A traditional Polish wedding cannot do without meat. Starting with a consommé through various roulades, cutlets, roasts up to the grande finale, and thus, a venison or piglet roast served by our cooks. There is a common belief that meat and alcohol go together like a horse and carriage, and a rich amount of meat on the wedding table allows your Guests to stay strong till the crack of dawn. Usually, the menu includes some vegetarian dishes too, yet they are in the decided minority and the meat dishes overwhelm them. Mostly, there are only as many vege portions prepared as there are people who declared such a need in advance. However, times are changing, and so are our eating habits too. We take care of our diet and what we put in our stomach is of paramount importance to us. A traditional wedding is just one of the scenarios. And if the happy couple is vegan or vegetarian?

A challange or a chance?

At first glance, the thought of organising a completely vegan wedding seems anything but crazy. On Internet forums, you can find plenty of threads in which supporters and opponents of the concept have battles over arguments. On the other hand, we have brides and grooms who – wanting to stay true to their way of thinking – do not wish to serve dead animals to their guests in celebration of their newly-wed union. On the other hand, we have guests who often perceive the lack of meat dishes on the menu as an imposition on their way of life, who do not trust the taste qualities of vegan cuisine, and who may take such a wedding evening proposal as disrespectful to their eating habits. It’s a difficult argument, but the final say always belongs to the bride and groom. It’s their big day and if it’s going to be a vegan day, then so be it!

A filling main course

Arguments and contentious issues aside, having a look at the vegan menu will do you no harm. What’s so scary about it that a carnivore wouldn’t eat? Vegans have many ways of making their cuisine varied, rich in substances essential to the human body and they can easily replace meats with substitutes. Among the ingredients of vegan dishes, in addition to the obvious vegetables, tofu, tempeh or seitan are also included. The list of possible dishes and flavour combination is practically endless. There are soups, tofu chops, oyster mushroom cutlets, grilled tempeh, aromatic risotto or kashotto that can be prepared in thousands of ways. There are also wonderful salads, stuffed courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes… The only limit to the menu is the imagination of the cook, bride and groom, who – in the best of all the scenarios possible – should share the passion for vegan cooking. Fancy meatless snacks allow the cooks to truly show their skills and fantasy. It’s a myth that you cannot eat your fill having only veggies. First of all, they can be served beautifully and, what’s more, some people who won’t even realise that there is no meat in these dishes!

Delightful sweets

An important highlight of each and every wedding reception is the layer cake with which the bride and groom want to delight their guests. The increasing number of vegan (and even gluten-free) cake shops specialising in this type of cakes proves that sweets without milk, cream and eggs can be made and – most importantly – can dazzle your guests! Here again, vegan brides and grooms have a huge field to choose from: tofu cakes, all kinds of puddings and mousses, millet cakes, carrot cakes, beetroot cakes, beautifully decorated muffins or even vegan ice cream. It’s all sweet, it’s all delicious and it’s all vegan! A good idea would be to give small gifts to your wedding guests, like for instance oatmeal cookies, rose pralines or coconut truffles coated in cocoa, all hand-baked and packaged by the bride and groom. In this smart way, you can delight your guests and show them that veganism doesn’t necessarily mean culinary sacrifices, because it can really, really be a culinary pleasure, indeed.

What can we drink?

If the bride and groom want to be consistent in their choice of a vegan wedding, the issue of alcohol also needs to be addressed. At first glance, it is an innocuous product, because it is created on the basis of fruit or cereals, nevertheless, in many cases, producers use zoonotic products during the alcohol clarification process (gelatine, isinglass, albumin or casein are used, for example). In most cases, this information will not be found on the bottle, and you will have to consult the producer themselves to find out whether the alcohol is 100% vegan or not. Fortunately, the Internet also comes to the aid of vegans. Namely, there are search engines that help you look for vegan spirits (e.g. barnivore.com) or simply lists of producers that have already been checked by other vegans.

Menu is just the beginning

Veganism is an ideology that is not limited to what is on our plate. This way of thinking, this philosophy goes much further. Hence, a bride and groom who live a vegan lifestyle will certainly also pay attention to aspects of the wedding such as the bride’s dress or the groom’s outfit (no silk, wool admixtures, natural fur) and shoes without leather or wool elements. If jewellery, then surely no pearls or beads. Make-up may only be done with ‘vegan friendly’ cosmetics (an important point to bear in mind when choosing a make-up artist). When it comes to the florist, on the other hand, it will be important that no silk ribbon appears in the flower bouquets.

Above all, let's have fun

The number of details that a vegan bride and groom have to pay attention to may seem intimidating at first glance. However, for those living this way on a daily basis, these are obvious choices that do not need much thought. The meeting of people on different diets and with different mind-sets need not necessarily lead to a disaster (as scary meat-eaters threaten when they argue with acrimonious vegans on various online forums). On the contrary: all it takes is a little imagination on the part of the bride and groom to delight their guests, and good cooperation with the chef and wedding coordinator. A vegan wedding can be a wonderful culinary feast combined with fun on the dance floor!

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