allergies, if not cost them a trip to the emergency room.

Even if you are having a buffet-style wedding reception, menu cards are extremely beneficial for this reason—to help guests avoid the foods they are allergic too. Think about it. Traditionally, buffets offer an assortment of food items, including shellfish, creamy pasta dishes, or special sauces, soups, all of which may contain ingredients that aggravate food sensitivities.

Are wedding menu cards necessary?

No. However, it is an extremely nice courtesy to extend to your wedding guests, specifically if you are not allowing them to make menu selections when they RSVP. If cost is a factor, then consider only doing a menu card per guest table in lieu of one at each place setting.

Trust me, menu cards are a hit with guests, especially if you are having a buffet and your wedding guests may not have the slightest idea of how to discern what is in what. Of course, those table menu cards will also get their palates excited as they wait in anticipation for their turn to go through the buffet.

FYI: The most common food allergies that people have are towards cow’s milk, shellfish, nuts, gluten, and soy.

Happy Planning!