To only serve vegan food at my wedding.

[inthewest]

My partner and myself are both vegan. We want to serve an only vegan menu from an excellent vegan caterer. I know people aren't a fan of "fake meat" and we've deliberately chosen to not have anything of that sort. Our menu will include many options and will cater to allergies and dietary needs such as celiac. The food is delicious, is very "us" and reflects us as couple.

We have had pushback from my partners family. Adult family. I'm fully prepared to cater for children but not adults. Our thinking is that it's one meal.

Absolutely not unreasonable, though I would try to cater towards people who might be fussier eaters or more conventional as well as those who would enjoy eating a diverse vegan menu.

There’s a reason why a lot of wedding menus are quite boring chicken breast + veg type affairs and that’s because most people will eat it.

I wouldn’t discount ‘mock meat’ - it’s probably the easiest thing for people who are less adventurous eaters, and for children.

I’m trying to eat less meat for environmental reasons and the only success I have with my very fussy kids is things like quorn nuggets, sausages etc. Hardly showcasing vegan food at its finest but they will at least eat it!

@Flatstanleysenvelope

Hmm ... Not everyone is as broad minded as you are.

I would expect lots of wasted food as some people are too set in their ways to try something new.

Also be really careful of allergies to nuts, sesame, lentils, etc...

I was also coming to flag the nut allergy- I have a tree nut allergy (not peanut which I think can be worse) and it is very stressful at big catered events because it is not always apparent which dishes have nuts and can be difficult to find someone who know for sure so bear that in mind. I obviously can't have a nut roast...

It’s also hilarious that people are talking about giving guests a treat at weddings... most wedding meals are not good.

To be honest OP, I would just be thrilled to be invited to someone's wedding, and would consider the food to be a bonus. Most wedding food is pretty average, so something different to the usual would be really fun. If I really couldn't eat the food (which would be pretty unusual tbh) I would get something on the way home. It's a wedding, not a dinner party.
By the way I'm free most Saturdays for the forseeable!

If someone is that self centred that they wouldn't go to my wedding because of the food, then I wouldn't want them there.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Since someone mentioned being violently ill.

Do NOT serve quorn. Lots of people have reaction to the mycoprotein (or whatever it is) and you don't want a quornmageddon😳 My DH had horrible reaction

People can have a range of allergies and intolerances but usually invitations ask for any dietary requirements.

I’m not vegan but my cousin and his wife are. They had totally vegan food at their wedding and it was delicious. They had an excellent catering company. The only ‘extra’ thing they did was label the food (it was a huge buffet) which was good as some of the guests were wondering what various things contained eg the vol-au-vents (which were my favourite and why they sprang to mind, having gobbled a fair few 😆)

I thought some of our older relatives might fuss or turn their noses up, but they all filled their plates.

I do suggest having a wide variety of foods, including some instantly recognisable ones eg a rice salad, so that people aren’t having to look at each item.

“People can have a range of allergies and intolerances but usually invitations ask for any dietary requirements.”

In fairness, Quorn upsets quite a lot of people and if they’ve not had it, they might not know.

At the end of the day it’s your wedding and you pick what you want.

I’m not vegan but would never be rude if all there was available was vegan food. Hopefully there would be something I would like and could try. If not then I would just patiently wait for my usual Mc Donald’s drive through on the way home that I normally do after weddings

@Hangingover

littlepattilou ....you sound nuts.

And you sound rather unpleasant and spiteful. What’s with the personal insults? She has a different opinion to yours. Get over it.

Also have to laugh at all the people warning about restricted diets, bloating and dire gastric consequences. It’s one meal. ONE MEAL.

Anyone who depends on eating meat for every single meal really should think about re-evaluating their dietary choices, because THAT is what isn’t healthy!

Hello OP?

[quote LolaNova]**@Dullardmullard* ‘many could be violently* ill’? A quick google suggests a 0.3% prevalence of soya allergy. You could say that about serving fish, or eggs, or wheat. What an odd comment.[/quote]
If you're CMPI / CMPA, chances are you're also intolerant to soya, but probably aren't included in that stat.

Wow! Some of the ignorant and narrow minded posts on this thread
Let me preface this by saying that I am an omnivore, and we are having steak for dinner tonight. However, I love food – good food regardless of whether it is meat, fish, vegetarian or vegan. It doesn’t have to be one or the other to taste good. I also understand that everyone has likes and dislikes, and I get that not everyone likes mushrooms for example, but to write off a whole raft of foods is silly. DD is vegetarian, and we eat mostly vegetarian/vegan food when she is home from university

Here are a few myths that need busting:

1. Vegan food isn’t necessarily lower in calories. It can be rather carb heavy
2. Vegan food isn’t any more bland than non-vegan food. IMO only people who are boring cooks with no imagination would say this. Many cuisines lend themselves every well to vegan dishes – Indian, Middle Eastern, Korean, Thai, Mexican, Italian. You just need to tweak a few ingredients in some cases.
3. People who say they never eat vegan foods are lying. No-one eats a diet that excludes all foods except for meat, fish, eggs or dairy

As if Indian food and vegan shite is even comparable
It's hard to be a good cook when you are limiting yourself to vegan cack
But the fact is, when a vegan puts food on, (for a non-vegan,) it tastes like bland mashed up cardboard
Firing personal insults at me for having a different opinion, says a lot more about you though. And that goes out to anyone else insulting me

Isn’t that what you are doing to anyone who challenges your, quite frankly, childish, ignorant and ridiculous statements @littlepattilou?
TheThingsWeAdmitOnMN is spot on with this statement - Better be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth & remove all doubt.

I think @littlepattilou is just being deliberately goady, and I and many posters took the bait

IMO making really interesting and delicious vegan dishes takes more time and imagination, so someone who hates cooking and just likes meat and two veg style meals is going to find it difficult to envisage a tasty vegan meal.
I also think that this would work better by offering buffet style or tapas style dishes on each table so that guests have a choice.
@inthewest are you going to come back and let us know what you have on your menu? Ignore the naysayers.

Not vegan or veggie, but will quite often choose in a restaurant as a change, and also delicious. I think your guests would be very pleasantly surprised just how good vegan can be when prepared properly.

I think vegan food done well can be lovely but I'm vegetarian already anyway so lack of meat would never bother me.

My friend had a vegan wedding. A bunch of her inlaws decided to do a secret McDonald's run beacuse they needed 'real' food and tried and sneak them into the evening meal. The venue got wind and wouldn't allow them into the dining room with it. They were not pleased. It was very funny and the food was amazing. Feel sorry for my friend having such idiots as in laws though.

We went to a wedding once where the food was vegan and it was great! It is one meal....

Havent RTFT but I didnt realise pasta was vegan. I thought it had egg in it, or is that just fresh pasta?

The only issue I could foresee would be feeding pulse or legume heavy meals to people not used to eating much of them, which could cause discomfort and well...gas.
😂😂😂

I agree it's your wedding, but you're also inviting guests that you should be catering for their needs too.
I don't, per se, have an issue with a vegan menu. BUT, that is incredibly restrictive in comparison to the average person's diet and for me, for example, rules out a lot as I cannot eat nuts in any form, and don't eat dried fruits. So depending on the menu, I could be incredibly restricted to what I could eat.
Equally, it's etiquette to offer menu choices, that may assist, but I certainly know that I have elder family members who not the steak brigade as a pp suggested, that would probably eat hardly anything as eat more traditional meals, along lines of veg and potatoes, which I cannot imagine being this menu?

A menu is needed to comment further.

I would love it but wouldn’t do it myself, simply because I would be worried Id be paying for food that would be left and uneaten and that would piss me off, a lot of people I’ve found are fussy with food.

Yes, you have to be careful with pasta. Some is vegan and some isn't.

If I was going to s wedding and the B&G were vegan I would be expecting a vegan meal. People will be surprised at how lovely vegan food can be!

I think it sounds lovely. The best food I ever had at a wedding was vegan. I really enjoyed it and so did all the other guests (meat eaters included). We were told in advance the food was going to be vegan which avoided any awkward questions on the day.

@littlepattilou

As long as you are OK with going to someone's wedding, or party, or 'evening meal' and only being offered dairy and meat products, then yeah, go ahead and only offer vegan food at your wedding.

If you would not accept dairy or meat products in the food you were offered, then of COURSE you are being unreasonable to only offer vegan food to the guests at your wedding.

I can't believe you even have to ask!

It's not the same at all ( abd aim neither vegan nor veggie)

On the basis that it's your wedding it's absolutely fine! And although I'm a meat eater we do also eat meals that happen to be vegan like most people do, so for one day it shouldn't cause an issue to anyone??