Wedding guests made to wash dishes in couple’s cost-saving efforts
A wedding guest has shared the story of the nightmare wedding she attended, including the moment she was asked to wash dishes at the bride and groom’s reception in the couple’s effort to cut costs.
The American woman took to Reddit and said the bride - who she was related to - and groom had massively overspent on the wedding’s location and the bride’s dress and needed to make cutbacks on the rest of the wedding.
“The bride, a relative of mine, and groom, have gone all out, renting a gorgeous and expensive venue for their wedding,” the guest wrote in the post.
“Beautiful ceremony, lovely pictures, etc. The buffet line and tables have been set up on the screened porch of the building.
“Food looks great, I serve up my plate and go sit down. My boyfriend at the time, now my husband, has gone to the restroom.”
Since the venue only had a few restrooms for guests to use, the guest’s partner took a while to return and be able to serve himself a plate.
“He then comes back with an empty plate. When I asked why, he says there’s no more food,” she explained.
“I find the bride’s mum and whisper that she should probably ask the caterers to put out more food,” she continued.
“She gets a peculiar expression on her face and says there is no more food. What was on the buffet line is all that they have. Period.”
To save money on food, the couple decided to “self cater” the event, with a family friend who was a chef volunteering to make the food.
Since the couple wanted the food to be opulent and include “good cuts of meat, artisan breads and cheeses”, they could only afford enough food for three quarters of their guests.
But the wedding was to become even more bizarre after the meal.
“Dinner is over, we are starting the reception thing, when the maid of honour starts coming around and asking some of us to come with her into the kitchen. We go,” the guest said.
“There is no air conditioning so this kitchen is about a zillion degrees. She shows us stacks of plates and cups and then tells us we need to wash them.
“Apparently part of self-catering is you rent the dishes and glassware, and if they aren’t returned clean at the end of the evening you lose your deposit.”
Since part of their cost-saving measures included foregoing the hiring of staff to clean up, the guest and nine others spent most of the night “elbow deep in soap and water”.
“We miss the first dance and the cutting of the cake, which turns out to be for the best because (wait for it) they hadn’t purchased enough cake for everyone either.”
Other users shared their disbelief, commenting on the “outrageous” behaviour of the newlywed couple.
“That is INSANE. Imagine inviting a bunch of folks then having the gall to tell them 1/4 of them will DELIBERATELY be left hungry. Including cake!” one said.
Another wrote: “If anyone was to wash dishes, it should have been the bridal party, not the guests. Or the couple could have figured out how to hire someone, geez.”