One of our Christmas guests is vegetarian and only just told us

[AnnaleeP]

Christmas this year is just me and DH and a couple of close friends. When we invited them they said they had a friend coming to stay, would it be OK for them to come too? We said yes, that was 6 weeks ago. Since then we've sorted out what they're bringing food-wise.

Tonight DH gets a text 'will there be room for a tray of vegetarian sausages to go in the oven?' Errrr if the extra guest is vegetarian the time to mention this was 6 bloody weeks ago. I'd like to be able to serve the poor lady something a bit nicer than freaking Linda McCartney sausages for Xmas lunch so now we have to rethink what we were planning on serving. Obviously the vegetables with the main meal are OK but the starter was going to be fish and meat and there's quite a lot of meat involved in the main obvs. I'll have to make veggie gravy and different roasties for her. I dunno what to do for the main. DH is trying to get some answers out of them but so far it's 'oh don't go to any trouble, she'll just have sausages' - she's not having freaking sausages! Just tell me what she wants and I'll make it! Is it me? I'm just trying to be hospitable to someone I've never met, it's bloody Xmas.

bandicoot it's not down to the female friend to be guilty at not telling OP, it's her friends who are the ones hosting and feeding her (or she's bringing some of her own food when she stays with them) who are at fault here for accepting an invite to OPs house for Christmas dinner and not bothering to let her know their guest was veggie.

It puts their friend in a predicament as obviously she feels she needs to supply food as her friends didn't bother to tell OP she was veggie.

It's bad enough generally for a dinner party but even worse at this time of the year what with all the festive preparations anyway.

Hope OP that it all went well anyway.

Perhaps the guests didn't realise the woman was vegetarian until a few days before xmas. That's not so strange.

I have two friends to whom Christmas day is open house to anyone they know reasonably well, like a colleague, who's going to spend xmas alone. I've yet to meet someone who'd invite someone in off the street, but I'm sure they exist.

I'm insular, so it was strange to me when the first person invited someone in my office, but the older I get, and the more lonely people I see around me, the more I think Christmas is about leaving no man or woman behind rather than about having the 'perfect' day.

Of course, a guest may be for life, not just for Christmas

No update?