What's the worst meal you've been served at a wedding?

[Higgeldypiggeldy35]

I'm veggie so unfortunately have had my fair share of shitty wedding meals as the vegetarians often seem to get shafted but this one takes the biscuit. Fancy wedding, very expensive and exclusive venue, meat eaters had a feast and it looked amazing, I was served......a grilled mushroom, and it was cold. This place is probably £100 per head at the very least and the best they could rustle up for a vegetarian was a mushroom. So, make me feel better, what's the worst meal you've been served?
This is meant to be light hearted 🐱

My father's wedding, where all the kids of the bride and groom were in the wedding party and at the top table - a top table that for some reason only had champagne at it even though my siblings and I were all underage and I was teenage-vocal about my not drinking alcohol.

The meal was a poorly done steak and potato fare done up to look fancy. I might have overlooked that as it was a church hall event, they're doing their best - but my brother has sensory and severe jaw issues -- he literally couldn't eat the meal. He tried, ended up having to spit out his bite into the napkin. All they needed was a different type of potato product and a protein that wasn't super chewy so he was included, but instead the worst options for him were picked. It felt like we were there for decoration, our actual needs weren't considered.

We ended up twenty minutes or so in walking off, finding an empty back table where I took out dozens of pins from my hair (no idea why so many pins were needed for a bun, the hairdresser had for some reason back combed it into oblivion - I don't think she was used to my hair type) while my brother checked the church kitchen for something else for us to eat and drink. We spent the rest of the time hiding back there until we could leave. Neither of us were surprised that marriage lasted less than 2 years.

Friends wedding in the local church cost £40 (early 80s)
Dress was from a charity shop, instead of presents (they had been living together for years so had all the household stuff) the wedding list was to pick a booze and food combination.
So plenty of food and booze. The venue was their house.

Table of ten served one Cumberland sausage and a dish of dauphinoise potatoes and green beans between us. We delegated someone to be "mother" and he duly dished up 2 inches of sausage, 4 slices of potato and about 6 green beans each. Dessert was a Mr Whippy. Bride went on and on about how wonderful the food at her wedding had been so I presume they gave the head table a bigger portion and then skimped on the rest! I was pregnant at the time and had a stash of cereal bars in my handbag! Everyone else absolutely hammered after all the alcohol and no food ..!

We had cold KFC style chicken, home made. A massive metal pot of rice beans and onions, that had become stodge, A roll with grey tasteless meat stew inside. No cake, no salad, no vegetables, no sauces.
AND it was all stone cold.
Our table ordered pizza and ate it in our car.

My first wedding we had a pub buffet.
Grim.
Second one hired a whole Chinese buffet restaurant.
Delicious.
Third one
Hired a hall and did it ourselves.
Acceptable having not spent massive amounts.
4th my chef ds made us food at home for after a registry office ceremony..
Amazingly cooked as always!

The irony of so many weddings these days is that it all seems to be about the Instagram type things and how it all looks. People seem to forget that you are HOSTING your guests, and the basics are feeding and watering your guests.

If a couple are vegan and want to serve vegan food, I’m fine with that too, as others have said people don’t generally follow a vegan diet for fun, it’s usually because of deeply held beliefs, religious or otherwise, and I’m happy to respect those beliefs.

I don’t care if you have a free bar, it’s not something I’ve ever experienced, other than having your glass topped up during the meal and for toasts, paying for a drink (or bringing a fancy gift bag 😉😂) doesn’t bother me.

Just feed and water your bloody guests!!

@TornadoTrinity

I'm not actually veggie, but have asked for the veggie options at a few weddings. One was awful. It was some sort of vegetable Wellington thing at a horrible golf hotel in Wales. Worst wedding meal I've ever had.

The nicest veggie one I've has was probably at a stately home type place in NI. It was a Thai curry with chickpeas and it was damned delicious.

Another non veggie dodgy meal I had at a wedding was at a friend's family's pile in the country. Beautiful canapés, gross main course. Again it was pastry based - chicken pie allegedly, but it was just dry chicken in watery sauce with a pastry lid. There were so many people at that wedding though. It's maybe not easy to cook a half decent meal for that many people.

Oh dear. As lovely as Thai curry with chickpeas is, perhaps a poor choice for a newly married couple who will suffer the after effects on what is supposedly a night of passion........

No wedding horror stories (we had our wedding reception recently with entirely veggie and vegan food but went over the menu with a fine tooth comb with the chef in advance so we got plenty of reasonably prepared food for all) but plenty of veggie meal horror stories for non wedding meals in restaurants and the problem is getting worse with the current vegan obsession. Examples include a puff pastry case with two small flakes of red pepper inside; a massive plate of white flour spaghetti with sprinkling of thin tomato sauce; endless halloumi burgers in nasty cheap white flour roll; and too many plates of white rice with a few tiny bits of non fresh veg in them. There seems to be an assumption that if you are veggie, you can happily eat vegan, foregoing any protein content at all, and that large plates of starchy carbs will sustain us. It is crap.

I have a dairy allergy, the bride is a very good friend and confirmed the catering company could do dairy free, they assured her it was all fine they would alter the menu slightly to suit me by replacing anything cooked in/containing dairy. I was served the things from the main meal that didn't have dairy with nothing added so I got a single plain chicken breast on a plate as a main. Everyone else had a creamy mustard sauce, veg and potatoes which all contained butter. For desert I was served 4 singular raspberries that where essentially decorations on the main pudding of 4 mini desserts. My friend did see this and was furious, her dad went and gave the company a right telling off and I think in the end they did not pay for my meal as they admitted they had forgot the request. he also made sure I got first browsing of the evening buffet.

A roast dinner without GRAVY.
You could hear “where’s the gravy?” going round and round the room in hushed but increasingly incredulous tones.

We all ploughed through but is was so dry I wanted to pour a bit of wine over it.

@Forrestttheout

I have a dairy allergy, the bride is a very good friend and confirmed the catering company could do dairy free, they assured her it was all fine they would alter the menu slightly to suit me by replacing anything cooked in/containing dairy. I was served the things from the main meal that didn't have dairy with nothing added so I got a single plain chicken breast on a plate as a main. Everyone else had a creamy mustard sauce, veg and potatoes which all contained butter. For desert I was served 4 singular raspberries that where essentially decorations on the main pudding of 4 mini desserts. My friend did see this and was furious, her dad went and gave the company a right telling off and I think in the end they did not pay for my meal as they admitted they had forgot the request. he also made sure I got first browsing of the evening buffet.

Gosh how cringe for your friend.

Not awful food but bizarre timings. I went to a wedding at 1pm, it said lunch would be served later followed by an evening buffet. Lunch materialised at 6pm, it was lovely, 3 courses and then the buffet came out at 8pm. Almost straight after pudding.

I was pregnant and was so hungry I had 2 packs of crisps from the bar but I ate them secretly as everyone else seemed fine getting smashed. There was A LOT of very drunk people at that wedding.

Another veggie here and the shittiest meal I ever had was a work's night out at a posh pub.

The only vegetarian option was 'Vegetable Jambalaya'.

Out come this pile of bright orange coloured mushy rice on a plate with not a veggie in sight at least not one that was distinguishable. There were these little jelly cube things in amongst the rice - horrible texture - which the person next to me (who wasn't a vegetarian but had chosen it anyway), said was 'sweet potato'. It was the funniest sweet potato I've ever tasted then as it was literally like chunks of jelly - foul.

The whole thing was flavoured with what my knowledgeable table neighbour told me was 'cajun spices' but which tasted to me like bacon.
The bacon effect was compounded by the little jelly cube things which tasted like chunks of bacon fat.

The first couple of spoonfuls actually made me gag and I literally could not have eaten it, even if you'd paid me. I sat there for the next 20 minutes while everyone tucked into their meals with mine untouched in front of me and getting dirty looks off everyone.

Because it was a set menu there was no way to change it or send it back, particular as the woman next to me was scarfing hers down. It was the only option - don't like it, don't eat it.

We went to a wedding that the buffet was the last straw in a truly terrible day (fist fights, inappropriate clothing choices - I saw a lot of knickers in the church, family members pissed at the church and lots of swearing in front of young children) and so we made our apologies and left. The buffet was soaked in grease, everything was lukewarm or cold even though it was supposed to be hot. The smell of stale grease was vile and I was pregnant at the time so particularly sensitive but also was good for the excuse to leave, we stopped off for food on the way home. We laugh about it now but it was horrible and so difficult to say anything because I didn't want to upset the bride.

The only disappointing one I've been to was when the food was so long in coming out it had gone cold (well, just off cold). I mean you don't expect piping hot with mass catering, but this was beyond tepid

Sorry!

Only just realised the thread title ends 'at a wedding'.

The example I gave was a work's Christmas meal - my apologies.

Pay attention Fanny!

I’m vegetarian too, worst meal was cup a soup in a bowl

BILs was a very simple bland 3 course mid afternoon lunch/dinner, wedding cake was on display but then never cut and disappeared swiftly (?) no evening dinner or buffet except crisps from the bar.

‘Wedding in a castle’ they said 🤣

Mine was some friends of ours who had been together for years, already had children together etc. They got married in the registry office then hired the function room and skittle alley of a pub. They said something along the lines of ‘we can’t afford to cater for everyone but we’d love for as many of our friends and family to celebrate with us as possible so we’re asking for those who’d like to attend to pay for their own buffet and drinks at the bar instead of giving us a wedding present’. We had no problem with this and thought it was a brilliant idea.
They sent a copy of the buffet menu and asked us to tell them how many we wanted it for and send them the money so they could order it. The menu said they’d cater for up to 2 children free with every adult buffet, just to let them know how many. We ignored this as two of our children were teenagers so we ordered them adult buffets too.

On the day they brought out the tiniest buffet imaginable. We assumed it was to save space/to prevent the first people in the queue taking it all and that they’d restock. My son queued up with dp and was told to wait and let the adults get their food first. Dp said no we’ve paid for them to eat, they’re as entitled as anyone else. He was then told not to be greedy when he had 3 quarter sandwiches, a mini sausage roll and a few crisps on his plate. I was breastfeeding when the food came out so dp tried to get a plate for me as well but was told they couldn’t let him because if people saw him with two plates they’d all try to get two. By the time I got there all that was left was a quarter of a cheese sandwich, a tiny bit of salad garnish and some broken wotsits in the bottom of the bowl. 2 friends had ordered the vegan option and one gluten free and they sat there for a while waiting for it to come out then went to ask and it had all just been put in the table with everything else and had all been eaten! There was meant to be pudding but it was literally 6 serve 6 frozen gateaux/cheesecakes between over 150 people. Our friends complained that there wasn’t enough for the children and they were brought out 2 plates of nuggets and chips for their own children but nothing for anyone else.

Dp also asked the caterers if there was any more food coming out because there wasn’t enough and was told that it was our friends’ fault for not ordering enough.

It was such a shame because it was a really fun party but we were starving and felt a bit cheated that we’d paid for our own food then not got any!

Another friend did afternoon tea which was served to us at the tables. There was one tiny sandwich per person on the platter. They were obviously devoured within seconds then they appeared and offered us scones, then cake. After the wedding my friend was saying what brilliant value the caterer had been because they had so many sandwiches left over, far too much food etc. Turned out the waiting staff had been meant to keep refilling the sandwiches until people had had enough THEN offer the scones. She was mortified when she realised everyone had only been offered one sandwich!

My own wedding. I'd ordered and paid for an extensive buffet. Lovely food, and plenty of it. The caterers brought out a couple of tiny plates of food and one bottle of wine. One guest was given one prawn. They wouldn't let him have a second . My mum went mental, stormed into the kitchen and started carrying out huge platters of food and crates of wine. It was very odd. The food was delicious, really good, they just refused to bring it out????
Apologies to any hungry guests.

Onion "soup" just massive chunks of onion in pale brown water.
Main was so bland I can't recall it.
Pudding soggy pastry pie with squirty cream.

The whole wedding party got this, including the bride. The groom got a steak with all the trimmings that looked like it had come from a different kitchen.

Worst wedding meal ever!

An Indian wedding I went to, was done on the cheap as the bride and groom would rather spend the money on honeymoon, they could have had a big wedding (and fed us) had they wanted.

Wedding was in the morning so we were served a vegan buffet of Indian bits for lunch, you know samosas etc, they were vegan and tasted gross (it was so that they could be sure it was halal). Our children don't like Indian food so they ate some breadsticks we had on us. Onto the reception it was Indian again - curry. The curry was meat but it was cheap meat and still contained bones, it was way too spicy too. I like spice but I'm breastfeeding so try to avoid spicy curry as it upsets the baby's tummy, so I had rice and naan. Some of the other guests couldn't eat spice, they also had plain rice. The curry came with this white milky thing in a jug which the people on our table thought was a sauce and poured allover the curry, only to look around and realise it was actually a drink. Our children didn't have anything (bar a pot of ice cream, that they handed out for dessert and we ate with the teeny plastic spoons attached to the cardboard pot). Oh and it was a dry wedding too (religious reasons), eating terrible food drinking pop 🙈. Thankfully it was wrapped up by 6 and we could go and get some food! I love the person who got married but it was a long hungry day for us and cost us 2 expensive nights in a hotel as it was 5 hours drive away. Pretty sure the cost of our hotel stay was bigger than the wedding budget 😆.

I'm a pescetarian so usually pick the veggie option at weddings and similarly catered events. I've had a few duff meals:

At a wedding in an expensive loch-side venue that vegetarian option was veggie goulash. When it arrived the sauce looked ok but tasted mostly of vinegar - almost like they had started making a sweet and sour and remembered they were supposed to be making a goulash. No sign of any protein either - mostly sliced pepper. I think venues consider they have done their job if they offer vegetables and give no consideration to providing a balanced meal.

At a works celebratory event where there was a sit down meal, we made our choices on the night. Our table was the last to be visited by the waiting staff to take orders. I requested the veggie option and the waitress tutted, rolled her eyes and said, "I'll have to see if there is any left." Apparently a lot of non-veggie people had fancied the veggie option - fair enough. But really, if you are going to allow people to choose on the night, make sure you have enough of everything.

Went to a sports celebratory event about twenty years ago - one of the DC was up for an award. Cost us £25 a head - a lot at the time. The meal was completely dire in every way (Heinz tomato soup with a basil leaf and a swirl of cream) but the worst was the veggie main course - some kind of goats cheese/veg pie with raw puff pastry. They had heated it in the microwave instead of cooking it in the oven. I should have complained but didn't want to spoil the evening.

@EspressoDoubleShot

I’m vegetarian too, worst meal was cup a soup in a bowl

I really hope carrot crush was also on the menu!

@Higgeldypiggeldy35

I'm veggie so unfortunately have had my fair share of shitty wedding meals as the vegetarians often seem to get shafted but this one takes the biscuit. Fancy wedding, very expensive and exclusive venue, meat eaters had a feast and it looked amazing, I was served......a grilled mushroom, and it was cold. This place is probably £100 per head at the very least and the best they could rustle up for a vegetarian was a mushroom. So, make me feel better, what's the worst meal you've been served? This is meant to be light hearted 🐱

I'm not a vegetarian but at our daughter's wedding I ordered the vegetarian option, the mushroom risotto, it was one of the best things I've ever eaten so it's not always bad! I've been lucky enough not to have been to many weddings but at a niece's wedding we had the very soggiest brandy-snaps for pudding, horrible, with a slightly off-tasting cream.