And somewhere on this list, often much further down than the significance of the day warrants, is the wedding food.
This is by no means because couples do not care about feeding their guests. On the contrary. It is simply because the search for the right culinary concept in the capital quickly becomes sobering. Berlin is considered worldwide as a melting pot of new food trends and creative gastronomy. But as soon as the word "wedding" comes into play, the industry often falls back into old patterns. The moment when a dream aesthetic and truly outstanding, modern food come together is found less often than you think. If a consistently vegan or plant based kitchen is also required for the celebration, the list of options suddenly becomes very short.
The Crux with the Location: Why the Food Often Falls by the Wayside
The search for the perfect wedding location in Berlin is an adventure in itself. Whether urban industrial chic in the historic Kreuzberg Heeresbäckerei, a historic villa on Lake Wannsee or a greenhouse surrounded by lush plants in the Botanical Garden, the selection is visually overwhelming. However, once you have signed the lease for the dream location, the rude awakening often follows when it comes to the culinary aspect. Many Berlin event locations have been solving the gastronomy question for years according to the same rigid principle: They work exclusively with fixed catering partners. For you as a bridal couple, this means a contractual obligation. What is cooked is what the commercial kitchen has been testing for decades.The classic three course menu dominates: beef fillet or salmon in the main course, a vegetarian alternative and the vegan option only upon explicit pre registration. In reality, for vegan guests or couples, this usually means the obligatory, uninspired plate with grilled vegetables or a bland tomato pasta that everyone knows, nobody ordered, but is still served anyway. This is not a personal criticism of the caterers. It is simply the economic model of an industry designed for maximum standardization and mass production. Only it does not work for everyone. And it definitely does not work for couples who truly care about enjoyment. We at Bonvivant have worked for many weddings in recent years, sometimes at our restaurant, sometimes out in the city. What we have learned from this: The location itself is rarely the problem. The food on the plates is.
“The beauty of our contemporary, plant based cuisine is that it excludes no one. We do not cook for categories or dogmatic diets, but for people. Good food connects and creates a common ground at the table.” - Nikodemus Berger, Head Chef at Bonvivant
Vegan Cuisine at a Wedding - The Honest Answer to Your Biggest Worry
Anyone who lives as a couple as a vegan out of conviction in everyday life and plans a wedding inevitably faces a major decision. Do you make painful cuts to your own wedding menu and serve meat for the sake of the relatives, just so that nobody grumbles in the ballroom in the end? Or do you stand confidently by your own values and trust that the quality of the food will convince every guest, completely independent of whether there is meat on the plate?We know this deep worry from almost all of our couples. What will the traditional relatives say? What will the older generation say, what will Uncle Klaus say, who emphasizes in advance that he needs something "proper" to get full? Our honest answer from practice: Anyone who eats truly well does not ask at the end of the evening what might have been missing. If guests doubt after a menu whether that was all, it is never due to the omission of meat, but to the lack of creativity in the kitchen.
Our head chef Nikodemus Berger and his team prove at Bonvivant night after night that a purely plant based cuisine on a Michelin star level is in no way inferior to classic haute cuisine. Vegan is not understood by us as a compromise, as an ingredient to be left out or as a makeshift solution, but as a conscious, creative decision because we believe in the infinite potential of vegetables. Through complex artisanal techniques such as months of fermentation, precise cooking over an open fire, fine smoking and extremely reduced vegetable reductions, we create a depth of flavor and an umami content that amazes even die hard meat lovers. When food is staged like this, it surprises the guests, sparks lively conversations at the tables and becomes an interactive program item of your wedding.
Wedding Culinary Formats: Flexibility Beats Standard
We know that modern couples no longer want to be forced into the rigid corsets of traditional schedules. A contemporary wedding is dynamic, individual and reflects your character. This should also be shown in the culinary formats. It does not always have to be the stiff, four hour sit down dinner. We at Bonvivant show you how flexible modern wedding concepts can be designed today to perfectly fit your rhythm:| Format | Culinary Flow & Atmosphere | Ideally suited for... |
|---|---|---|
| Sit-down Star Dinner with us | A fine five to seven course menu, completely vegan prepared on a star level. For this exclusive evening, our restaurant in Schöneberg belongs entirely to you. | Intimate weddings, aesthetes and couples who focus clearly on fine dining and an exclusive restaurant vibe. |
| External Wedding Catering | We come with our team directly to your dream location. Possible for example as a set menu, high-end BBQ, flying buffet, etc. | Large parties who want to celebrate in a certain historical or urban setting and want to bring our food with them. |
| Creative Flying Buffet | Small, perfectly crafted plant based works of art are served to your guests informally on trays while standing or moving around. | Casual summer parties, urban weddings and gatherings where a dynamic party is the main focus. |
| Post-Registry Office Brunch | A lively, extensive morning with upscale sweet and savory creations and matching drinks. | Small wedding parties directly after the morning ceremony or for relaxed togetherness on the Day After. |
Our most important philosophy during planning is: We develop the food with you, not just anonymously for you. What kind of couple are you? What do you like to eat most in everyday life? What culinary experiences connect you? What should your guests feel this evening? These are the honest questions we start from together, instead of imposing a rigid standard package over your wishes.
What Vegan Catering Looks Like in Our Berlin Practice
To be able to imagine this better, it helps to look at two real weddings that we were able to accompany in the recent past. Scene one: A warm summer evening at Villa Liebermann directly on Lake Wannsee. Thirty guests gather in the historic garden, the view wanders over the glistening water. Instead of a heavy soup and a mighty meat main course, we serve an elegant, plant based flying buffet. Regional Brandenburg vegetables, refined with our deep, homemade ferments, combined with a perfectly balanced cocktail accompaniment freshly mixed by Martin and his bar team. The result of such an evening? Not a single guest missed the classic buffet with meat platters. The lightness of the food ensures that the party does not sink into the proverbial "schnitzel coma", but moves onto the dance floor full of energy.Scene two: An urban, intimate wedding brunch at our restaurant in Schöneberg, immediately after a registry office wedding in the morning. Twelve loved ones sit at a large, round wooden table. There are fluffy pancakes, complex savory creations, perfectly chilled crémant and freshly brewed specialty coffee. What was planned by the couple as a two hour gathering ended up stretching over four hours. The relaxed, familiar atmosphere created by our approachable service team and honest craftsmanship made time fade completely into the background. The registry office had started at eleven o'clock, at fifteen o'clock the wedding party was still sitting happily at the table. Exactly that is our goal: To create moments in which nobody wants to leave.
Come by and Experience: Why Trust Arises Through Tasting
A crucial step on the way to your perfect wedding food is getting to know each other; and that works best through the sense of taste. We do not believe in standardized appetizers handed out on paper plates at loud wedding fairs. We believe in the real restaurant experience. Therefore, we cordially invite every couple planning with us to drop by quite unimportantly as regular guests here at Bonvivant in advance.Come by for a large six course menu in the evening, secure a table for our lively weekend brunch or simply sit down for a drink at the bar to test the creations of Martin and his team. This gives you an absolutely honest feeling for our craft, our philosophy and the special atmosphere of our house months before your big celebration. You taste how Nikodemus Berger balances flavors, how our service team operates and what Bonvivant feels like. If you say after this evening: "Exactly that is our style!", then we will go together with maximum trust and anticipation into the detailed menu planning for your wedding party.
Familiar Approachability Instead of Stiff Etiquette
In addition to the pure quality of the ingredients, the atmosphere of a wedding is largely determined by the tonality of the service team. We at Bonvivant consciously say goodbye to the stiff, undercooled fine dining of the old school, which shrouds itself in awe inspiring white and icy silence. We are a place that feels alive, warm and welcoming, full of conversation, laughter and movement. Our service team does not act like an anonymous mass, but as attentive hosts at eye level.We capture the dynamics of your evening flexibly, stay in the background when emotional speeches are held, and are there with a smile before the glass is empty. When this lightness meets artisanal perfection, the topic of wedding planning in Berlin loses its complexity. There is no rigid corset with us that you have to follow. You have this one, special evening in life, and this evening belongs entirely to you and your guests. Our team ensures in the background that everything runs perfectly, but how the evening develops is decided by the celebration itself.
FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
Do you also cook outside the restaurant for weddings?Yes, absolutely. We are completely mobile and come with our kitchen brigade and service directly to your chosen location in Berlin and the surrounding area. Whether historic places like Villa Liebermann on Lake Wannsee, urban spaces like the historic Kreuzberg Heeresbäckerei or a private location in the countryside, we flexibly adapt to the conditions on site. You determine the culinary format: From the classic set star menu to a dynamic flying buffet to an exclusive plant based BBQ, we implement everything with artisanal precision. You can send inquiries easily at any time to info@bonvivant.berlin.
What does a vegan wedding menu from Bonvivant cost?
Since we do not offer standardized mass packages, but individualize and tailor each wedding menu to you, there is no flat rate fixed price. The final costs depend heavily on the exact group size, the chosen format (e.g. set dinner vs. flying buffet), the logistical effort on site and your choice of drinks. After an initial, personal consultation in which we understand your wishes and ideas, we will create a transparent and individually calculated offer for you.
Can the wedding menu be tested in advance at a trial dinner?
Since we cook an extremely fresh, seasonal and star awarded cuisine based on daily updated products, we do not offer a classic advance trial cooking of the exact wedding menu. Absolute honesty is important to us: A artificially induced trial dinner rarely reflects the true dynamics of your wedding evening. Instead, we strongly recommend all our couples to visit us as completely regular guests in the restaurant. Whether for a large fine dining dinner in the evening, a relaxed brunch or simply for a few drinks at the bar, this is how you experience our craft, the depth of flavor of our plant based cuisine and our service style one to one under real conditions. This gives you the absolute certainty that your culinary experience is in the best hands with us.
Is Bonvivant also suitable for small wedding parties?
Particularly well indeed. For more intimate, family gatherings, be it the fine meal directly after going to the registry office, an exclusive dinner in the closest circle or the relaxed wedding brunch the morning after the big party, our restaurant offers exactly the right setting. With us, you will not find a huge, uncomfortable ballroom and no mass processing, but a stylish ambience that feels intimate, approachable and familiar, without having to forgo culinary top level quality.
Can guests who do not live as vegans in everyday life really be enthusiastic about the menu?
This is the question we are asked most frequently by almost every bridal couple in advance and at the same time the most beautiful experience we have time and again at the weddings. The answer is very clearly: Yes. The vast majority of guests who perhaps initially come to the wedding table with a certain skepticism leave absolutely thrilled at the end of the evening. Our kitchen does not try to imitate meat with artificial substitute products. Nikodemus Berger celebrates vegetables in their purest, most intense form through complex cooking techniques. Truly good food does not need meat to convince, it simply needs a passionate, perfectly crafted kitchen.
Do you also offer a special wedding brunch?
Yes, we love the Berlin brunch culture. Fridays to Sundays from 9 a.m., Bonvivant in Schöneberg transforms into one of the best brunch addresses in the city. For wedding parties, we also create a lively, relaxed morning on request on other days/times with extraordinary sweet and savory creations that go far beyond the classic breakfast. This is accompanied by our unique drinks. This is the perfect, unconstrained option for a long get together after the registry office wedding.
How far in advance should one inquire about a wedding at Bonvivant?
As early as possible. Since we operate a regularly open restaurant and exclusive wedding celebrations as well as external caterings require a significant logistical planning effort, menu developments and the coordination of our team, the dates, especially in the popular wedding months from May to September, are booked up quickly. A timely, non binding initial inquiry at info@bonvivant.berlin is therefore always the best and safest first step to check your desired date.