A bride and groom were left fuming after some of their wedding guests ordered pizza and wings for their reception when the buffet ran out of food. The incident was recounted by one of the hungry guests in a lengthy post on Reddit’s “Am I the A—?” forum.
According to the poster, the buffet “looked really good,” but they had to wait for several tables to be served first, including many of the newlyweds’ family members. The people ahead in line exacerbated the situation by taking large servings and even going back for seconds, told The Independent.
By the time the poster reached the buffet, “there was nothing left” to eat. “I asked if there was more coming out and apparently that had already occurred. So we grabbed the little we could and went back to sit down and ate the scraps,” they recalled.
Frustrated and still hungry, the poster and some other guests at their table decided to order food. “We all pitched in and ordered 4 large pizzas and some chicken wings from a local pizza joint close to the venue, so it didn’t take long to be delivered,” they wrote.
The arrival of the pizzas and wings caught the attention of other guests, causing a commotion at the reception as people began asking the bridal party if there “was pizza available.” When the newlyweds found out about the food delivery, the bride “was not happy about it (it ruined the aesthetics),” the OP explained. The groom, who is a friend of the poster, also took them aside to chide them and ask why they didn’t step out to eat instead of ordering food directly to the reception.
The poster asked fellow Redditors to weigh in on whether they were in the wrong and received more than 3,000 comments. Many argued that the bride and groom, along with the catering staff, had an obligation to ensure guests did not go hungry.
“For a wedding buffet, ALWAYS order more than what’s needed,” one person wrote. Another added, “When you cater a wedding, you either cater it by the number of plates (headcount) or otherwise the expectation would be if you do a buffet, the restaurant keeps the food coming until everyone is fed.”
Another commenter pointed out the challenges of wedding buffets: “Unfortunately wedding buffets are notorious for this. While in theory, it’s great, either people get greedy or the caterers underestimate the amount of food or both. The only way to control it is to have servers at the buffet controlling the portions. And definitely no second helpings until everyone has been fed.”
Some commenters shared similar experiences, including one where the groom’s father ordered 35 pizzas, dozens of wings, and salads to save the day when the venue ran out of food before half the guests were served.
In an update to the post, the hungry wedding guest shared that the bride’s family, after reflecting on the mishap, decided to make it up to all their guests by throwing an “after wedding shindig.” The family promised to provide enough food for “an army,” including “50 large pizzas from the same joint I ordered from,” adding humor to the situation.
While most commenters sided with the poster, several acknowledged that food planning for weddings can be challenging and expensive. One Redditor noted, “Many make the mistake of trying to save money by having exactly the amount of food they think their guests will eat when in reality you should have 10-20% or even 30% more.”