Planning a gluten free wedding presented a different challenge - one that I had not encountered in any bridal magazine. I had to restructure and research everything from the Rehearsal Dinner to the cakes (we ended up with three and a cupcake tree. Don't get me started on baked goods!) I couldn't have the typical dinner with breaded everything and tons of dinner rolls, and a cheap barrel of beer wouldn't cut it for our palate or dietary restrictions.
Luckily, some of my favorite gluten free beer is brewed right in my hometown at Lakefront Brewery - their New Grist brew is as fresh as it is hearty and is so good I have to put threatening post it notes on the bottles in the fridge to keep Jon from drinking it all. Holding a gluten free wedding wasn't too bad once I got things rolling, and had some conversations with people to explain exactly what it was.
Our wedding involved a lot of bikes, so it made sense for us to have the rehearsal dinner at Cafe Hollander, a place with a great beer list that sponsors a lot of cycling events in the city. Coincidentally, it was right around the corner from one of my houses in college so I spent a lot of time there doing homework and hanging out with my friends there.
My great in-laws planned most of the rehearsal dinner working with Cafe Hollander to accommodate both my families gluten intolerance as well as my vegan bridesmaid. One of my favorite thing was working with them to choose the beer selection. Because they were not serving gluten free beer at the time but were interested in doing so our rehearsal dinner served as a sort of "test run" for them. I was able to simply suggest some of my favorite gluten free beers and they went out and got them! We had (no surprise to anyone who knows me) Lakefront's New Grist as well as a few others. I have to say that my wedding was the one event in my life where I wasn't really paying attention to the food and drinks, I was too busy being and getting married. Fortunately, Hollander made up a gift basket with a bottle of wine and the rest of the gluten free stash for us so we were able to take that home with us and enjoy it later!
We held the wedding reception at lakefront brewery - good beer was one of our requirements and having good gluten free beer brewed in house was a big bonus and we knew they would understand the dietary limitations and challenges of it. The space, while cavernous, had a lot of potential and filled up really well with all our friends. Everything went really smoothly and the chef was able to make three special plates for my mom, sister, and myself of gluten free food and we ordered a few cases of the New Grist along with the beer on tap. The reception was so busy and such a blur that I don't really remember the food (yikes!) but one of my favorite moments happened when all my friends from Milwaukee and I went and sat along the Milwaukee River and just drank beer and enjoyed ourselves like old times.
Here is my advice to anyone planning a gluten free wedding:
- Have really in depth conversations with the chef of the venue, not just the wedding planner or event coordinator. If the chef seems unsure of their ability or unaware of what gluten free even is (I did run into that talking to venues!) then feel free to move on to the next place.
- Most places will have wine, which you can drink if you a GF, but if you want beer, don't be afraid to ask if they can order some especially for you for the day. If you are plunking down thousands of bucks to have a giant party at their place, most will oblige
- Have two cakes - one gluten free and a larger one that is not. I found it was cheaper to order a gluten free cake for a "cutting cake" that jon and I would eat (and my sister and mom could eat a piece of) and then cupcakes for everyone else. Gluten free cakes can cost a pretty penny!
