A Reflection On Our Vegan Wedding!
Just over a year ago I celebrated a very special day. I got married to my amazing partner of 23 years. I’d never really been one who dreamt of the big fancy wedding, so a very small and informal day with direct family was just what we wanted.
Family flew in from the other side of Australia, and the other side of the world. We rented some amazing properties in Gracetown (a stunning location that we both love) – one of the homes was also going to be the breathtaking location where we would share vows and celebrate the reception (Incognito).
We swiftly arranged a photographer (Paul Donegan, In Sight Photography), celebrant, my dress and shoes, my husband’s attire, our rings, wedding cake, makeup and hair, and the vows – but one thing was a little trickier to decide upon.
We are vegan so we wanted our wedding reception to be vegan.
On discussion with family we were soon to discover that a few of our omnivorous guests were not a fan of the possibility of a vegan menu and expected that we compromise and add some animal-derived items to satisfy their tastes.
We were torn by this. Would we bow down to their requests for animal-derived foods, or would we stay true to our values and serve a delicious, vegan meal. Sounds like a simple decision when put like that, but in actual fact it was a struggle as we felt pressure from those who were joining us to eat on our special day.
Looking back now we should not have wasted a minute on this conundrum. We stood our ground so we could have a day we could be proud of; a day that we could look back upon and feel it was a perfect representation of us.
At the end of the day, we couldn’t celebrate love and commitment knowing that animal suffering was part of the menu. Our caterer, Saul Atkinson, was accommodating and creative, and put together an extensive, vegan menu that was sure to please everyone.
My mouthwatering, vegan wedding cake was baked and iced by The Pear’fect Pantry. My daughter added her creative touches and decorated our cake to perfection.
Our wedding day was perfect… the day, the venue, the food, the love and family… and more importantly being able to make a commitment of love to a man I love very deeply, whilst sharing our devotion with the person (our daughter) who is the centre of both our worlds, is a moment we will always cherish.
I am so glad we did not compromise our morals and values on this day of all days. I can forever look back on this day with the knowledge that we were true to something that is at the heart of our identity.
And the consensus on the food… an overwhelming tick of approval. Guests loved the food (many were surprised how good it was), and no one went hungry!
