blondie0420

I just got an invitation in the mail to my cousin's wedding. They are having a sit-down dinner during the reception. When you RSVP, you're supposed to check off what you'll be having for dinner: chicken, fish or prime rib.

It's really nice and all, but I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat meat or fish. My cousin knows this, and I'm sure she'll make arrangements for me to have something to eat (I hope), but this all got me thinking about all of the other weddings and events that I've been to where there is nothing for me to eat.

I mean, literally, I've been to events where there is not a single thing I can eat...at all. Everything has meat in it. Let me just tell you, it is extremely uncomfortable to be sitting at a table with people who are chowing down, staring at an empty plate, in a room full of happy diners. It is very, very awkward.

It's not like I can just decide not to be vegetarian for a day. You have enzymes in your stomach that are meant to break down meats after you consume them. After a while, vegetarians no longer have those enzymes, so eating a big piece of steak will make you very, very ill. It's been 7+ years (almost 8) since I've had any meat, so I don't expect that I would be able to consume meat again on a whim without slowly building up to it with a little bit at a time over several weeks or months. Plus, and this is important too, I don't want to. I've made a life decision never to eat meat again, and I would hope people would honor that choice by at least giving me a damn slice of bread when there isn't anything else for me to fucking eat at your goddamn sit-down dinner!!

Anyway, because of all of this, I have made a decision to, when I eventually get married, have a completely vegetarian wedding. No meat. No fish. There will be plenty to eat, but it'll all be vegetarian. People who eat meat can forego their cravings for a night and enjoy my damn wedding reception without eating meat.

I admit, I thought of doing this simply because I am bitter about all of the times I've been starved at other people's events. My intention is not to starve people, but just to stick it to them with a meatless meal. (And they might actually enjoy it, I hope.)

I told this to my parents sort of jokingly, and their reactions very much surprised me. My mom was kind of like, "right on, you should do that." But my dad got really upset and angry that I would consider doing this. He really likes a good piece of meat, so maybe he was worried about starving at my wedding when the day eventually comes. But he really seemed very offended. I didn't want to get into the whole conversation about how offensive and annoying and awkward it is for me to not have anything to eat when there is only meat on the menu. But, really, you know I would make sure that everything tasted really good and that everyone had something to eat. I would not let people starve at my wedding as others have done to me.

I don't know. Given my parents' very different reactions, I was curious what others would think about it. So don't hold back.

Edit: Oh yeah, just to make it resoundingly clear, I'm not getting married anytime in the near future. So it's not like I'm planning on doing this in the next few months or anything. And obviously, my wedding plans will also depend on what my fiancee would want as well, so this is all hypothetical and just fun to think about. No more, no less.

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