Couple asks wedding guests to clean dishes  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images
Key Highlights
- A woman shared how a quarter of guests at a wedding she was invited to went home hungry as there was not enough food and cake
- She added that a group of the wedding guests, including her, was asked to clean the dishes
- The couple had decided to self-cater as they blew their budget on an expensive venue and the bride’s wedding gown
A wedding guest was shocked when she was forced to wash dishes as the bride and groom opted for “self-catering” after a “gorgeous and expensive” venue “blew their budget”.
The woman was shocked when she found out that she and the other nine guests had to clean the dirty dishes after the bride and the groom failed to hire anyone for the task.
“The bride, a relative of mine, and groom, have gone all out, renting a gorgeous and expensive venue for their wedding. Beautiful ceremony, lovely pictures, etc. The buffet line and tables have been set up on the screened porch of the building,” the woman wrote on Reddit.
She said, “Food looks great, I serve up my plate and go sit down. My BF at the time, now my husband, has gone to the restroom. There were only a few restrooms available for guest use so it took a while for him to get through the line. He then comes back to the table with an empty plate. When I asked why, he says there’s no more food.”
When she requested the bride’s mother to ask the caterers to serve more food, she was told that there was no more food.
She continued, “They wanted a certain ‘opulence’ so they purchased top-of-the-line ingredients (good cuts of meat, artisan breads and cheeses, etc.) which meant they ended up with only enough to feed about 3/4 of the guests. The rest went hungry.”
To make the matters worse, some of the guests were then asked to wash the dishes. She explained, “It then comes out that the bride and groom blew most of their wedding money on the venue and the bride’s (admittedly beautiful) couture gown, so they decided to ‘self-cater’. Whatever. 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. There is no AC 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?!?”
She added, “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. But since the bride and groom are pinching pennies at this point, they haven’t hired anyone to clean up. So I and about nine other guests spend most of the reception in the kitchen, elbow deep in soap and water.”
Washing the dishes meant that they “missed the first dance and the cutting of the cake,” which didn’t really matter as the bride and groom “hadn’t purchased enough cake for everyone either.”
She concluded, “The couple divorced three years later… I declined my invitation to the bride’s second wedding.”
Netizens were shocked with the “outrageous” behaviour of the bride and groom. One user said, “Imagine having to wash dishes when you didn’t even dirty one because there wasn’t enough food for you.” Another wrote, “I would have refused and left right then and there.”
