AITA for not wanting a vegan wedding?

A man engaged to a long-time vegan faces escalating tension when she insists on an all-vegan wedding menu to align with her values on their “most important day.” He’s open to a 50/50 split with both vegan and meat options but draws the line at no meat at all. The disagreement explodes into accusations of inflexibility and conditional love, with her storming out after he mirrors her guilt-tripping words back at her.

What makes the dispute thornier is the clash between her ethical stance against animal products and his view of the wedding as a shared event where compromise should include his preferences too. Both claim the other doesn’t fully love them for refusing to yield.

‘AITA for not wanting a vegan wedding?’

His fiancée’s veganism has rarely caused issues until wedding planning.

My fiancé is a vegan, she has been for 5 years, and was before I met her. This didn’t cause many, if any problems up until this point.

She says that she wants a vegan wedding. All vegan. Says that on the most important day of her life she wants to be true to her values.

He offers a split menu but rejects going fully vegan.

I’m willing to do 50/50 split, some vegan some non vegan, but would like some meat on the menu. She says that I’m being inflexible, but I say that I’m...

The argument turns personal, ending with her leaving.

Today a fight over this devolved into name calling, and she said that if I loved her entirely I would be willing to sacrifice this. I said the same thing...

Additional context shows past tolerance on her side.

Edit: “of any” to “if any” Edit to add info: I don’t cook real often, but I have a set of pots and pans I use when I do.

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She normally lets me cook and eat meat, which is why there haven’t been any problems up to this point. Just to show that she hasn’t had a problem with...

Wedding menu disputes often symbolize deeper questions about compromise, shared values, and whose priorities dominate in a partnership. The groom’s willingness to include vegan options demonstrates flexibility, while a fully vegan menu would exclude his dietary preferences entirely—making her stance the less compromising one on this specific issue.

However, ethical veganism frames meat consumption as a moral wrong for her, turning the menu into a values statement rather than mere taste. Serving animal products could feel like direct complicity on a landmark day. His mirroring of the “if you loved me” line escalated emotional manipulation on both sides.

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Long-term, such guilt-based arguments signal potential patterns where one partner’s principles override mutual decisions. Successful couples navigate this by broadening compromises across wedding elements or future life choices, aiming for overall happiness rather than strict fairness on every point.

Here’s what the community had to contribute:

Many users sided with the groom, viewing his compromise offer as reasonable and her all-or-nothing demand as inflexible.

wastefulrain − NTA You're right, she's the one that's being inflexible, she wants the entire menu to be "true to her values" when she knows you don't share them. You...

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CookingwithHafsa − NTA - you might want to discuss how kids will be raised because it sounds like veganism is a belief not just a lifestyle choice for her.

[Reddit User] − I’m not a vegan but tempted to say YTA. Other commenters are imagining a symmetry here: she’s vegan, you’re carnivore, so the meal should be half and...

But that’s a misleading way to look at it: only one of these diets is perceived to be morally wrong by one of you. She feels she would be untrue...

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You can’t say the same - that you would be morally compromised by a vegan wedding; at most you’d have a less tasty meal than you’d like.

Suck it up out of respect for her moral judgment about this which after all is not crazy. If your marriage lasts it’ll be on a foundation of this kind...

Unziii − "she said that if I loved her entirely I would be willing to sacrifice this. I said the same thing back and she left the house and said...

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[Reddit User] − A lot of people are going to agree with you. Here's the thing though: if you do 50/50, then you are going to be happy and she's...

And what a lot of people here haven't learned yet is that a compromise that involves a happy partner and an unhappy partner, is a compromise that doesn't work.

But the internet crowd will cheer you on, because it's fair. But fair doesn't mean s__t in a relationship if someone is unhappy. If you want a long-term relationship, you...

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And I don't mean s__t like "happy wife, happy life". I mean, stop doing 50/50's about just the issue, go broad. There's an entire wedding to argue about. So she...

Guest list disagreement? Alcohol or not? That's also 50/50. But maybe a 50/50 that gets everyone happy. If the wedding isn't broad enough, go broader.

So she wants the food in the wedding, do you want to have a majority stake in where you two are going to live? But the goal should be that...

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Several offered no-asshole or nuanced views, emphasizing her ethical perspective and suggesting broader compromises.

necius − NAH This is difficult for everyone involved, but I'll try to provide what may be her perspective, which she may have difficulty articulating because of the emotion of...

Obviously I'm guessing a lot here, so this may or may not apply to her situation. I'm assuming that she's an ethical vegan here,

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which means that she has a strong ethical objection to the exploitation of animals (strong enough to push back against 5 years of potentially quite intense social pressure). Think of...

This might be that dogs shouldn't be eaten, or that slavery is wrong (note, not comparing slavery to meat eating, just trying to get you into something like her mindset).

Imagine seeing this violated every day of your life. Then imagine being asked to see that violated on what is meant to be the most important day of your life.

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Not only see it, but to be forced to sanction it by allowing it to happen (and potentially paying for it to happen) at an event that symbolizes the rest...

You're probably coming from a position of liking meat and wanting to have it at your wedding, and potentially not wanting to rock the boat with friends and family (again,...

Weighing up those two, I think it's fair to say her reasons are much stronger, and compromise on this means a lot less from you than it does from your...

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Compromise isn't always about meeting in the middle, sometimes it's about understanding and accepting the other's point of view, so that when you have something that you feel as strongly...

All that said, I don't think you're the arsehole here, I just think that there's been a bit of difficulty communicating around what is a sensitive topic.

olliepots − I have no judgment but I do have perspective. I’m vegan; my now-husband is not. I wanted a vegan wedding; it was important to me.

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We used a favorite vegan restaurant that we both loved. But then the next day we had a brunch for everyone and he got barbecue from his favorite bbq place.

That way we each got to have what we wanted. People raved about both meals. If you have an additional wedding event I suggest bringing this up as an option.

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aquara_themermaid − NAH - You like meat so you want to eat it on your wedding day dinner (although idk many wedding couples that actually had time to eat),

she is morally against meat consumption and doesn't want to be paying to cater it for a wedding reception.

I actually think being morally opposed to contributing on an event scale to animal consumption has more weight than "I want steak on my wedding night" however you'll need a...

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Others proposed practical solutions or warned about fairness versus happiness.

[Reddit User] − NTA. You're willing to comprise, while your fiancée isn't. Unfortunately, this may be a sign of things to come,

especially if she uses the "if you really love me" argument as a way to guilt you into putting your wants and needs second.

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That's a big old red flag, and I promise it won't be the last time she does it, whether with regard to veganism or with something else you fight over.

She also sounds like she considers the wedding "her day" rather than being for and about the both of you, which is another bad sign.

[Reddit User] − NTA. It isn’t just *her* wedding. She doesn’t get to tell you what you can eat at your wedding.

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Opinions vary, with many seeing the groom as reasonable for offering compromise while noting his fiancée’s ethical convictions carry significant weight. Guilt-tripping over love raises flags, and creative solutions like separate events could satisfy both.

Would you go fully vegan for your partner’s wedding values, or insist on meat options? How do you handle clashes between ethics and preferences in big life decisions? Have dietary differences caused drama in your relationships? Share your experiences below!

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