A TOWERING cake, rich foods and lots of wine, beer and champagne — those are the things we have come to expect at a wedding.

Not if you’re health junkie Jessica Sepel, who denied guests these indulgent treats during her nutritious nuptials in Thailand on Sunday.

From celery sticks to water, Ms Sepel certainly wasn’t going to be a bride who bloated and she made sure her guests wouldn’t either.

Ms Sepel, who also writes her own wellness blog, says she struggled in her relationship with food and her body and has overcome the dangers of chronic dieting and overexercising.

The nutritionist and her husband, Dean Steingold, shared their healthy lifestyle with all their wedding guests with a menu filled with whole foods such as green salad, roasted brussels sprouts, white snow fish and fresh fruit.

“We wanted a healthy wedding because both Dean and I are committed to a healthy lifestyle — it was important that our wedding reflected this aspect of our lives,” Ms Sepel told Daily Mail Australia.


“We also wanted everyone to feel great — something that is easy to do if you’re eating the right foods.”

Ms Sepel’s wedding guests sipped coconuts during the ceremony and prior to the nuptials she treated ladies to a heath spa and a raw vegan meal for lunch.

Guests even did yoga at sunrise, Daily Mail Australia reported.

“Often people feel that weddings must be indulgent and extravagant — but I hope that having a ‘healthy’ wedding shows people that healthy living can be so simple, even in such a busy and celebratory time,” she said.

Guests were served sugar-free bliss balls and banana-date-walnut muffins from her recipe book, The Healthy Life, for breakfast while away for the four days.

They were also served steamed veggies for dinner, fresh fruit for dessert and had access to a vitamin juice station.

She said on the wedding night dishes included Thai green papaya salad, roasted brussel sprouts, grilled local white snow fish and fresh fruit for dessert.

Ms Sepel recently wrote an article for brides on The Juice Daily, with specific instructions on what to eat on their wedding day.

“A good plan is to enjoy clean foods — mainly fruits, lean protein and veggies — but not too much of anything,” her advice was.

“A big bowl of salad, for example, may actually lead to bloat. It’s best to eat real, whole foods — in small amounts — to avoid bloat and dehydration.”

Her wedding day diet consisted of a pre-breakfast of warm water with lemon juice and ginger, a fresh papaya for breakfast, grilled fresh white fish and small salad for lunch, fresh celery for a snack and protein and veggies for dinner.

Columnist Amanda Blair wasn’t a fan of the whole clean-eating at weddings idea and said in an opinion piece for news.com.au that consumption was being turned into a cult.

“We seem to have lost the ability to simply eat food because we like the smell of it, it looks good and we figure it might taste good,” she said.

“Oh yeah and don’t forget that once upon a time in a land far away we ate food just because we were a wee bit peckish. Nowadays it’s all about your fuel, your nourishment and your relationship with food.

“Seriously, just how much of a relationship do you think you might have with a head of broccoli? Would a bowl of wholegrain pasta come around to watch The Block with you?”

Ms Sepel also encourages brides to drink lots of water in the lead up to the wedding but stick to small sips on the day to avoid bloating and fluid retention.

Blair shot back at the suggestion, saying brides had enough to deal with like waring relatives, place settings, hair straighteners and mother-in-laws.

Instead, Blair urges brides to forget about their diet plans and say “I do” to their inner foodies.

“Go hard on the Tiramisu, rip into the lamb cutlets, knock yourself out on the profiteroles, eat sliced white bread and if you want to eat nothing but Jatz crackers and an entire tub of Kraft French Onion Dip, today is the day my friends,” she said.

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