Ever been to an under catered party?

[Crunchymum]

Just back home from a party with a generous doggy bag and I remarked how I'd never been to an under catered party as the host was divvying up the leftovers. Cue lots of stories of horrifically under catered parties and weddings?

Other than a few occasions where I've known there won't be food, I've never experienced it? I've never had to share a burger at a BBQ or nip out for a super market sandwich at a wedding.

Is it really that common? What's the worst under catered event you've been to?

I have seen on so many occasions guests be so greedy piling their plates high with no consideration that those after them might also want to eat or that the hosts will be mortified when the food runs out. People put so much food on a plate, God knows how they manage to eat it without it going everywhere. Grim, grim, grim.

At one wedding we were invited to go up to the buffet in order of table and by the time we got there there was basically nothing left, just the scrap ends of a cheese board. It was so embarrassing for the wedding hosts and left lots of guests hungry at a rural venue in the middle of nowhere (and we weren't even the last table).

The worst thing about these selfish plate pilers is that I have seen them then leave food on their plates.

Speaking as a vegetarian - it happens fairly frequently

My wedding! I was really upset about it as we'd used caterers recommended by the venue. To be fair they did rush off in their van and bring more back... but I was so pissed off

A 5 night residential trip when I was at university. Food ran out first night with half people not fed, lecturers and assistants served for the rest of the week so we all got short rations but there was a stampede every night to get in the queue as everyone was worried the food would run out again.

I live in fear of under catering. Small part of my job sorting catering for events, have one coming up early Nov and tight budget for food. Have stressed to the other organizer we can only cater for 60, and as it’s internal caterers - they are stingy so we really can only cater for 60.. and she’s trying to get more and more people to come.. I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

My friend’s 40th. She’d just had a baby so her friend organised afternoon tea at this pretty hotel miles away from everyone. I paid £26 so was expecting sandwiches,etc. Got two small scones and a pot of tea. I was starving and so annoyed as there were loads of places we could have gone for less money with tonnes of food. Most expensive scones ever!

We went to an evening wedding reception on a Tuesday night. So we'd all got in from work, got changed and straight back out.

No food at all for evening guests and No drink either. We basically arrived, gave our presents and sat around waiting for the food. Soon realised there was none and we all left by 9pm because we were starving and pretty peeved at it all. You can't invite people to a party and provide absolutely nothing for them. Was tempted to take back their wedding present.

DH and I went to a flat warming party for some friends. We offered to bring stuff but were told there was no need, it was all in hand.

When we arrived we found that the 'buffet' was about 3 sliced white loaves and and enormous dish of cooked peas. That was it. Pea sandwiches anyone? The bonkers thing was that both friends who were hosting the flat warming were silver service waitresses.

We wished them well and called at the chippy on the way home. I still don't understand how a pea sandwich is in any way acceptable.

Yes to several hosted by the same family friends who are really stingy and seem to count everything per person so if you get biscuits with hot drinks it's one per person or there's just enough salad for everyone to have a small portion etc.

Also remembered a barbecue where the host - a notorious bigmouth - went on and ON about what a treat we had in store because he "knew people in the trade" and had the best inside info on "where to get a good deal"

Therefore it was a bit surprising to see the chicken was mostly bruises and feather bits, the lamb for the kebabs pieces of bone with fat attached and the sausages and burgers almost 99% filler. Apparently they'd throw in a huge tub of coleslaw for "such a big order" and that was rancid

So that was an event where actually there appeared to be plenty to eat, but in fact there was nothing

My cousin's wedding. We were just evening guests but were told to come hungry as there was going to be loads of food, which was true...

... but it was all cheese. I like cheese, but it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it was very sickening after a minute or 2.

Pea sandwiches though.

I've been to a couple, but I remember when we were doing our evening buffet they recommended that we cater for 80% of the guest. Why? I did ask why they thought 20% of my guests weren't going to eat and they just said that that's what they usually did.

Odd.

Two weeks ago. Not so much under catered as confusingly catered. It was an evening event at a large country house with marquee, prosecco/orange juice was being handed out as you walked through the gates, then lots of cheerful young people were wandering about offering platters with either more drinks or canapes. Constantly. We had some vague idea that there was going to be a sit down meal or proper buffet at some point, so tried hard not to over-do the canapes. Sadly the prosecco went to my head... anyway when we were finally all ushered into the marquee, it wasn't a buffet or a meal, but a miniature night club with a rather good band and a free bar. But nothing to mop up the considerable quantities of alcohol. Apparently I'm not the only person who fell over/was sick/wandered off in a dazed and confused state. I made it home safely, thank you DP and a very very nice taxi driver, but DP then had to go out again together with a couple of our friends in search of someone who'd gone utterly AWOL. Eventually found walking on a dark lane in a direction he seems to have thought was home, three miles from venue.

The most amazing thing is that there was an outdoor swimming pool with absolutely no barriers - and NO ONE FELL IN!!

I once drove over an hour to an evening wedding reception at Ripon Castle no less, they served 2 trays of potato wedges! I was so shocked and annoyed it was almost funny.

Had to get a McDonald's on the way home. I also made sure there was more than enough at our wedding.

Evening reception with nothing to eat but bowls of crisps. The pub didn't do food on a Sunday night.

Evening reception where the food didn't appear till nearly 11pm. Starved, but felt I couldn't bunk out as so many already had.

The receptions where they put out the evening food almost straight after the Wedding Lunch - so no one is hungry, they then wilt and get removed before everyone is hungry again. Serious waste of food.

I massively over cater or so I thought, 4 x teenage boys for a birthday tea post an activity, 8 large takeaway pizzas, two large garlic pizzas, plus I bought myself a medium pizza. It was over £100 worth of food. I got no pizza or garlic bread, I still can't comprehend how they ate the lot in 5 mins and asked for more

Quite a few - some of which were generally undercatered, and some of which was due to me being gluten free and not catered for at all. One memorable occasion was the pre christmas event where exSIL gave me half a packet of value peanuts when everyone else was getting hot food (I had been diagnosed for 4 years at that point, she def knew and I had offered to take food).

Family wedding. Church ceremony about 10.30. Was lunchtime by the time we got to the hotel where reception was going to be held. Everyone was ushered into the bar and we bought our own drinks (fair enough, I didn’t mind that). We stood around wondering what food was going to be served. Saw platters of sandwiches coming out and started salivating. They got taken to the old lady members of the wedding party who had seats in the corner. How respectful to serve our elders first, we thought. Waited for more to come out for the rest of us. NOTHING came! we waited and waited. The bar didn’t serve food so we didn’t know what to do. In the end we used the excuse of needing to go and get some silly string etc to decorate the newly weds’ car next morning to drive to the nearest shopping centre and got a maccies!

In the months after the wedding when we were planning our own, the bride talked about the day and said that “ah well, we knew that most people don’t want much to eat at lunchtime and as we had an evening buffet coming, we didn’t think it was worth paying for a lunchtime meal too.” The buffet was at 9pm, so most people didn’t hadn’t eaten since breakfast. It was awful!

Bride had an eating disorder, I learned later, so whether that was a factor I don’t know. If we had only just been informed that we were free to do our own thing between the wedding ceremony and the evening so then more people may have felt ok to leave the bar to go and get lunch on their own in the restaurant but it was never said to people thought they had to stay in the bar area with the wedding couple.

Wierd.

Pea sandwiches

They must have been taking the piss in some way?

Went to a couple of parties in pubs hosted by the same person and brought gifts each time. There was no food served whatsoever and obviously you had to buy drinks so not impressed at all

Also the same person got married and we had to travel a distance and stay in a hotel. There were no free drinks whatsoever and the meal was very poor. I've never been to a wedding Where there isn't even one free drink. There was a bottle of water on each table and no proper seating plan. we were starving Miffed because we had travelled quite a distance and It was expensive

I'm a veggie and once went to a wedding with a buffet where people were called up table by table. My table went last (bloody typical) & although there had been veggie food in the buffet all that was left were labels on empty plates, mocking me and my hungry belly. There wasn't a lot of meat stuff left either. We left early.

Two weddings. One was a buffet, our table went up last, DP and I were the final people. We were greeted with one crab stick, one chicken drumstick and a bit of salad. We left straight after the first dance and had dinner at a Harvester and went home.

Second wedding food was served on platters at each table. The 'meal' consisted of a slice of beef, 2 small roast potatoes and a spoonful of veg. Wedding was in the middle of no where so we couldn't pop out for food. We had paid a lot to stay overnight at the venue and the breakfast the following morning was equally miniscule. The entire wedding seemed to be at the nearest service station when we drove home.

On a slightly different note we had a rubbish Xmas one year. My parents invited us for dinner. They completely messed it up, over salted everything, all the timings were off so some food was undercooked, others overcooked, then it was all served cold. I couldn't eat it. Thought it didn't matter I'd have some chocolates and we were heading to PIL in the evening for buffet and they were infamous for providing too much food so I'd eat then. We arrive at PIL to be informed that they'd had dinner much later than anticipated so weren't doing a buffet. I ended up having to persuade DP to leave after an hour and half. I burst into tears in the car as I was so hungry (I was 12 weeks pregnant) we barely had any food in (we tend to raid M&S food Hall on boxing day) so I spent Xmas evening eating a bowl of cornflakes.

A BBQ where I was told to bring nothing. Kids ended up crying as they didn't like the options available (too exotic) and were finally allowed 1/2 plain sausage each. I was also starving and in the end wE left and stopped at mcD and Krispy Kremes on the way home.
I've learnt my lesson and I will now always take something for the kids to eat!

I've been to a couple of party's the buffet ran out before everyone had got some.
I once was invited to wedding for day and night we couldn't make the day so went in the evening. We got to evening reception 7.30ish and was talking to other guests who had been there all day who said not had anything to eat all day and were starving. The only food was the evening buffet at 8.30ish .

A friend of mine hired a nice venue for her 30th. When we got there we were informed that she'd not paid for any food as it was "too dear".
It was early evening and we were starving.

A works Christmas do for my dh's company. We paid £25 for me to attend. For this princely sum I received one small slice of turkey, one potato and two green beans.
All the guests had the same and the CEO of dh's company was quite cross about it. Thankfully the following year everyone went to a Thai all you can eat place, £15 a head and more food than we could eat!
I've never been to an under catered wedding. The last wedding I attended the mother of the groom was handing out trays of sausage rolls and sandwiches as they'd massively over catered. I didn't feel so bad about eating three cakes at that point!