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Vegan wedding series: working with caterers
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Finding a wedding caterer that specializes in vegan cuisine is hard. So hard, such caterers are mythical. The Holy Grail of vegan weddings, really. Unless you’re lucky enough to live in Portland, San Francisco or some other vegan-friendly town, you need some creativity and assertiveness. When planning your wedding, remember this: at no other time in your life will you be able to design a high-end event to your liking. As such, do not settle for less than the best.
If you’re fortunate enough to have latitude in choosing your caterer, you’re lucky. Usually, venues have a preferred caterer list, though, which dictates your choices. If this is the case, all hope is not lost. Follow the tips below for the best results:
+Call each caterer and ask if they can design a vegan menu. Guess what? The economy sucks. In this case, the economy’s nosedive is to your advantage, because few companies want to say ‘no’ if it means roughly 2k-5k in their pockets. When I called two venues (Heartline Café and Los Abrigados in Sedona, Arizona) both said they were willing to design a vegan menu. Even better, one of the salespeople was vegan and said she’s done a vegan wedding before. This is ideal. If they can’t quite design a menu (or the designed menu needs work), try the below suggestions.
+Review the catering menu and modify it to your vegan liking. Like in restaurants, we’re prone to looking at dishes on the menu and thinking, “this would be so much better without the cheese/meat/milk/etc.” Now, we get to actually execute those thoughts into the menu of our dreams. For example, I love bruschetta… but without the cheese. Ask for toasted pine nuts instead if you choose a bruschetta platter. Make creative substitutions. Scan the menu and for the items you like, and find a way to veganize it. More likely than not, they’ll happily accommodate the request.
+Ask for your favorite vegan recipes to be included. Okay, so nothing on the catering menu resembles the seitan brioches you love to eat. What then? Easy—write down the recipe, hand it to the caterer, and ask if they can work with it. To ensure that they can execute the dishes to your liking, it wouldn’t hurt to do a tasting after you give them the recipes to include. Similarly, look online for vegan recipes that sound delicious and make them yourself beforehand before passing them along to the caterer. It’s remarkably easy to make any dish vegan, even the meatiest of foods. Case in point: Google “vegan meatloaf recipe” and you’ll get 342,000 hits. You’ll fork over money to do a tasting, yes, but you also have the security that they can make your favorite dishes.
+Negotiate for lower prices. On all wedding catering options, the vegetarian dishes are the least expensive. If you ask for a prominent meat-dish to be made meat-free, kindly ask if that means a reduction in price due to eliminating the most expensive ingredient. If you don’t ask, they certainly won’t knock off a few dollars. So, be assertive. Negotiate away. Not to play up the gender roles, but I usually leave the negotiating to my future spouse. If you are uncomfortable with asking for a lower price, ask your spouse (guy or girl) to play “good-cop bad-cop” with the caterer. Don’t ever be rude, just assertive.
+Speaking of price, buy in season foods to save money. With flowers, the adage is to see what flowers are in season, and choose one’s floral designs based on availability. Produce is the same way. Your caterer can likely make a peach tart in the middle of January, but the request will come at a higher price than if asked in August when peaches are in season. In fact, if you’re designing a produce-heavy menu, summer might be your best bet due to the abundance of fresh fruits. Then again, pomegranates, persimmons and squash could make some fantastic dishes, all of which are fall/winter foods. Either way, take into consideration what is in season when designing your menu. The caterer can assist with this endeavor, too.
+Taste the food beforehand. Caterers might think that working with tofu is a snap… but if a chef has never worked with an ingredient, the end result might be compromised. Asking a caterer to sub chicken with a mock meat might seem like an easy switch, but the results could be disastrous. In fact, I wouldn’t include mock meats. For any complicated recipes or unique substitutions (ie, nutritional yeast flake cheese sauce), ask for a tasting.
+Go with tried and true foods and recipes. Your wedding has little room for culinary exploration. Save the new creativity for making dinners with your new spouse. I don’t mean for the menu to be boring: if you know your tofu curry tastes fantastic, sure, add it. If your caterer has made vegan risotto a thousand times, okay. But if you want to try some new recipes to wow your new family, I don’t think your wedding is the appropriate setting. Again, many future dinner parties will be on the horizon… save your inner chef for those occasions. If your caterer is assuring you that they can whip a mean mint soy gelee, I stress the point made throughout this article: ask to sample any new/weird/complicated ideas beforehand.
+Run your menu ideas by friends and family. I personally think having a “make your own raw pizza” buffet complete with flax seed crackers and nut cheese would be amazingly delicious. I would not have thought this food so delicious ten years ago. However, I reckon a happy-medium exists between overboard stereotypical vegan menus (think sprouts and buckwheat) and “hm, this food is good—it’s vegan? I didn’t notice!” menus. Aim for the latter. Yes, it’s your day… but this day is also a great opportunity to show others that vegan food is delicious. Your family and friends, who are used to your cuisine, will tell you if the food seems appetizing. I should mention this tip is optional. Meat-laden menus for other people’s weddings completely disregard us vegans... and that’s perfectly fine. It’s their day and they have every right. The same is true for you and your big day.
Check out the other articles in the vegan wedding series!
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