Weddingbee boards

Anyone else planning a vegan wedding?  Just curious. 

not 100%, but mostly! what are you planning to serve?

It is so good to hear stories of veg weddings that people loved!  Hopefully ours will be one too.  I also would NOT be comfortable serving meat.  Mr.ShyViolet and I have been vegan and/or vegetarian for almost ten years now.  There was no question that we would incorporate it into our wedding, it is just a matter of how to do it so that all of our guests are happy.  Not that I expect them to complain, but I just really want to share with them a little glimpse of the things we love and are passionate about, like yummy vegan food.  

NYamber, I am glad you mentioned family style.  I have been debating about this.  One caterer we met with advised against it because the tables might get crowded with dishes, but I am in favor of it for exactly the reason you mentioned.  We might have food people aren't used to, and with family style they could feel more comfortable sampling new things and going back for more.  

Which brings us to aiee's question, what are we serving?  I don't know(!), but here are some thoughts: for the cocktail hour ~ fresh fruit, hummus with veggies, bruschetta on crostini, grilled polenta with pesto, and for dinner ~ mixed green salad with dried cranberries and carmelized walnuts in a balsamic vinaigrette, avocado-cucumber soup, chilled gazpacho, fresh bread with olive oil, herb mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, white beans and spinach, penne with tomatoe and garlic sauce, veggies over pasta with a cashew cream sauce, ratatouille over rice... and of course a tower of vegan cupcakes!

So what do you think bees?  Which ones sound good?  And can I get away with pasta dishes as a "main course"? 

shyviolet--i think you can definitely "get away" with serving pasta as your main course (if your families/friends are big meat eaters, they may appreciate the familiarity), though it might be nice to do a fancier presentation than penne. a lasagnette or manicotti made up of layers of the delicious cashew cream, pesto and asparagus would probably be really tasty and appealing as fancy food the non-veg. the white beans and spinach side dish sounds like a good idea too as it'll shut up some of the protein questions (ooh, am i a little oversensitive about that?). and your cocktail hour and soups all sound very tasty! and yay cupcakes! are you using vctotw cupcakes?

glittergrl--what are you having? it's so awesome you're providing vegan/gluten free dessert! you reminded me that i need to figure out my gluten free options.  

we're doing our wedding about 75% vegan (everything but 1/2 the cocktail hour will be vegan). it feels a little icky to be having meat in the beginning, but my boyfriend does eat meat and i wanted him to have some special treats too (he doesn't really eat meat at home). i also have to be able to feed my super-picky grandma, and that pretty much has to involve meat unless i just give her cookies (she's always so sweet about feeding me with my incomprehensible--to her--diet that i feel like i need to do the same for her).  at the moment the plan is to do a sit down dinner serving a salad with a raw cashew/basil cream "ravioli" on top, a mushroom tart with the smoked apple field roast, caramelized onions and a wine sauce with green beans and truffled roasted potatoes alongside (that feels like a lot of starch to me, but the caterer insists that it's better with a starchy side dish--anyone care to comment?). then some passed desserts (mini pies! banana fritters! sorbet cones!) and a giant, vegan wedding cake! cocktail hour's going to have borscht shots, summer rolls, and two other things i'm forgetting right now as well as a handful of meaty things like shrimp skewers, tuna tartare, and little cuban sandwiches. 

any advice? sound tasty? should we switch anything around? we're still in the preliminary phase of picking food. 

thanks MegK! I think you're totally right about people not missing meat in the afternoon, especially when it's warm out. Of course genius that i am decided a vegan, winter, sit down dinner wedding was the way to go...

yeah, a lot of our more "ethnic" ideas got shot down too because they might not be popular. what dishes are you deciding between, maybe folks on here can help?

 maybe a crepe station? that's not as "scary" as tofu and stir fry but can still incorporate lots of vegetables as well as tofu in the fillings for the crepes.

thriftsiren--yeah, i shot down the caterer on the grilled portobellos so fast he was kind of offended. i actually like mushrooms, but i _hate_ grilled portobello as the vegetarian option (so boring, so badly done, no protein!). all the weddings i've been to have been pretty decent (even as a vegan, which was shocking). i've been to subject to some really, dramatically bad banquet food at other events (an entire plate of defrosted frozen veggie mix, totally plain comes to mind).

beanchar--totally, we'll just boot out some misbehaving family members for you!

i love mushrooms.  i even drove out to the mushroom festival in kennett square. pa last year.  but even i get really tired of the same portabello dish as the token veggie option, i have to agree. 

aiee, thanks for the ideas.  i will definitely talk to the caterers about a layered cashew cream lasagna and see what they can do.  as for vctotw cupcakes, ooh i hope so, i am tempted to make them myself but i should probably hire a professional.  your menu sounds awesome!  i wouldn't change a thing.  

glittergrl, i would also be interested in what you are serving for gluten-free folks.  i need to be thinking about that too...   

ShyViolet--no problem! i'm home from work today, and obviously have food on my mind and time on my hands! Thanks for the outside approval, from the inside, i just keep thinking, oh my god, too starchy!

 I initially thought I'd do vctotw cupcakes myself, but then the boyfriend decided he really wanted a cake, so we've gotten a baker (lotus cake studio, they're in philly, awesome, and do 95% or more vegan cakes and will do cupcakes too. we're not having the wedding in philly, but she's still a deal for nyc even with a delivery charge)