Guests Have Decided to Go Vegan and I Don't Have Food For Them

Your caterer is full of it. In any type of industry the way you grow professionally is to take risks. They have 6 whole weeks to whip shit up at home and test it out. They flat out don't want to

To piggyback Badger, make sure the caterer is aware of the health needs and that gloves need to be changed/utensils switched so there's no cross contamination. Once a vegan food touches something that has been used for non-vegan foods, it's no longer vegan.

Bring in two meals from a Vegan Caterer. You have time to do your research!

FH's brother/BM and girlfriend are recently vegan. I covered this with the caterer beforehand, knowing we'll also have some vegetarians. I don't really understand why they can't provide a salad with nuts or something like that.

On the other hand, FH's brother has said if we cannot accommodate him (before we even picked a caterer). he'll just bring in something himself. We of course will accommodate him and his gf. Just like you'll do for the 2 guests.

I think why you're stuck on this is probably their lack of contrition and thinking of your feelings/time. It would be different if they didn't automatically assume you'd accommodate them. Making demands a month out of the bride is a little rude. I still think your caterer should figure something out.

@keisha - I genuinely do not understand your comment. My caterer from day one has said they do not accommodate vegan requests. I signed a contract knowing that. They're under zero obligation to alter their business practice for me. I can whine and yell all I want, but I wouldn't have a foot to stand on.

Well they can just eat ice chips and like it.

@Mary, you didn't answer the question about vegetarian meals. What is your vegetarian meal?

I agree this caterer is full of BS.

The vegetarian option is a very hearty risotto with mushrooms and other vegetables.

You can make vegan risotto with vegetable stock and vegan cheese. It's delicious.

If I were you, I'd first get a clear answer from your caterer about the butter thing. Are they sure they only use butter? They aren't just saying that to make themselves seem more lux. Reason I ask, is most places used a vegetable oil based spread. It's much cheaper than butter. I've seen chefs bareface lie that they use butter when I fact are using a less expensive butter substitute.

If they are adamant about the butter thing then I would just left your vegan friends know.

If they fuss, then tell them their presence will be missed at the wedding. At the time of picking a caterer, there were no apparent food allergies that you had to plan for.

It's not like you are trying to be needlessly insensitive to their newfound food ideology.

@AL I'm sure you can. My caterer from day one said they do not accommodate vegan requests.

@Sarah - Before we put a deposit down on the caterer we asked each of our parents if it would be an issue and they both double checked their list and told us it would not.

I mean, the bottom line is that you either need to get a new caterer, or get at least two meals from a vegan friendly restaurant and have your caterer heat and plate them.

Maybe you should have AL cook for your vegan guests.

LOL, no. Not without being paid bigtime for Christmas weekend.

Luckily you're getting married in one of the great food cities of the world, so this is a no-brainer. There will be tons of vegan restaurants happy to deliver a good meal direct to your venue. Just try to choose something that's not of a wildly different quality than the rest of the guests are getting, and you're fine.

@Del - That's a great idea trying to keep it consistent. Thank you!

It's not odd at all and it's not lazy at all, especially in December, when odds are, the OP's party is one of dozens of events on the day. Your average successful caterer isn't making one meal at a time. They're making hundreds if not thousands of meals at a time which is why we used to be so specific about what we offered. All you need is one prep chef to cube 50 lbs of cheese and then touch something else. We all know not to cross contaminate with peanuts and raw chicken, but some more seemingly innocent foods are more problematic. At our peak, we had 20 people working in the kitchen; you simply cannot watch every move from every person. A person making a bread basket may go right to salad without thinking there is someone with a gluten problem that may be affected. This is one of the reasons why the notion of self catering is pretty laughable. It's not as easy to throw a bunch of green beans in a pan of olive oil and call it dinner. And don't forget; a good busy kitchen is a well oiled machine made out of systems. If I asked my chef to take time in the middle of slamming Saturday to have all wheels grind to a halt to make something we don't generally make? There would be a lot of cursing and swearing.

Telling the OP to changed caterers at this point isn't feasible. And I agree; the guests are being entitled to expect her to go out of her way, at this point, to accommodate what feels like a whim on their part. I feel like a couple will have other things to do on the day than figure out if the two vegan meals arrived.....

We had a relationship with a kosher caterer who would deliver totally packaged kosher meals to our kitchen the morning of our events. They came in sealed bags which we were forbidden to touch, so that is the way they were served at the wedding.

I know it's an UO, that caterers are supposed to be miracle workers, but unless you've worked in a busy, busy kitchen you have no idea what goes into the orchestration of multiple events. This is part of why our venue go so apeshit when the ceremonies run a half hour late because of a shuttle or a MUA; the whole rhythm of the day is thrown off.

OP, I do agree that your caterer is in the wrong here. It's 2017, choosing to be vegan is not something new. A reputable caterer should cater to ALL types of dietary needs/restrictions. People's diets change all the time. My cousin wasn't vegan up until 2 months ago because it helped her sleep better and feel better since being diagnosed with MS. You always want to make sure your guests, even if its 1 person, is able to eat. I would hate to come to a wedding and sit there starving my ass off. I would have never went for a caterer that didn't cater to all dietary needs, even if no one needed it. Luckily, as @Del mentioned, you are within arms reach of all possibilities, food wise.

ETA: I also agree that 6 weeks is not a lot of time and unreasonable to switch caterers at this point.