Last month, Verte Luxe and The Kind Bride hosted The Luxe and Kind Bridal Boutique and Pop Up, the worlds first vegan bridal fair. The event, which took place at the Bel Air Tree House in Los Angeles, offered advice for a vegan wedding about choosing a venue, picking a cake, finding a caterer, decorating

deciding what to wear

and everything else that goes into planning a vegan wedding. PETAs very own Senior Social Media Manager Ashley Frohnertwho tied the knot in not one but two wonderful all-vegan ceremonies last yearspoke at the event.

The vegan bride shared her own wedding-planning experiences and offered recommendations to those in attendance. If you couldnt attend, dont fretweve got her tips right here on making your wedding a lovefest foreveryone:

For some brides, the dress is the most important and exciting part of a wedding. For both of her ceremonies, Frohnert wore a dress from Anthropologies bridal line, BHLDN, and vegan leather shoes from SUSI Studio. Frohnerts betrothed, Tony Safran, sported a burgundy three-piece wool-free suit from ASOS, a belt from Brave GentleMan, and dark brown oxfords from vegan shoe store MooShoes.

Pro tip: Check every label to ensure that your ensembles are free of leather, wool, silk, feathers, or any other material taken from an animal. (Because wearing someone elses skin and other body parts is not romantic.)

Frohnerts hair and makeup were styled using cruelty-free and vegan products. For your big day, make sure that your makeup artist uses vegan productsbe sure to search PETAs Beauty Without Bunnies database to ensure that everything is cruelty-free, too.

Pro tip: Get your locks styled at Aveda and your makeup done at Sephora, where you can request that only vegan products are used. (Again, make sure that theyre cruelty-free, too!) If youre not near one of these stores, take your own animal-friendly products with you to your local salon.

For their initial Los Angeles nuptials, Frohnert and Safran celebrated at The Mountain Mermaid in the hills of Topanga, California, which provided a perfect serene backdrop. A few days later, in Pennsylvania, the couple celebrated at the historicBraddock Carnegie Library.

Pro tip: When choosing a venue, avoid sites that contribute to animal suffering, such as ones that host circuses that use animals.

The couples Los Angeles menu featured jackfruit tacos with cashew crema, oyster mushrooms in mole sauce, semilla salad with fresh strawberries, guacamole and chips, and a vegan take on a shrimp cocktail, all from Todo Verde. In Pennsylvania, LadyFingers Cateringprovided an all-vegan spread of mac n cheese, tacos, and fresh vegetables.

Pro tip: Chances are, youll have some nonvegan guests attend your special day. This is your chanceshow your family and friends just how delicious and easy going vegan can be.

The best part about choosing the perfect vegan wedding cake is tasting all the varieties! Being vegan is so common that more and more bakeries now offer animal-friendly optionscall around to your local shops to see if theyll cater your big day.

Pro tip: Its your day, so serve whatever dessert you want. In Los Angeles, Frohnert and Safran served cake and cupcakes so that their guests could sample a variety of vegan flavors.

Sipping on champagne, wine, or beer thats been filtered with isinglass (a substance derived from fish bladders) is not something to toast. Thats why the vegan couple chose organic white wine from Frey Vineyards and beer that was local and animal-friendly.

Pro tip: When in doubt, check Barnivore.com.

Ever heard of a cookie table? I hadnt, either. Apparently, at a Pittsburgh wedding, youll find a table (or two) covered with cookies. During particularly hard financial times in the U.S., Frohnert explained, instead of an expensive cake or wedding favors, folks would bake dozens of cookiesfavors that guests could take home and satisfy their sweet tooth with. Decades later, the tradition remains.

Pro tip: Pop a recipe card into the takeaway bags with your cookies so that your guests can recreate the delicious egg and dairy-free treats you send home with them.

Frohnert and Safrans wedding registry was as animal-friendly as can be, and yours can be, too. If youre registering for home goods, be sure to leave items made with wool, leather, or other animal-derived materials off your list. Or you can crowdsource your post-nuptial trip via a honeymoon fundjust be sure to leave off any activities that exploit animals. Or how about making the world a kinder, safer place for animals by setting up a charity registry?

Pro tip: Check out these other vegan wedding registry ideas for a little inspiration.

Sometimes, incorporating your nonhuman best friends into your wedding is one of the most important parts of planning your big day. Frohnert and Safran did so by dubbing their adopted pupsJackson and Howardtheir best men.

Pro tip: Get your bride tribe and groom crew as excited about a vegan wedding as you are! Ask for their input on your silk-free bridesmaid dress preferences, or bring your best man with you to pick out the wool-free suit that hell be sporting on the big day.

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Frohnerts ceremonies are just one example of how easy it can be to mark momentous occasions in ways that align with your values. There are so many ways to veganize your ceremony and receptiondiscover a few more of them:

How to Plan the Perfect #VeganWedding

Original post:

Planning a Vegan Wedding Is Easy With These Tips - PETA