After 25 years and more than 2,000 weddings, this is the veg wedding menu list we actually work from — every course of a full Indian wedding menu, from the welcome drink at the gate to the paan counter at the exit. Use it as a checklist: pick one line from each course and you have a complete, balanced vegetarian wedding menu.
The complete veg menu for a wedding, course by course
Every Indian wedding menu — North or South, grand or intimate — is built from the same eight courses. A good caterer helps you choose within each course; a great one makes sure the courses balance each other.
1. Welcome drinks
- Fresh fruit juices — watermelon, pineapple, grape, mosambi
- Traditional coolers — panakam, neer mor (spiced buttermilk), jigarthanda
- Badam milk or masala chaas for evening receptions
- Tender coconut water served in the shell for garden venues
More pairings and the per-100-guests serving maths in our welcome drink ideas guide.
2. Starters and snacks
- South Indian: medu vada, mysore bonda, keerai vada, mini idli with podi
- North Indian: paneer tikka, hara bhara kebab, samosa, dahi ke kebab
- Indo-Chinese: gobi manchurian, veg spring rolls, chilli paneer
- Chaat: sev puri, dahi papdi chaat, pani puri (as a live counter)
3. Main course — the heart of the wedding food list
- Paneer dish: paneer butter masala, palak paneer or kadai paneer
- Dal: dal makhani, dal tadka or a traditional paruppu
- Two vegetable curries: one gravy (veg kurma, malai kofta), one dry (beans poriyal, bhindi fry)
- Regional signature: avial, gutti vankaya, or koottu depending on your family style
4. Breads
- Phulka or chapati (served hot, not stacked)
- Butter naan or garlic naan from a live tandoor
- Poori for the morning muhurtham lunch
5. Rice
- Steamed rice with sambar, rasam and curd — non-negotiable at a South Indian wedding
- Veg pulao, jeera rice or ghee rice
- Bisi bele bath or puliyodarai for Karnataka and Tamil weddings
- Veg biryani with raita for reception dinners
6. Accompaniments
- Papad, appalam, sandige
- Pickles — mango, lemon, avakaya for Andhra menus
- Raita, pachadi or plain curd
- Salad kosambari
7. Desserts
- Traditional: obbattu (holige), payasam, kesari bath, mysore pak
- North Indian: gulab jamun, rasmalai, gajar ka halwa (winter weddings)
- Ice cream counter — always the longest queue at a reception
8. The finish
- Filter coffee — the correct end to a muhurtham lunch
- Beeda / paan counter for the reception
- Mukhwas and mishri at the exit
Muhurtham lunch: the South Indian wedding menu list
The wedding-day lunch is traditionally served on a banana leaf, and the menu follows a fixed order — sweet first. A typical marriage food menu (veg, South Indian) looks like this:
- Obbattu or payasam (served first, as tradition requires)
- Two kosambari, two poriyal, one koottu
- Avial or a regional speciality curry
- Steamed rice with paruppu and ghee, then sambar, then rasam
- Poori with saagu, or chapati with kurma
- Puliyodarai or bisi bele bath
- Curd rice with pickle, papad and vada
- Fruit salad or ice cream, then filter coffee
For the full dish-by-dish tradition — including what changes between Iyer and Iyengar functions — see our traditional South Indian wedding menu guide.
Wedding reception menu list
The reception dinner menu runs the opposite way from the muhurtham lunch: buffet instead of banana leaf, variety instead of tradition. A well-proportioned wedding reception menu for 300+ guests:
- 2 welcome drinks + 1 soup (sweet corn or tomato-basil)
- 4 starters — two Indian, one Indo-Chinese, one chaat counter
- 2 paneer/gravy dishes + 1 dal + 2 vegetable curries
- Live tandoor breads + 2 rice dishes (one biryani)
- South Indian corner: mini tiffin — idli, dosa counter, pongal
- 3 desserts + ice cream + paan counter
More combinations, counter ideas and per-course maths in our reception catering menu ideas post.
North Indian veg wedding menu
For North Indian families in Bangalore — or mixed weddings that want both traditions on one buffet — the Indian wedding menu shifts toward breads and gravies:
- Starters: paneer tikka, dahi ke kebab, aloo tikki chaat
- Mains: dal makhani, malai kofta, kadai paneer, dum aloo
- Breads: butter naan, lachha paratha, missi roti from live tandoor
- Rice: veg biryani, jeera rice with boondi raita
- Desserts: gulab jamun with rabri, gajar halwa, kulfi falooda
Our North Indian catering team runs this as a dedicated kitchen line, so the naan arrives hot even at a 1,000-guest reception.
Sample veg wedding menus by budget
The same course structure scales up and down. Three real-world versions of a vegetarian wedding menu list:
- Essential (family wedding): 1 welcome drink, 2 starters, 1 paneer + 1 dal + 1 curry, phulka, 2 rice, 2 desserts, coffee
- Classic (most popular): 2 drinks, 3 starters + 1 chaat counter, full main course, live tandoor, 3 rice, 3 desserts + ice cream, paan
- Grand (reception showcase): everything in Classic plus 2 live counters, a regional speciality corner, 5 desserts and a fruit display
What each tier costs per plate — with the factors that move the price — is on our catering prices page, and how much food per guest covers the quantities so nothing runs short.
How to use this list
Don't try to serve everything — the best wedding menus we cater pick 25–30 items from this list and execute them perfectly. Start from your wedding-day lunch tradition, build the reception dinner for variety, and let one signature item (a sadya corner, a live jalebi counter, your grandmother's puliyodarai) be the thing guests remember.
Planning a wedding in Bangalore? Send us your date and we'll turn this checklist into a menu and a per-plate quote — tastings arranged for weddings.
