MASSIVE Catering Mistake | Wedding Planner REACTION

As someone who has worked in catering for 20+ years this is an absolute no! This situation requires a full refund! There is no explanation that would excuse this ! I have had to scramble behind the scenes but my bride and her guests never knew. Every good caterer has a contingency plan

Update from OP on Reddit:

"They said before Christmas they would refund me but have since blocked me. I’m honestly tired of it at this point + will not pursue it anymore. I want to remember my wedding as a good thing and not this hassling around"

I feel like the caterer had completely forgotten about the wedding and had to scrap something last minute with what they had in stock to try and save the day, hence the lack of drinks and mistake on one of the items. They probably didn't "forget", just didn't happen to have these in stock.

Edit : also, a buffet requires much less staff than food served at the table, so I guess they had completely forgotten about the event and had to call one or two people of their staff last minute, hence the change to a buffet. Also, the staff having to cover up on on a day off was probably not too keen on cleaning while they should have been home resting.

Note to self : check again with every vendor two weeks in advance, just to make sure they haven't forgotten about us.

Recently engaged law student here lol. I always read every contract I sign. I want to know all the expectations of everything. I also have been asking many vendors lots of questions to get a good feel for what to expect day of. I have always been an over planner but with the wedding there is so much to make sure you get straight before committing to a vendor

My husband and I got married on September 23rd 2023. We thankfully didn't have any vendor issues but we did have a very rough start to our wedding. It was with our guest we had 60 people on our guest list who were suppose to show 10 mins before the ceremony we were messaging guest to find out where ever one was some replied they were sick, some it was had an emergency, and some didn't even reply but looked at it. We ended up having only 15 to 20 people show and our catering was pay per person. I'm so thankful for our venue and all the vendors because they made the night truly amazing speaking that I was a wreck in the beginning. Thankfully our catering company boxed all the food and everyone who attended was able to take it home. I could never imagine going through this.

Our reception was this past weekend. We hired a reputable DOC and she bailed on us 48 hrs before our event. I was refunded in full 48 hrs AFTER our event. I can elaborate more on that part but I would like to know if IATA for wanting to negativity review her everywhere possible so this doesn't happen to someone else?

She claims because she refunded us she abided by her contract but she left us high and dry 48hrs before our event! Our family, friends, and us- the couple- had to do so much extra before/during/after and that caused so much additional stress. I mean, we hired someone else to do these things so we could have an extra set of hands because the whole reception was DIY with decor. Her part was minimal and mostly breakdownl- I had already planned everything to a T (thank you Jamie, my online wedding planner!).

I guess my questions are in regard to a specific occurrence: post-reception.
A bride in one of my local FB groups posted about having cold feet with her month-of-planner and I briefly shared my story. My DOC immediately emailed me about how it was unfair to review her like that bc she had refunded us. I replied about her screwing up the entire day up and that it wasn't a review because I had just commented on a post but that I definitely intend to write reviews. I asked her not to contact me again. Well, she did. I didn't reply and blocked her. I didn't tag her or her business in the comment that upset her, she just saw it bc she advertises her business there and that's how I found her. She had no remorse and gave no reason beyond "circumstances out of her control.". If it were a serious personal matter, of course I would understand, but when I wrote that to her she said she has no obligation to share her personal life. I believe that sort of explanation would be totally warranted if I canceled on someone like that and that makes me think she just flaked. AITA for wanting to write negative reviews of her or should I let it go. My husband would prefer the latter even though he is also upset I'm not on reddit but I am contemplating signing on to post this and all the emails. Husband wants me to drop "the stress".
BTW- Central TX babes and Jamie- it was Exquisite Events by Genevieve. Genevieve Vega

My question is what food item was completely different? My first thought was please tell me it wasn't the vegetarian option or something to do with food allergies or restrictions. Not that the situation could get much worse

My parents were at a wedding that ended up occurring during a blizzard! People in town were still able to make it. Out-of-town caterer had to cancel. My parents and a few others volunteered to run to the local grocer, which did thankfully have a hot deli, to buy what they could. It wasn’t a lot, but they had fried chicken and sides.
What you said about buffets needing more food is so true! People were oblivious that this meal was scraped together. Chicken ran out before the volunteers had a chance to put together their own plate. And one person had the gall to come back for seconds! 😅

It might be a good idea to contact the caterer who commented to ask them what to look out for in contracts with this service

On the contract thing, i love my lawyer clients! We discuss everything way in advance and sometimes catch things so early and it saves me so much time and stress as a vendor!

As a wedding photographer, hearing these stories really suck! I hate having couples so distressed after spending their hard earned money and time planning a once in a lifetime event. Most vendors I work with are amazing but I've had caterers literally bully me to make a point that they hate other vendors and then charge the couple for vendor meals when we aren't given the, I had one catering company try and make me sign that we aren't allowed to eat any cocktail hour food and we aren't even allowed to use the bathrooms, we had to use bathrooms a 5 minute walk away. They're always the first people to ask me for free photos for promotion as well! I hope this person gets a full refund and writes an honest review about them.

First 🥰