Vegetarian wedding meal?

sharnad

I would have a meat and veggie choice

Claire_Alex

I had meat and veggie food at my wedding even though me and husband do not eat meat. The majority did eat meat so we went with that

Skintski

No matter what you serve you will never please everyone so don't get too hung up on what people like or don't like.

I attended my friends wedding reception and she and her husband are strict veggies to the point where even their 3 dogs eat vegetarian. I would never have known there was no meat in their offering. It was fantastic and I didn't miss meat at all.

woodworm001

Put on the invite it's going to be a veggie meal and then people can just not come if they don't like it.

For the record, my wife and I are both veggie but didn't insist everyone else at the wedding had to be, though the last wedding we attended the veggie 'option' was salmon!

persa

I have been to a few weddings with bland school dinners food - I'd rather the bride and groom picked food they actually like, even if it's likely to put a few noses out of joint. Try to please everyone, and you end up with something below average.

Personally, I really enjoy veggie food - and I think Indian cuisine is particularly good at making meat-free dishes taste interesting. I would however caution that with buffet style food, it's going to be difficult to look after people with allergies etc. Lots of Indian food has nuts in it, some people's tummies can't handle spice - and, well, there's no good way to put this, but serving Indian food to the masses won't be a good idea if the wedding is going to be in a marquee in a field with only two Portaloos.

heartbreak_star

Skintski wrote: »

No matter what you serve you will never please everyone so don't get too hung up on what people like or don't like.

I attended my friends wedding reception and she and her husband are strict veggies to the point where even their 3 dogs eat vegetarian. I would never have known there was no meat in their offering. It was fantastic and I didn't miss meat at all.

That's apparently really bad for the dogs

HBS x

adouglasmhor

heartbreak_star wrote: »

That's apparently really bad for the dogs

HBS x

It's not if done properly but it does mean if someone does give them a non veggie snacks they are going to have very upset stomachs and you will be cleaning up after them.

Sharon87

My sister had no meat at her wedding. She and her husband only eat organic free range meat. But that's very expensive to serve to everyone, so they saved money by doing a vegetarian buffet.

They did get the caterers to do substitute things like vegetarian sausage rolls. They also done things like onion bhajis, sandwiches.etc No one really complained, probably because they were stuffing their faces on the free chocolates on the tables!

TopQuark

pinkshoes wrote: »

Serve some top notch vege food, then they won't even notice the lack of meat!

I can't stand people who complain about stuff at weddings - it's about the bride and groom, not them!

I don't agree with bolded text here. It's not just about the bride and groom at all - if it is, then why bother inviting anyone else?

We are getting married next June and we are making a special effort to consider our guests enjoyment in the planning. If it were just about us, we'd be eating escargot & frogs legs and having a rave afterward, but we understand that most of our invitees would not appreciate such arrangements. And since they'll be spending their money on gifts, outfits, petrol, accommodation, childcare, planes and taking time off work (some of them) to share our special day with us, we want to give something back to them and make it as nice for them as we can.

If you're not willing to accommodate people's tastes and wishes (within reason) and have the attitude 'it's our wedding, so we'll do what the hell we want and balls to everyone else', then I think that's very selfish and you can't really be surprised if people don't enjoy themselves and there are a few 'complaints'. (Although people who complain over trivia/because their exact needs have not been fully met, need to have a word with themselves, I agree).

To the OP, I think your friends ought to offer one meat option, maybe as a main course - it is being considerate of guests' wishes by doing so. I'd agree with others here and say that if they were vegetarian on moral/ehtical/religious grounds, that would be different. For example, I wouldn't serve halal/kosher meat at my wedding even if I had muslims/jews present as I disagree with it on ethical grounds. I would provide an alternative meal for them though.

If you don't want to consider the guests at your wedding, then save everyone the hassle and expense and just don't have any.

scmp

I commented on this a couple of weeks ago and i was of the opinion that if the couple had been vegetarians for a decade then all their friends would know. It would be important to put on the invitations that it was a vegetarian only occasion.
If your in a hotel or such with a 3 course meal it is easy to offer a meat option for guests.
We have booked our reception food and as we are having a barn and outdoor event we went with a hog roast. This feeds 100 people and we have 90 guests, it's quite fustrating to pay more money out to provide vegetarian sausages (vegetable ones and the ones that look like meat... because not all vegetarians like the same sausages as my best vege friend tells me lol) and extra rolls. There is coleslaw, potatoes and vege quiche that comes with the hog roast but having a quiche for the vegetarians is seen as a 'token gesture' and would not be appreciated.
One of my family members will actually have to cook the vege sausages at the reception on the large gas camping stove which is very much a a pain to be honest but we want our vege family members to enjoy the day as much as the meaty ones. You either have to comprimise for your guests or clearly tell them that it is vegetarian only.

I can not see a family member not coming because there is no meat as vegetarian meals in restauants cost pretty much the same as a meat one these days, If they can't eat vegetarian for you for one meal then do you really want them there?

Although it has just dawned on me that our entire reception will smell like bacon..... there are not enough vege sausages in the world to cover that smell!!!!