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Yikes! The only time I have ever heard of people taking centerpieces was at my cousins wedding when they ASKED people to take them because they wanted an easy way to get rid of them. I would never have the balls to ask for a to-go box at a wedding, even for just the food left on my plate. I would be ticked but there really isn't much you can do now except talk to the cater for not fulfilling the contract.
that is really weird! i worked catering (mostly weddings) for three years in college and i only got one request EVER for a to-go box. I'm really sorry to hear about your trouble!
I think it's pretty common to take centerpieces at the end of an event (they're often given away anyway), but to-go boxes?! Where did they even get them?
I have never attended a wedding where TO GO boxes were even available. Not even for leftover cake! So I am curious to see where they got their boxes, unless they brought their own which would even more weird.
I can understand guests taking centerpieces because many couples give them away at the end of the night but I would hope guests wouldn't just assume. As for the candy scoops....huh?! What would they use it for?! Looks like some people owe YOU a thank you note.
I had been to a wedding where half the guest list didn't get their favors because another guest saw them laying unattended on tables and assumed those guests didn't want it. So she took them. The favors were pashmina shawls.
It depends on the culture and family. In my family and culture (i'm Hispanic) centerpieces are raffled off as a game at one point. I guess unless it is specifically noted that centerpieces shouldn't be removed they will be taken. Most people assume with flower centerpieces especially that they will just be thrown out so why waste if the flowers still look nice. To go boxes never really saw this, but again depends on culture and your particular family. Hispanic people love going to parties and taking food to their homes with them because there is always a ton of food and again no one wants that food to go to waste. When you go out to a restaurant and you don't finish your meal and really like it, what do you do? You take it with you. Just because it is a wedding it doesn't change. I would find this a bit weird though like at a buffet style dinner.
It sucks that you weren't given your wedding meal. I'm not sure if I would blame the guests who took the food to go though, since that was an independent obligation of your caterer and the guests couldn't have known. They probably just saw that it was left over and didn't want it to be thrown out.
We had a LOT of food at our wedding dinner and knew that by the time people got to the dessert buffet they might be full and there would be a lot of food leftover. We requested that take out boxes be provided at the end of dessert so people could take home cake, cupcakes, fruit, etc. We took quite a few boxes home ourselves. I would rather have people take snacks to go than have the food go to waste.
To follow what Chipmunk is saying, it's also cultural -- at Chinese banquets, this happens a lot. When you have a 10 course meal, there's often food leftover by the end, and the restaurant usually comes around with take out boxes rather than have the food go to waste.
They took candy scoops?!?! Sorry but that is just bizarre and rude!
I wouldn't blame the guests on the to-go boxes. I would blame the restaurant/catering company that provided the option AND didn't fulfill their contract with you.
I'm not sure what happened but I do know the boxes were provided by the catering company. They were suppose to be used for boxing it up later. The lead guy there for the company said one of the guests said it was ok per Susan (which is my mom). However, no guest nor caterer ever approached my mom to ask her. Oh well, now I just want to make sure we get compensated for the parts they did not fullfill in the contract part of it.
I haven't been to a wedding where they have asked me to take a centerpiece and so I was taken aback by that. I had planned to sell everything after the wedding including the candy bar with tongs/scoops. What can you do, I still plan to sell what I have left.
Yea taking candy scoops is a bit much, but you should have put up signs that certain things shouldn't be removed or spread by word of mouth. The only thing in my opinion that should be irritating is that you didn't get the meal after the wedding as per the contract everything else are mishaps that happen when a big event is going on and there are lots of people. At the end of the day you got married, and hopefully had a good time.
I also meant to add that I don't blame the guests but I do blame the caterering company for not talking to any of the designated wedding party before just deciding to do something. I wouldn't have minded that they gave out food as long as there had been some set aside for my family and our wedding night meal. The caterers were our shadows about everything else but this issue. Just weird to me.
@redstar626: Weird. I hope your get everything sorted out with your contract. I know at a lot of Canadian weddings I have been to people just take the centerpieces because I guess they assume they will go to waste? The candy scoops and stuff just is kind of weird. As for take-out boxes, even though I know I would be super irritated I guess people liked your food that much that they wanted to take it home with them. I know food is the only part of a wedding I really remember. Good luck with getting all the contract stuff sorted out.
I have nevery heard of guests just taking things. I have asked to take centerpiece flowers from weddings. But this is with a purpose. I dry the flowers and create a shadowbox display with the wedding invitation and program, which I give as a first anniversary gift. I don't even have to ask at this point because my friends love the shadowbox gifts. It is just rude to think that a wedding is a free-for-all, especially when there is so much money invested.
I have never heard of asking for carryout containers with a formal dinner service. One friend did have carryout containers available for her guests after her buffet dinner service was over. She didn't want food to go into the trash, which I thought was a fantastic idea. She did have a sign welcoming the guests to take home food and the containers were put out after the dinner was over.
I went to a wedding for a former co-worker and we were SHOCKED when we saw people packing up their food in to-go boxes! I would NEVER in a million years think it would okay to ask for one at a wedding! (maybe my own weding, but thats different!)
I'd be pissed @ my catering company if I didn't get a meal as promised!!
I second the yikes. It's a bit tacky to take a doggie bag at a wedding, but some people hate to waste. I don't think it's b/c they didn't get enough to eat. To go's weren't allowed at my venue due to health code. We gave extra meals to vendors and told staff to eat the rest. You not getting fed is another matter. I sat down, and I ate my meal, AND I noshed on apps. I don't think it's the caterers fault if you don't eat, but they should have extra food. Plus it was a contractual matter, which is a totally different matter. I guess it's sort of good that no food went to waste. To my knowledge, other than the potted orchid centerpieces, which we told guests to take, nothing other than the bride rubber duck was taken. Weird, right? -Not the groom duck, just the bride. We had a cute sign in the restroom I think reminding guests tactfully not take more than they needed. A long time ago, I took a centerpiece home from a wedding (WHY???), but I am 99% sure the bride told us to. I would never do that now. I don't even want a favor unless I can eat it. I don't know why people take things -I mean do they really need more sh*t cluttering up their homes??
We did provide to-gos for the cake (but there wasn't any left!). The caterers used them for extra vegan cupcakes, choc covered strawberries, and Oreo truffles. I would have thought to ask for a to-go box is tacky, but it would NOT have pissed me off (we had a fairly formal wedding). I respect people's opinions though. It's weird how brides have their personal sore points -people could NOT understand (on the 'Bee or elsewhere) why I was irritated at the people who wore white. Most of these people weren't married though.
@baldor1: I totally hate favor whores. If people leave behind edible things when they leave the wedding, I might partake, but usually don't want the favor. Pashminas though? Nice. (except for the men.)
Plus when people take the centerpieces, you can't recycle or sell them. People could NOT have thought it was okay to take scoops and tongs. A lot of brides sell things after the wedding. Plus it's bizarre -what are you going to DO with tiny scoops and tongs?! I don't think you can put up signage about people taking things. 1st of all, who knew? 2nd, it would seem a little weird and rude to ask your guests not to steal.
@Scottielass: That's so wonderful what you do w/ the shadowboxes! I plan to do the same when my BFF and sister get married.
I hope you enjoyed the rest of your wedding. I just chalk it up to the old saying -some people just don't get it!
I would never take anything without someone telling me to first.. be it food or centerpieces.... or even candy scoops :)
I've heard of people donating wedding food leftovers to soup kitchens and brides keepin the vases from centerpieces... so I would never just assume I could just take anything i wanted.
Sorry it happened!
Wow! That is crazy, but now that you mention it, I can totally see my aunties taking home a box!! Lol. Oh well. They are who they are. You can lead a horse to water...or you can take the girl out of the city...but um...you catch my drift. Lol. Glad your wedding was fun. Go out to your favorite restaurant and pig out!!
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Hi Hive,
I've been a silent reader on the boards but I read through this website every day. It was my savior during all the planning days of the wedding. There's just one thing iI have to get off my chest regarding our wedding which I thought was awesome and a ton of fun.
It has to do with the food. We got so many compliments on it, everybody we talked to loved it, so much so that people took to-go boxes at our wedding. TO-GO BOXES! at our wedding, as if it were a restaurant where you can get doggy bags. I still get a little irritated about it when I think about it. We estimated for 150 and about 138 people came so there should have been plenty of food left over. My husband and I were looking forward to it. We didn't even get to eat it during the wedding which we figured but we also figured that we'd be able to get some when we left. In fact we were suppose to. It was written into the contract that they were to provide an after wedding meal for us, anything we wanted. That didn't happen. I'm just dumbfounded that guests asked for to-go boxes as if they didn't get enough during the wedding.
Did this happen at other people's weddings? Is it a normal thing to give to-go boxes of food to the guests?
I'm sad that I didn't get any wedding food. We will be contacting the catering company since they didn't fullfill the contract but I'm just wondering if this happened to others.
P.S. Guests also took centerpieces, candy bar tongs/scoops and anything else that wasn't nailed down.