What’s your strangest ‘wedding food’ related story

[CosyMosy]

Sorry, rubbish title! I was chatting today with a colleague about a wedding I went to last year. The wedding was at the church at 12pm and we were invited to a country club for the reception. We turned up at 1 to find the buffet laid out but not open. We were told it wasn’t opening till 4!! Everyone was starving and the only thing behind the bar was out of date crisps (that the bar was selling for 10pm cheaper because of 😅). When the buffet eventually opened at 4, the bride announced over the mic that we needed to make sure we only took 1 small plate each because it had to last for the night guests as well 😵‍💫. The takeaway down the road made a roaring trade that night

My colleague told me she once went to the wedding of her DH’s colleague, when they sat down for the wedding breakfast half the table were given menus with prices on. When they queried this, it turns out the bride and groom had made the decision to only pay for HALF of the guests meals and the other half were to order and pay for their own meal at the bar!

Something about weddings brings out the worst in people!

trays of bacon cobs instead of normal wedding food.

Not quite wedding food but I worked in a posh hotel. One Sunday morning people in their finery started arriving which was odd as we didn't have a booking. Function manager starts panicking that we have missed something in the diary.

It turned out a bride and groom had put '11.30am: Drinks at the posh hotel' on the invite for somewhere for guests to go while they had their photos and a family meal and then meet later for their reception in the pub down the road.

I think they assumed the bar would be open and people would just go and buy (expensive) drinks for a few hours . The guests assumed they would be sipping champagne, nibbling canapés and toasting the b&g.

Unfortunately as it was a Sunday the bar didn't open for another hour. The function manage who was a total cow wouldn't let them wait in the bar or the lobby so they had to stand outside in the hot sun with no drinks or nibbles and no where nearby to go.

a hog roast and ensuring there’s enough to go round.

After one memorable wedding my DW and I can be heard mumbling “you always need two pigs…” to each other whenever we have to cater anything.

Why bother having a wedding if no thought is given to the guests enjoyment and comfort? Go to a bloody registry office and be done with it if you're too stingy to feed people properly.

My cousin's wedding was actually awful. So much standing around with no food.

Exactly. It's supposed to be a celebration, not just an opportunity for photos and gifts. Either host it properly or don't host it at all

That's truly terrible. And expected to pay for their own too?! How long for?

@anywhichone I’ve been to plenty of Asian weddings with 300+ people, always fantastic, plentiful food and very good professional service. Number of guests isn’t an excuse for someone to choose to have poor food at a wedding.

@PeatrixBotter 4pm!! From what I gleaned there would be no food until evening buffet either.

Exactly!

I work at a wedding venue. So many couples try to cater for fewer guests than they've invited to try to save money. We no longer allow this as guests blame the venue rather than the couple.

At our wedding I didn't get anything from the evening buffet or a piece of cake (I was too nervous to eat our wedding meal!) when I asked the staff what they could do they shrugged their shoulders and gave us a packet of crisps from behind the bar which they put on our room 🤯

Thankfully a good friend went out and got me some more substantial snacks

Agreed, I’ve rarely been told the menu in advance for a wedding, apart from the odd occasion where there’s a choice of main to pick, but usually you get what you’re given & I’m also unsure when or how a guest would expect to be told in advance except in passing conversation.

A slice of (apparently traditional) slimy orange sea cucumber at a Chinese wedding banquet. Honestly the most revolting thing - not just the taste, the texture - I’ve ever had to surreptitiously transfer from mouth to tissue to bag. But I wasn’t the only one!
The rest of the food was very nice.

Re a tiered ‘cheese’ cake, as mentioned by a pp, we had one at DD’s wedding, but it wasn’t ‘the’ wedding cake, it was part of the later-evening nibbles, with bread etc. and went down very well.

Kept you waiting for two hours for an evening do? I'd have been back in the car and gone before they had chance to not give me a buffet tea. That was quite rude really.

Went to an evening reception. Lovely venue if the weather was nice. But although in August it rained.
Hardly any indoor seating. Had to stand all night mostly in a hallway. Called into lounge by DJ for cake cutting. Hardly enough room for us all to stand in there.
No buffet but a mobile pizza van just outside in the drizzle. Could queue for a small pizza.

I got a bowl of tomato pasta with jar sauce at my cousin’s very fancy wedding! This was the vegetarian option…

At a friend's DD's wedding earlier this year, I got the beef fillet. It was cooked rare. 🤢 No way I was eating raw meat, but friend, on our table (and paying) ooked unimpressed I wasn't eating. I had to saw thin cooked bits off the sides & eat those. I wasn't the only one!

Dessert was platters of small muffins. I had to grab two for DC as there wasn't enough. DH & I went without. Wasn't too bothered as it wasn't far from home.

Marriage lasted four months so not even worth the trouble!!

When you say “got” I assume you mean ordered/chose? Of course it’s going to come the way it “should” be cooked, they can’t be cooking to a particular preference for everyone at a mass catered event. Yes it’s quite rude to choose something and then not eat it.

You couldn't get away with poor hosting & under feeding guests at Asian weddings! You'll be ostracised for seven generations afterwards, people would still be bitching about you long after you died! 😀

Don't get me started about expecting monetary contributions towards the meal or child free & destination weddings. These cheeky fucker ideas haven't infiltrated Asian weddings yet & I hope they never do.

It was alternate drop, which is common here. You don't choose. They bring the meals & you get what you get. Some people swap but no one with the lovely chicken wanted to swap for raw beef. DH can't eat beef as it causes him issues so I was stuck with it. I said it didn't really bother me as you expect crap food & wasn't a biggie for me, but I will not eat raw meat. It was more my friend watching me & expecting me to eat it because she paid for it (commented how expensive it was and wasn't I hungry).

When I said raw, I meant RAW - it wasn't even warm on the inside. If serving beef en masse it should be cooked at least medium. Geez it was a food story, not a big deal.

Fillet should be served rare. Tbh it's better blue.

I would complain if it was cremated.

Not the staff’s fault if one of your friend didn’t put a plate of food together for you.

Sure, but not many like raw meat so it shouldn't be served at a function to half your guests. Not one person on my table ate more than the cooked edges. Perhaps we're just bogans with no taste.

You're missing the point, though. I wasn't bothered. Sometimes you don't like the food. Whatever. I wasn't starving. It was about my paying friend watching from across the table, making comments about us not eating it because they paid for it & 'it was expensive '. She wouldn't eat that beef either, but had the lovely chicken meal.

If you like I can tell you about the rest of the disaster wedding..... That'd be more interesting.....

Yeah I absolutely agree with you. Almost everyone who likes steak has very strong feelings about how it should be cooked, with as many people disliking it well done as do rare. Even cooking it medium you won’t please many. Hardly anyone who likes steak will say ‘don’t mind how it’s cooked!’ It’s a bad choice for a meal like that.

"....the rest of the disaster wedding...." - yes, please, @MermaidMummy06!