Divya & Shrey's Vegan Pre-Wedding Celebration

We're always excited when we hear of couples who choose to veganize their big day - it's a great way of getting people to understand and appreciate the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. Divya & Shrey organized a vegan pre-wedding event in Mumbai, and as luck would have it, it happened during Veganuary! The couple's friend Kysha shares glimpses of the festivities and all the work that went into it!

Shrey Walia and Divya Nihalani did their MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University and love blossomed when they met at a batch mate’s wedding the year after college. Before the wedding in Delhi, a pre-wedding meet and greet was scheduled in Mumbai for the bride’s side - family, friends and colleagues.

Divya has been vegan for 3 years and wished to keep this pre-wedding celebration a vegan event. “I was inspired by cruelty-free weddings organized in India in the past, and we had also attended my cousin Hari’s wedding in Chennai where he took special efforts to ensure a completely vegan menu. So I expressed my wish to my family and my fiancé, Shrey. They were receptive to the idea, and my family was very supportive in contacting venues for vegan-friendly food options, vegan caterers for unique ideas and food tastings. Since I was working in Delhi throughout the preparation period, it was my parents, sister and jiju who did all the work. My wish was their command!”

For an auspicious beginning to the wedding celebrations, Guru’s akhand path sahib and bhajans were organized at home during the day and were attended by close family on both sides.

This was followed by a home-cooked Sindhi vegan lunch consisting of Sindhi kadhi with rice, aloo tuk & bhindi, mirch ja pakoda, sweet boondi, dates & dry fruits rolls and more.  

The evening event was organized at Juhu Club Millennium (catered by Grand Cuisines) and had over 250 guests. The appetizers consisted of a mix of cuisines with falafel pita pockets, rasam wada shots, chaat, green bhel sanjori, and a live wok counter to name a few.

The main course included singhada (water chestnut) palak, diwani handi, mushroom tikka masala, dal panchratna with Indian breads, and Oriental favourites like burnt garlic fried rice. For desserts there were jalebis, along with vegan versions of gajar halwa and chocolate cake with roasted almonds.

The variety of Indian and international cuisine in the food spread was well received by the guests and many of them didn’t even realize that they had relished a non-dairy version of dahi wada or gajar ka halwa! Mr. Vijay’s (bride’s father) first thoughts were that it might be difficult to organize an entirely vegan menu –“But when we explored, we realized that most vegetarian food is inherently vegan; mass cooking or making it tasty are the reasons given to make them non-vegan. We worked closely with the chefs to include dishes that are vegan by default. Wherever required, paneer was replaced with tofu, ghee was replaced with vanaspati and so on.”  

When asked about the challenging part, he said, “Desserts & curd alternatives were difficult but then we found Aharveda – which serves delicious gajar halwa & dahi wadas”. The bride added, “Also, the 3 tier chocolate cake by Ketaki was so scrumptious that it got over even before my family could taste it!”

This event luckily coincided with Veganuary, a movement inspiring people to try a vegan diet for a month – and the bride hopes it inspired people to organize more such cruelty-free gatherings for their friends and family!

Special mention to:

• Mr. Hamid & Mr. Jigar, Grand Cuisines - Juhu Club Millennium for the specially curated vegan menu
• Mr. John, Aharveda for the vegan substitutes - gajar ka halwa and dahi wadas
• Ms. Ketaki from Ketaki's Konfections, for the 3-tiered wedding cake

And the bride thanked “Papa, Mumma, Aarti and Pratik jiju for all the hard work behind making my wish a reality!” And thanks to Divya and Shrey for sharing their special day with us. 

Are you planning a vegan wedding? Veganizing your favourite festival? Or are you hosting a vegan potluck? We'd love to hear from you! Write to hello@veganfirst.com to get featured.