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 🐱

@Natsku this is was first summer since being diagnosed. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t eat shop bought ice cream again. Vegan stuff is VILE.

*@Surewhynot coeliacs have similar issues. Gluten free and vegan are often confused. If not then places deliberately combine all "free from" options into one

YY. The number of times I’ve asked for what choices are gluten free and been told what is vegetarian. Every time, I politely explain that it’s not the same thing. It’s not REMOTELY the same thing.

Gf means without wheat barley or rye. I can eat everything else.

Vegetarian means without fish or meat . They CAN eat wheat barley or rye.

Vegan means without fish, meat or products derived from them. They can also eat wheat barley or rye.

Usually the person I’m explaining this to is under 40. I can’t believe that they have never encountered these concepts before. How can you be 35 ,live in a large city, use the internet and social media, work in the food industry and never have heard of eg vegetarianism.

It’s bizarre.

It is unpleasant isn't it? I didn't mind one particular soya ice cream when I was a child (my brother had it from the health food shop as he was allergic to dairy, they had a lovely pear flavour which you couldn't get in dairy ice cream) but the ones nowadays are not good. Luckily there's lots of decent tub ice cream that's gluten free in my country, even gluten free cookie dough type ones in one particular brand (there's a gingerbread one that is amazing, and a cinnamon bun one that comes out at Christmas) but expensive. Made the mistake of buying one that brand's vegan ice creams once and it was amazing the difference, their dairy ones are delicious but I couldn't eat the vegan one, made me sick.

I feel very sad when wedding / other event hosts post on threads like this and suggest that people with medical conditions ( like coeliacs ) are being unreasonable and demanding for hoping to have a meal that’s more than eg plain boiled potatoes and some lettuce.

That’s not a luxury or celebration meal. If you think it is, then why don’t you serve that to everyone and save yourself a lot of money? If we should be grateful for what we get then I’m sure all the guests will be grateful.

It’s as if we should be ashamed of ourselves for having a medical condition . We don’t ask for it, really we don’t. We don’t have a choice to just eat a piece of bread and get over ourselves.

Gluten free food isn’t nicer or better, it’s three times the price and usually tastes half as good . We are not doing this to spite you. It’s not a health fad.

I’d love to invite these people around to my house, serve a lovely 3 course meal to everyone else and give them some lettuce and an apple. With a big flourish of “ look what a great host I am catering for you difficult weirdo “.

Let them see how it feels to be starving hungry while everyone else is tucking into a delicious spread. Trying to look grateful when you want to cry with embarrassment. Being scared to have a second drink on an empty tummy in case you cant keep up the correct amount of gratitude . Desperate to get out of there and home for something to eat.

And no, we can’t even go down the nearest chippie as very few are gluten free ( you need a separate frier that’s not used for gluten containing products such as breaded food / pizza AND GF batter and GF chips ).

I was in a restaurant once and asked whether the chef could make the sausage and mash dairy free. The waiter went off to check and then came back and assured me he could. When my meal came it was literally 2 sausages on a bed of lettuce 😂

If I’d know that’s how he was going to make it dairy free I would have just ordered something else!

The 'worst' meal was the 'best'.

Let me explain: the couple had hired a five star hotel and the evening buffet was fabulous.

But they only had 30 guests!!!

So much waste. My dh went up several times as he could.
I hope the staff took some home.

@IM0GEN

I feel very sad when wedding / other event hosts post on threads like this and suggest that people with medical conditions ( like coeliacs ) are being unreasonable and demanding for hoping to have a meal that’s more than eg plain boiled potatoes and some lettuce.

That’s not a luxury or celebration meal. If you think it is, then why don’t you serve that to everyone and save yourself a lot of money? If we should be grateful for what we get then I’m sure all the guests will be grateful.

It’s as if we should be ashamed of ourselves for having a medical condition . We don’t ask for it, really we don’t. We don’t have a choice to just eat a piece of bread and get over ourselves.

Gluten free food isn’t nicer or better, it’s three times the price and usually tastes half as good . We are not doing this to spite you. It’s not a health fad.

I’d love to invite these people around to my house, serve a lovely 3 course meal to everyone else and give them some lettuce and an apple. With a big flourish of “ look what a great host I am catering for you difficult weirdo “.

Let them see how it feels to be starving hungry while everyone else is tucking into a delicious spread. Trying to look grateful when you want to cry with embarrassment. Being scared to have a second drink on an empty tummy in case you cant keep up the correct amount of gratitude . Desperate to get out of there and home for something to eat.

And no, we can’t even go down the nearest chippie as very few are gluten free ( you need a separate frier that’s not used for gluten containing products such as breaded food / pizza AND GF batter and GF chips ).

All of this.

I’m having a lot of trouble with my in laws accepting my recent diagnosis wasnt just for shits and giggles, I feel like sending them this in an email!

[quote TheWoleb]@Bec21

What difference would knowing beforehand have made? Would you have turned up drunk in preparation to get through the day?
It would have made no difference and going one event without getting drunk really isnt a big deal.[/quote]
I don't drink and drive so if I'm having a drink I will book into a hotel, I like to have a drink at a wedding. I don't need to, and sometimes I've chosen to drive and stay sober at weddings with wine.

I have huge sympathy for all the vegetarian, coeliac, allergy having people. If you are catering an event then there is going to be someone who requires something different.

Not at a wedding but a catered even at Simpson's on the Strand, many years ago the starter was lobster bisque - so not suitable for vegan/vegetarian/Jewish/Muslim/anyone with a seafood allergy - even then I thought WTF?

I was with an ex colleague who is Hindu and vegetarian, she insisted we started eating while she waited for them to make something for her, whilst everyone else had finished their starter and began with the main they brought her some melon.

Buffet food was awful, and even then there was barely anything left by the time our table got there - i had a few crisps and a curly ham sandwich.

• pretty annoyed as I was one of her bridesmaids and had to fund dress, shoes, accommodation etc. Anyone choosing a buffet for their wedding, please make sure that it is a restocked one as it puts a real downer on everything.

Cold soup in a freezing cold marquee.
I hold these two factors entirely responsible for my (in hindsight unwise) decision to use vast amounts of wine as a means of preventing hypothermia, resulting in falling over in a field, getting on the wrong coach back to the hotel and a convoluted web of lies to my mother the following day involving fictional fish courses and food poisoning.

Oh it was intentionally cold. Gazpacho ffs.

I went to one wedding without an evening buffet which really, really surprised me as I thought it was totally normal to have one and also the expectation. I don't remember cake being served at any wedding? Maybe I've just forgotten.

@Mushroompate

The 'worst' meal was the 'best'.

Let me explain: the couple had hired a five star hotel and the evening buffet was fabulous.

But they only had 30 guests!!!

So much waste. My dh went up several times as he could.
I hope the staff took some home.

Why was that the worst? Shame about any wastage, but it sounds great.

@Burntfingerz - PLEASE come back to the thread and update us after the wedding you're going to! we want to know how bad it turns out to be...

@Natsku @DrCoconut and @Surewhynot don’t worry us with dairy allergies and vegans feel the same about the gluten free stuff the insist on adding to the dairy free/vegan stuff.

I am coeliac and have yet to attend a single function where I am not given a gritty chocolate brownie for dessert.

@GreyhoundG1rl,

Because of the waste aspect I suppose. I'm not kidding, the food was exceptional.

I suppose I'm taking into account all aspects of the meal IYSWIM.

People were doing their best to eat all they could, 3/4 of it left.

It was embarrassing.

Can't say name but pub in Oxfordshire with themed rooms. In retrospect, don't know if it was 5 star but the food was out of this world and so was the hotel itself!

A close relative got married at 3, served food at 5, one small glass of vinegary wine each and nothing at all to the evening guests. People were starving, it went on until 2am!

[quote Niffler92]**@Natsku* @DrCoconut and @Surewhynot* don’t worry us with dairy allergies and vegans feel the same about the gluten free stuff the insist on adding to the dairy free/vegan stuff.[/quote]
THIS is vegan/gluten free hybrid hell.

I’ve spent the afternoon at hospital and dh wanted to get me a treat. This was not a treat (told him it was lovely, it was a whopping great lie).

It’s so sweet but tastes of nothing all at the same time.

(sorry for the derail).

@BillyJoe111 yes vegan Galaxy is awful!!

I dont seem to be able to eat vegan meat substitute, It gets stuck and takes me hours to digest. I end up either in a lot of pain or seeing it again 🤮 I also struggle with gluten and raw foods. I dont eat meat but do eat fish. I'm basically a horrible guest. Maybe that's why I dont get invited to much. Or maybe I'm just horrible

Vegetarian here. Had requested a veggie meal weeks in advance.
Had to ask at the table, and half an hour later a collapsed "stuffed" pepper was dumped in front of me.
Obviously just pulled out of the freezer and microwaved. It was revolting.

Well this has saved me buying vegan Galaxy if nothing else.

@DrNo007

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.

That's so true. The uptake in veganism is ruining vegetarian options. I am a meat eater but do like a lot of vegetarian meals instead. I mean, we all eat vegetarian meals regularly without even realising it. Beans on toast, macaroni cheese, baked potatoes, soups, bean casseroles etc. But the suitable options we used to get in restaurants are mainly vegan now instead because it covers vegetarian so it means there doesn't have to be loads of extra options. But what is life without dairy? Faux cheese won't cut it.

I'll never understand the thinking. Vegan covers vegetarian but doesn't vegetarian cover omnivore diets in the same way? Why serve meat at all then? Because no bugger would like that.

I'll never understand the thinking.

The thinking is that most customers want meals with meat in them. Serving food that the majority of your customers don’t want isn’t good for business.