vegetarian wedding

sbrobinson123

My finance and I are both vegetarians who eat fish.  For our reception/meal we won't be having any animal products (nothing that walks on land).  We are considering heavy appetizers, not a sit down meal.  (Wedding is 3 pm on a Sunday and will be over by 7).  Do you think not serving beef or chicken will be an issue for our guests?  Not all our guests eat as we do. 

Any suggestions for protein on the buffet? 

Thanks for your comments.

Trishes

My FH and I are vegetarians. We're serving ricotta stuffed cannolini with roasted veggies, and vegetable wellington with creamy polenta. They'll also get appetizers (an assortment of breads/crackers/olives/etc with dips, crudites, etc).

None of our guests seem to have a problem with the fact that we're doing vegetarian, and if they do, they can eat ahead of time. It's our wedding, after all. Yours shouldn't have an issue going without chicken or beef, especially if there's fish offered. I think they could go one day in the year without eating either of those things. I've never known someone to die if they didn't have meat at a meal.

Protein on a pescatarian buffet could consist of shrimp/scallops, mini quiches, frittata, couscous salad, curries, sushi (cooked, if you prefer).

A lot of ethnic or foreign foods can easily be served vegetarian (such as Italian), and keep in mind that "bites" are all the rage now, so you could do "spaghetti bites" or whatever, depending on what your caterer is able to offer!

CA2MT4EveR

I have no idea why, but this showed up at the bottom of my page.  While I am against veganism, I respect other people's decisions to be as long as they are well educated on their subject and do not try to push it on others.  That being said, I think your heavy appetizers will be fine.  Do you do cheese? Cheese, crackers, shrimp cocktail, veggie aram rolls, sushi/california rolls, fruit/veggie trays, potato/macaroni salad,

sbrobinson123

We are not vegan, so cheese and seafood will definitely be on the menu.  All great suggestions. 

Trishes

Sorry to sbrobinson123 - I didn't mean to throw my veganism in to confuse everyone! I'll edit.

CA2MT4EveR

I didn't think you were pushing it on anyone. You're good

LauraT25

I think if you have enough heapy apps to constitute a meal, you'll be fine; it IS at a mealtime, so I wouldn't skimp too much on the food.  Personally, the idea of a bunch of heavy apps instead of a sit-down meal suits me just fine, as long as there's enough food for everyone!

As for the vegetarian issue, I'll say the same thing I tell everyone: as long as you have a variety of foods that are normally vegetarian (i.e. pasta, lasagna, whatever) without meat substitutes, you're fine.  Most people would balk at a bunch of tofu options, but if it's stuff that just happens to not have meat, no one will think twice.  Since you're including seafood, you're totally fine; even people who don't eat seafood can handle not having a ton of protein for just one meal, and if it's truly a concern they can eat a bigger lunch or stop somewhere after the reception. 

I would make sure that there isn't cheese in ALL of your dishes, since I find that most vegetarian options usually have a ton of cheese, I suppose to make up for the lack of meat, and a lot of people have issues with dairy.