Raw Life Coaching

Sooooo if you haven’t figured it out already, Rob and I will be getting married in just a few short months.  You may be wondering, how we’ll be able to pull off a raw wedding in a town (and state) where there are no raw restaurants to cater the event for us.  And no, I’m not one of those crazy brides who feels like she has to do everything herself.

We talked to three caterers before we decided to go with the last one.  The first caterer came back with an absurdly overpriced proposal ($18,000 for an organic, vegan menu with raw food options for each course and a full bar).  They claimed they would have to buy a lot of special equipment to prepare the foods, that they couldn’t guarantee the produce would be organic but would have to cover their costs for whatever they could get organic, and it had to be an all-inclusive bar.  We liked the second caterer but due to restrictions on our then wedding venue couldn’t use them.  We found out after that the chefs did not want to cater a wedding with raw foods.

The last caterer we talked to blew us away, immediately.  They already knew all about the raw and living food diet.  They have a client that they’ve been catering to for years who likes to incorporate a lot of raw foods into her events.  So Rob and I explained our situation, we eat raw foods and have maybe about a dozen guests who do as well.  We also have some guests who are vegan and then there’s all of our other guests.  The caterer said, ok, we can work with that.

We knew that we wanted at least one option at each course that is raw and overall we wanted an Italian menu.  This is what we’ve got, so far.

Hors d’ oeurves:  Dried Eggplant Chips topped with Caponata (will be pass around during cocktail hour).  Baby Avocado Bar.   While not exactly “Italian” I think it’ll work well.  They will set up a bar full of toppings and will split the baby avocados in half.  Guests will be able to top their avocados with fresh juices, fresh fruit, diced peppers, scallions, herbs, flavored oils, nuts or berries.  It’ll be like an avocado cocktail instead of shrimp cocktail.

After the cocktail hour is over our guests will be seated and find a cucumber and zucchini carpaccio salad with baby lettuces, sprouts, and fresh herbs waiting for them at their table.  (I’ve read that whatever is plated and waiting for guests when they take their seats is what is remembered most about the food at a wedding–besides the cake).

Everything else will be laid out on the buffet.  Guests will chose from a variety of main and side dishes.  The raw options include a vegetable linguini of turnip and carrot with a thyme sauce and an onion and eggplant casserole.

Lastly, we’ve got the wedding cake.  I think we’ve decided that it will all be vegan.  I had been considering making the top two tiers raw, but this is something beyond what our caterer can offer.  At the same time, while I considered making the raw cake tiers I just don’t think it would be a good idea for me to take on such a large (and important!) project right before the wedding.  So now I am considering ordering the top tiers from a professional.  (We are considering ordering from the Gratitude Cafe since a lot of my family will be coming from San Francisco, or maybe from Grezzo).

Tips for a wedding with raw and living foods from a standard caterer

• Bring un-cook books with you to meetings with your caterer and show them how easy they can make raw and living foods
• Explain to the caterer that they will not need to buy any equipment or they might try to charge you for things that are unnecessary.  If you choose recipes that require special equipment, offer to let them borrow some of yours (if you have it). You can use an oven to dehydrate goodies, set it to its lowest temperature and leave the door open
• Choose raw and living food dishes that are easy to prepare–that’s half of the reason why we went with Italian food
• Provide your caterer with lots of feedback
• Listen to your caterer’s ideas with an open mind, you might be surprised what they suggest

Remember, it’s your event.  The caterer is working for you.  What you say goes, it’s not about what they want to do, it’s all about you.  Most important of all, relax and breathe, everything will turn out great.