Nightmare trial meal

Oh dear. I'd speak to the venue about your concerns, and insist they take your comments on board. Convince them you need another taste session - at a much reduced price as you were so disappointed.

Have you had a meal there before? If you know their food is supposed to be better then I think you have the right to voice your concerns.

I would get in contact with the venue now and express how disappointed you were with the food, especially considering that you had to pay for it and that you are paying them a considerable sum to cater for your wedding.

I'd definitely contact the venue, Panda. You don't want to be worrying about it

That doesn't sound good at all.

All I would suggest you do is complain / talk to the venue manager and see what you can do about it.

and I really hope this doesn't come across as rude, but this is one of those things where you really need to take matters in hand, and should have done so on the day and at the time and complained there and then and pointed things out to someone. Not smile politely and then complain to us on a forum afterwards.

You need to take charge! Thats not a cheap meal per head and I'd want everything to be perfect

Actually I did say I was disappointed & they told me that it would be typical of what we would get on the day! That's why I'm worried about what to do about it as it really wasn't up to the standard I would expect for a meal costing nearly £50 a head without drinks at our wedding. OH can't see what the problem is but then, he is used to eating military canteen food & will generally eat anything anyway so I'm pretty much on my own sorting this out.

That is a very healthy food budget and you really should be getting a decent meal for this price. In addition, if they can't get cooking times/etc right for just two of you, how are they going to manage on a larger scale? Was it a problem with the food quality itself? Or a bad chef? Or both? I would contact them and play nicely-nicely. You had heard great things about their food and it was a key reason to book, therefore you are somewhat confused and surprised about the lack of quality.

What are your options? Is this a set menu? Could you request a more simple meal that, for the same price, would involve top quality ingredients? For example, £50 worth of duck gets you a mediocre dish, £50 worth of sausage and mash gets you some mighty gourmet sausage, if you see what I mean? If they were unconcerned and simply stated that this is what you would receive on the day, you need to make a change to this, rather than hope for the best.

Thanks FTLOMB. We were given a list of about 6 different main dishes ranging in prices from £19 to £27 per person. The starters were a choice of about 6 soups & about 6 'proper' starters which are roughly between £7 & £8 a dish, then again about 8 options for dessert ranging from £7-£9 each. We can mix & match as we like but to be honest I wasn't particularly inspired by many of the options available. For £50ish a head I would expect better quality than we were presented with yesterday & the general manager's reaction was that 'this is what we always do for weddings'.

I love how my OH would always rather leave complaining to me!

When you say "not inspired", what do you mean? They sounded horrible? Or they sounded too simple? Are you looking for a style/plate WOW factor or for a hearty nosh-up? This price range is where we are and our food is delicious (both in taste and for plate appeal).

Is your venue part of a chain? Could you go higher up with a complaint?

There were a lot of very strange combinations of food which really don't sound appetising to me. I'm not looking for anything that is going to be 'wow', more a case of something which is going to be reasonably conventional, enjoyable & taste nice! There was a roast beef & yorkshire pudding which would have been my choice but at £27 per person just for the main course it would really hurt paying that for a meal that I know I could cook far better myself for far less. OH won't have the turkey as to him that is just christmas dinner which really isn't helpful as the turkey would have been a relatively safe option.

Actually I did say I was disappointed & they told me that it would be typical of what we would get on the day!

Sorry I had to say that, but I'm glad you did mention things, but that answer from the venue is not very convincing to me.