Last weekend, my wife and I got married.  It was a wonderful day that went off without a hitch - vegetarian menu for the reception notwithstanding.  We were a bit concerned about a negative reaction from our omnivorous family members, especially after a conversation with my wife’s grandfather before the wedding.  We had stopped by to visit, and as we chatted about the weather, he brought up a spaghetti dinner that they had eaten not too long before. 

 ”So the waitress came by with some sausages, and I said, ‘Well, where’s the meat?’  She told me that those sausages were all they had prepared.  You know what I told her?  I said, “Then you should go out of business.’”

Fortunately, our menu didn’t cause any friction.  So, if you are planning a vegetarian wedding but don’t want to cause an uproar with your family - here is how it worked for us.

We served a generally italian menu, starting off with a few appetizers (brie/rasberry cups and breadcrumb stuffed mushrooms).   The main course was eggplant parmesan - a hearty dish - accompanied by a pasta bar with options of marinara, pesto, and alfredo.  We also served roasted vegetables, a salad, and dinner rolls.  We finished the meal with overflowing trays of cookies and of course, wedding cake! 

I think that many non-vegetarians assume that a “vegetarian” meal consists of nothing more than tofu wrapped in lettuce, or a tray of raw vegetables.  By going with a hearty meal like eggplant - which has a meaty texture - and offering a number of  options for our guests, everyone was able to find something that fit their palate. 

If you have had a vegetarian wedding or are planning one, please share your experiences!

(PRWEB via PR Web Direct) December 21, 2005 — For many, it hits just shortly after the traditional Christmas meal. Bloated, gassy and teetering on the edge of a turkey-induced coma they swear this is it. Never again will they gorge themselves on unhealthy food. With the new year approaching, it’s the perfect time to make a positive change. A successful new web site, http://www.d-vegetarian.com/, an eBook and lots of bonuses can help people learn where to start.

The brainchild of Jennifer Scott, the comprehensive site features tips for making a smooth six-step transition to vegetarianism or for simply preparing and eating more meat-free meals. The site also features hundreds of holiday recipes, perfect for lightening a holiday meal or making vegetarian guests feel welcome at the holiday fest table. Finally, the site enumerates the ways in which a vegetarian diet is good for the planet.

Visitors to http://www.d-vegetarian.com/ can also save $25 on the cost of “Vegetarian Cooking Made Easy,” Scott’s brand new lifestyle cookbook, sign up to a free 5-part special report on how to quickly and easily turn a vegetarian diet into a heart-healthy diet and found out how to get $93.80 of free bonuses available with the ‘mega’ pack. The book provides a series of recipes as well as tips for long-time or novice vegetarians, a vegetarian food guide pyramid, hints for reinventing favorite menus and how to cook and enjoy vegetarian fare at weddings, banquets and other special events; all in all the site is a one-stop resource.

Other information available at the site includes:
•    Ideas for substituting common foods when vegetarians eat out;
•    Ways for pregnant women to keep a healthy vegetarian diet;
•    How a vegetarian diet can help with weight loss

But a vegetarian diet is not just good for the animals and the people who eat them (27 billion animals are killed for food every year in the US alone). The diet is good for planet earth. Meat production consumes fossil fuels, and places stress on soils, forests and water.

Jennifer Scott has been a vegetarian for the past ten years and spent the past year writing “Vegetarian Cooking Made Easy.” She’ll donate ten percent of the money raised from cookbook sales to charities such as Food for Global Life, which distributes vegetarian food to needy people worldwide.

For more information on the cookbook, visit http://www.d-vegetarian.com/.

Donald Watson the man who created the word vegan from the begining and end of vegetarian 60 years ago and founded The Vegan Society is 95 on Friday 2nd September 2005. A maverick in his day he has been proved right by health and nutrition experts.

(PRWEB) September 1, 2005 — Donald Watson hasn’t eaten meat or fish for over 80 years and has been vegan for over 60 years.

He is living evidence of the phrase “The proof is in the pudding”. Even at 94 he still tends his garden and walks to the top of local hills.

He’s always the first to highlight the work of the people who carried on the fight after he started the vegan society in London in November 1944 praising the Society’s many volunteers.

Donald tells us “In the two years before we formed a democratic Society, I literally ran the show. From the response that I had - thousands of letters - I feel that if I hadn?t formed the Society someone else would have done so, though it might have had a different name. The word ?vegan? was immediately accepted and became part of our language and is now in almost every world dictionary, I suppose. I can?t help comparing our attractive quarterly magazine with my humble ?Vegan News? which I produced at great labour. Normally I spent a whole night assembling the various pages and stapling them together. I?d limited the number of subscribers to five hundred because I couldn?t cope with a bigger number. Compared with democracy, dictatorship has obvious advantages. In the early days of “Vegan News” I could do everything my own way. I don?t think I could have survived if I had had to write to the few people concerned and ask for their opinion. I had no telephone and no motor car - I could only hope that they would see my point, until I handed over the work to a committee.”

Now there are millions of vegans and hundreds of vegan groups all over the world.

Donald says “The genie is now out of the bottle and no one can ever put it back to the ignorant days before 1944, when this seed was planted by people full of hope. Now wherever Man lives he can have a vegan diet.”

Donald Watson had originally wanted to set up a sub group within the UK vegetarian Society but they refused. He is still a member of The Vegetarian Society and has a message for vegetarians. “Accept that vegetarianism is only a stepping stone between meat eating and veganism. There may be vegans who made the change all in one leap, but I?m sure that for most people vegetarianism is a necessary staging post. I?m still a member of the Vegetarian Society to keep in touch with the movement. I was delighted to learn that at the World Vegetarian Conference in Edinburgh the diet was a vegan diet and the delegates had no choice. This little seed that I planted 60 years ago is making its presence felt.”

Campaigners are hoping to encourage Donald, who generally shies away from the media, to agree to help make a documentary of his life.

Donations and offers of technical assistance should be made care of http://www.veggievision.co.uk a new internet TV production company.

World Vegan Day celebrates the formation of The Vegan Society by Donald Watson on November the 1st each year.

Editors notes and pictures

http://www.heroes.for-vegans.co.uk

http://www.news.for-vegans.co.uk

http://www.vegan-cookbook.com

http://www.worldveganday.org.uk