ethicalweddings.com

Hello! In my first post as a ‘blogger bride’ I thought I’d fill you in with where we are so far with planning our wedding.

Sam and I got engaged in June 07 – he proposed on holiday on a small island on the Croatian coast (we’d travelled there in a fairly ethical style – by train via Paris and Venice and then by ferry). When we got home we started planning straight away.

We spent the first couple of weeks scouring Google for suitable wedding venues. We wanted somewhere with a bit of character, that wasn’t too expensive, and that had good environmental policies. Oh, and as we’re both vegetarian, we needed somewhere that either provided good vegetarian catering, or somewhere we could use external caterers. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Well, we didn’t come up with much. And I have to say it was a bit of a shock to see how much most venues charge for wedding receptions. We were starting to despair when my parents, who are in the midst of setting up a winery in the Cumbrian Pennines, suggested we hold the reception in their barn. They are renovating the barn themselves – using many green ideas such as sheep’s wool insulation and a woodburner to provide the heating.

They are hoping to open the winery next summer, so the barn should be ready in plenty of time for our wedding in June – fingers crossed!

So that was one problem solved. Now for the catering…

Vegetarian caterers in Cumbria are hard to come by.  Internet searches turned up nothing suitable – we wanted something that was going to show our meat-eater guests how delicious and creative vegetarian food can be, rather than provide the usual vegetarian lasagne or mushroom stroganoff.

Again, my Mum came up with the solution. Through word of mouth, she found a local caterer who, although not vegetarian, was excited about creating a showcase vegetarian buffet. After trying the courgette and mint roulade we knew we’d found our caterer!

We’re six months into our planning now, with six months to go. Still to sort out: music, bride and bridesmaid’s dresses, groom’s suit, honeymoon, flowers, invites, transport, photography and wedding rings. So, not much then…!

Until next time,
Kate