AIBU - Wedding Food & Drinks Complaints

[Fakirek]

My partner and I just got married and there were some important details that were missed along with what we feel are unacceptable mistakes.

Examples of these are:
Vegan option (mushroom risotto) was advertised as vegan but we later found out the cheese had dairy in it. This meant one or more of our guests was not able to eat their main meal.

Vegetables that were served with the main meals were not as we had agreed - should have been roasted root vegetables but instead were steamed vegetables (baby corn, broccoli, etc.).

Prawn toast served with one of the starters to multiple guests was soggy.

My Dad got given a Prosecco for the speeches toast when we specifically asked that he was served a Vodka.

No staff were giving drinks to the guests at the drinks reception.

We feel hard done by and are particularly embarrassed / frustrated about some of the mistakes made with the food. Our guests have also made comments about this to us.

We have made a complaint to the venue in attempt to receive a partial re-fund but we are not sure if we are being “over the top”.

Having worked in mass catering in the past, the vegan issue is the big deal here and the one worthy of a refund. The veg and the starter, annoying and worth mentioning but not the end of the world.

I get why your Dad would want vodka in the circumstances you describe but with multiple staff working who don't necessarily know who 'father of the bride' is then probably forgivable.

When we got married we had Prosecco for all the toasts but paid corkage for a sentimental bottle of champagne for me & DH. We reminded them of it when we sat down for dinner, we didn't expect all the service staff to automatically know.

It's all a big deal.
Vegan issue is not good.
Sorry b it if you ordered chicken and got pork you would be fuming. Same difference for veg.
Dad just needed to say- vodka not Prosecco and easily rectified. A few smaller issues and the vegan issue means yes, I agree you are entitled to a small partial refund

I would complain. We recently went to a wedding and I know the food cost the brides parents a lot of money. Lots of 'show-off' cooking with beef joints on roasting-spits etc. Yet my sons vegetarian meal was inedible, we all got a tiny amount of veg, tiny amount of meat and so on but who is going to complain because it is someone's wedding. As a result I think a lot of venues get away with some very poor food at overly inflated prices.

There would have been a table plan so all it would have taken would be a small note next to FOB to say 'vodka' for the event runner/manager/supervisor to know what to do. It should have been detailed on the BEO which should have been combed over by the team in advance.

I would make an appointment with the manager and see what they say. If you don’t get a huge refund you could take them to small claims court over this.

OP, can I also suggest checking your contract?
It may well say something on there about them being able to offer alternatives where necessary. If they had an issue with the correct veg (this could be a sourcing issue, cooking space, staffing levels, lack of suitable prep space) they may have been permitted to swap it out without your permission.

Again, just because I know how the industry works (and how some venues chose to operate) doesn't mean I agree with the practices.

The vegan issue is very bad though. Again, check the contract/event notes/documents carefully to make sure you specify that you needed X number of vegan meals and not just X mushroom risottos. If it specifies 'vegan' then you can argue because they didn't provide it. If it doesn't they can plead ignorance.