How to Plan a Lavish Vegan Feast in Chennai - Abhishek & Shruthi

September 07, 2022

When we started planning our wedding at no point did we entertain the thought of having non-vegan food at our wedding. We are both ethical vegans, and it was extremely important to us to align our actions with our values. We could not morally justify exploiting, hurting and killing animals for the sake of our wedding.

We had our decorator make flex boards which announced th at all the food at the wedding was vegan. These flex boards were put at the entrance of the dining hall. We wanted to be upfront with our guests about the vegan food and our reasoning for being vegan. We needn't have worried—the food was a smash hit, we made some great friends, and we got people talking about Veganism!

Here is a list of all the people and businesses who helped us have amazing vegan food at our wedding.

Willing to cater vegan food: Vinayaka Catering Services 

One of the few caterers whom we liked and who was willing to try their hand at a vegan wedding was Mr. Sriram, of Vinayaka Catering Services. Right from the start, Mr. Sriram was a source of positivity. Even though he hadn't previously conducted a vegan wedding, he was aware of our ethical considerations and was happy to accommodate them.

Vegan Alternative to Dairy Raw Materials:

1. Mr. Aravindan of Vijay Sweets Coimbatore supplied the non-dairy creamer powder that we could use to prepare the milk for our wedding.
2. One Good (Previously GoodMylk) ghee and butter that the caterer would need for making the sweets and snacks that are customary for a South Indian wedding.
3. Jayasurya and Umamaheshwari of Wegun that supplies vegan curd, paneer and lassi.

Jay and Uma became more like family to us and were a pillar of support. In the weeks leading up to the event, they visited us several times at our home, bringing us samples of their products for us to try, and had heartfelt discussions with us on their vegan journey. We tried different variants of their curd, paneer and lassi, made from peanut, soy or cashew, to determine which was suitable for us in terms of taste and cost.

• All curd-related items we intended to serve would be tempered and seasoned, which would mask any underlying odour and taste of the peanut
• Cashew lassi to serve during our Sangeet ceremony
• Soy paneer to be used in any paneer dishes during the event

Vegan Desserts

Credits: Instargram, Crumbheaven

1. The Viridian Plate, Chennai's only all-vegan restaurant, run by Gayathri and Shankar supplied Chocolate Mousse and Pumpkin Kheer for the Sangeet
2. Baba Ramdev Vegan Ice-cream run by Mr. Ashok: Fruit-like ice creams, where he scoops the pulp out a fruit like an orange or a mango, makes ice cream with that pulp, and puts it back into its skin. This ice cream was a hit with people eating 3-4 pieces of 'fruit' each!
3. Vegan Cake from Crumbheaven run by Ms. Smuruthi: Black-forest tiered cake

All in all, we felt the biggest way to explain our values was through food at a South Indian wedding that usually has a lot of dairy. If we could get the attendees to enjoy a lavish traditional feast with Tamizh and Kannadiga elements, it would be a success. But we needn't have worried– the food was a smash hit, we made some great friends, and we got people talking about veganism!

Like this? Read: INDIAN VEGAN RESTAURANTS: The Ultimate Guidebook!

Read More: Sashi Kiran Tikka:Director of Major, Proud Vegan and Co-owner of The Vegan Café and Store Plantarium