Weddingbee Blog

Sister Spring Roll was married in April. She served her guests an amazing chicken parmigiana catered by a local Italian restaurant. Mr. Spring Roll and I knew that we wanted the same restaurant to cater our wedding dinner. However, we are unsure of which dishes we want to serve, as we want our guests to have a variety.

Mr. Spring Roll enjoying the food at sister Spring Roll’s wedding

Yesterday I held a dinner for the Spring Roll family (FMIL, FFIL, mom, sister, and Mr. SR) to sample different entree options for the wedding. I ordered seven entrees from the restaurant, which cost me a pretty penny. When Mr. Spring Roll and I picked the food up from the restaurant, we were handed a large brown bag with all seven dishes inside. Halfway home, I realized the bag was leaking sauce all over Mr. Spring Roll’s upholstery.

I thought one of the lids might have come off. Boy, was I wrong! I opened the bag to find the top three containers sunken into the bottom four containers. Upon seeing it, I wanted to cry. I had planned for a beautiful meal and ended up with a smooshed mess. Disappointed and devastated, I phoned the restaurant and asked to speak to the manager. The manager apologized and kindly offered to remake all of the food. I live about fifteen to twenty minutes away from the restaurant, so picking up new food would have been an inconvenience and a waste of food. Instead, I asked the manager to at least credit my debit card for the amount it would cost to have Mr. Spring Roll’s upholstery cleaned; he agreed to do so.

FMIL and FFIL Spring Roll

Mom and sister Spring Roll

Nevertheless, the Spring Roll family loved the food, smooshed mess and all. So here I am with a dinner dilemma:

Do we forgive and forget, and give the restaurant a second chance? Or do we begin searching for a new caterer?

Have you had any catering disasters you’d like to share?