Reception buffet

I'm not sure, but I think it would have something to do with food hygiene rules. Venues can only leave food out for so long and it then has to be disposed of. It seems wasteful but they're only trying to minimise risk and the rules aren't set by the venue itself.

It's a shame the venue didn't look after you a bit better, I've heard of other places making sure that the bride and groom have eaten and even making up plates for them, knowing that they will often be to busy to think about it themselves.

As far as compensation goes, I don't think you'll get very far as they were only following food hygiene rules.

My venue's wedding pack says that evening buffet food will only be left out for no more than 2 hours because of food hygeine rules. It seems a little steep to take it in after only 1.5hrs though, you'd think they'd take it out in the same sort of order they put it out if it took that long to assemble.

What type of food was it?

I can't think of many foods that would still be decent after 90 minutes. There are rules on safe food handling that the venue would have to follow in regard to keeping certain foods above or below certain temperatures. I'm not surprise they're strict considering the financial and reputational damage they'd sustain if they caused people to be ill.

I think it would have been polite to let you know it was being cleared away in case you hadn't had anything. However, they weren't required to.

I wouldn't be seeking compensation.

I didn't check how long it would be out for, so I should have done that prior. They didn't mention anything about food hygiene though. Admittedly, I haven't been to many weddings, but the ones I had been to had the buffet out all night. My guests said that they thought that it went in way too early too.

I don't know how long it was out for. I went to get food just before 10.30, and it was all completely gone, so it was probably less than an hour and a half, as they'd had the time to do a complete clear up.

I think they know that it was wrong, because they sent me an email back straight away, and said that they'd investigate when the staff came back on shift.

I think there are probably some regulations on this. Maybe a good tip for other brides is to ask that a plate be covered and kept for the bride and groom who might not get chance to eat till later.

Let us know what they say.

Regs state food can be out of the fridge for a maximum of 4 hrs after which it must be binned so they were well out of order. I'd want at least a 10% discount

Just had a quick look at the regulations and chilled/cold items MAY be left for a period of longer than 2 hours (up to four hours as mentioned above) HOWEVER it would require additional HACCP (risk/hazard) analysis and for any hot food the limit is up to 2 hours without exception.

I would have thought that even if the venue agreed to leave the food out for longer than 2 hours, you would have had to sign some sort of disclaimer as part of the risk assessment. Personally, I would rather guests mentioned that the food went in a bit early (which will no doubt be forgotten soon enough), than them complaining how they got horrible food poisoning after your wedding which would be remembered far longer especially if you and/or the groom had spent your wedding night on the bathroom floor.

As all is said and done and you've said you had a wonderful wedding I don't think I'd bother causing more stress to yourself to potentially gain £60 or so.

Hi- i cant offer any advice im afraid, but im glad you posted this as i will definetely be checking with my venue about how long ours will be out.

Im trying to think of recent parties we've been to- and im positive they've left the buffet out longer than 1.5 hours

I hope you get some sort of response you will be happy with x

I'd be very upset myself since they didn't even let you know that they were going to throw it away. It would have been courteous to at least let you know and maybe there could have been some kind of announcement to let the guests know to fill up their plates if they wanted to, before they got rid. Hope they look into this properly for you. Glad the rest of your wedding went well though ?

Ditto! Thanks for the heads up, I never would have thought to ask that

I must admit I wouldn't have known about any of this so thanks for bringing it to attention at least. It won't really apply for me because we're having sausage and bacon rolls so I don't really expect the chef to be standing there serving all night. But definitely at the last wedding I was at, me and OH only started on the evening buffet at midnight!

A few of you asked for an update, so I'm giving one.

They have emailed back, and stated that they can only have buffets out for 2 hours.

However, they did acknowledge that we were never told that during the planning stage (therefore we hadn't expected it), and also that it was taken away before 2 hours were up. They also said that a team member should have got the dj to do a call out or, at the very least, notified me or my husband.

They apologized and have said they'll be doing more training, and offered us an anniversary stay and champagne afternoon tea to say sorry for it all. So that was a surprising and pleasant compensation

That was nice of them to offer that. Clearly you should've been informed it was getting cleared. We aren't allowed to put buffets out for more than two hours, we live in such a blame culture these days that most places have to be strict with it ( I'm a catering manager)

I would be pleased with that. What a nice change for someone to acknowledge they made a mistake without having to have an arguement.