Vegetarian Food at Reception

Cook2014

To start with, I am a vegetarian, and my fiance is not. That is not a problem, as we cook for each other all the time and don't mind each other's eating habits. 

That said, I would like to have a GOOD vegetarian option at our reception. I don't want just pasta with sauce, since hey, this is my day too, and I want something worth my while! However, do you think it would be better to have a meat option and a vegetarian option, or would it be better to do a buffet where there would be several meat options AND several vegetarian options? I am leaning more toward buffet, but I am just beginning to think about all of this. 

Also, if you had vegetarian options at your wedding, what did you have? Or have you been to a wedding recently that had a great vegetarian dish? Any help would be much appreictaed!

Thank you so much!

futurepivko

We had grilled vegetable ravioli at ours, and many of our non-vegetarian friends picked that as their meal also!

Is there a cost difference between plated meal vs. buffet? And what kinds of meals would be on both?

jessicabessica

We had a buffet, except it was set up as two identical stations to reduce how long people had to wait (and also the presentation just generally looked nicer).  We had plated gazpacho and salad, and then tables were invited up to the buffets. 

We had (everything except the fish was vegtarian):
Alaskan halibut over pesto risotto
Alaska salmon over giant lima beans
Lasagna with white sauce, artichokes, and spinach
Porcini mushroom purses with marscapone and herbs
Vegetable streudel (vegan)
Green and yellow beans
Grilled vegetables
Roasted potatoes
Asparagus platter

We liked the more casual feel of the buffet, as well as the fact that people could try as many things as they wanted, even if the options wouldn't be served together in a plated meal. 

Have you picked your caterer yet?  That may influence what kinds of choices you have. 

peanutty2

Our venue is buffet only and allows us 2 entrees, a pasta, and a vegetable.  She recommended the 2 entrees be meat and have the pasta be the veg option... but as a vegetarian myself I didn't like that idea!  So we are doing a chicken dish (not sure what exactly yet) and eggplant rollatini as the entrees.  Then a pasta (probably vodka penne) and the vegetable.  I know it's not a ton of food   But that's what our venue does. 

If you have more choices than I do... I love the idea of a "fun" ravioli - like that grilled vegetable one mentioned above. 

Summer2011Bride

We're having penne pasta in a vodka cream sauce for our veg option. We only have one vegetarian, though, so I didn't think a buffet with tons of options was necessary for our crowd. If you have a lot of vegetarians, a buffet with options migh be nice. Is there a price difference between a buffet and plated meal?

jagore08

We had eggplant rollatini for our vegetarian guests along with several vegetable options.  

topchef33

The option we're choosing is eggplant parmesan.

klynette84

DH is vegetarian, and I am vegan. All of the food at our reception was vegetarian or vegan.

We had a plated combo meal for most adults, which consisted of Pesto Pasta Primavera (cheese stuffed tortellini tossed with sun dried tomato, basil pesto, artichokes, broccoli, sweet bell peppers, and garlic alfredo cream), Italian Ratatouille Stuffed Portabella (portabella caps stuffed with caponata style vegetables finished with rich tomato sauce and topped with smoked provolove and mozzarella on a bed of basil sunflower angel hair pasta), and green beans almondine.

We had a few guests with food allergies/restrictions. Those guests had a grilled vegetable entrée (marinated seasonal vegetables tossed in herbs and spices and grilled over an open flame. Served with toasted Basmati Rice with
zesty bean telish.)

ewurgler

We are having savory crepes as our veggie entree.  Spinach, leeks, artichokes, cheese, lemon burre blanc sauce.  It is rolled like an eggroll, but it is a crepe.

It is DELICIOUS and very filling.

mrsmustard12

For my vegan entree option I am having:
Campanelle pasta with pesto sauce (made with macadamia nuts instead of pine nuts), sun dried tomatos, cherry tomatos, avocado, and mango.  It sounds like an odd combination but it's soooooo good!

klynette84

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_vegetarian-food-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:3c24038d-b8aa-49b2-bed6-fe61cfd11693Post:69951054-61ab-400a-a2ae-9dd4aca4c39b">Re: Vegetarian Food at Reception</a>:
[QUOTE]For my vegan entree option I am having: Campanelle pasta with pesto sauce (made with macadamia nuts instead of pine nuts), sun dried tomatos, cherry tomatos, avocado, and mango.  It sounds like an odd combination but it's soooooo good!
Posted by MDigeon1125[/QUOTE]

This sounds awesome!

Sharkdiver1980

Our venue's vegetarian options were AWESOME. we had butternut ravioli with a cream sauce, and they also had some sort of vegetable streudel in phylo dough, that was so delicious.

Good Luck!

ginadog

I have been to two weddings that were both vegetarian meals (I bet a few of the dishes were vegan) and both the bride and groom were meat eaters.  It was just fabulous food.

I only remember the last one and it had 3 different dishes like a orzo/veggie mix, rice/veggie dish and roasted potato dish with rolls.  It didn't seem that starchy either.

Cook2014

Thank you so much for the suggestions, everyone. No, I do not have a caterer yet, as the wedding is well over two years away still... long engagement! I am just in the early stages of planning, and this is one thing that has been eating me away. 

It sounds like there are ways to do this, so I am feeling more confiddent about it now. We are thinking buffet style would fit our personalities better anyway, so that is probably what we'll go for, but we'll have to see if our reception venue does catering and what the prices are like first.

Thanks so much, again! 

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

We did an entirely vegetarian reception. We did pasta for the main course and had a choice of mushroom ravioli or a pesto penne with vegetables. We also did a salad course and a butternut squash soup, plus cake. Our hors d'oeuvres were tofu satay with peanut sauce, brie and apple quesadillas with chipotle crema, eggplant and feta stuffed piquillo peppers, and vegetable croquettes with marinara. HTH.