A disgruntled bride who refused to pay her wedding caterers, saying they had not provided enough food for her 500 guests, has been ordered to settle the bill.

The bride was sued by Busy Bee Ltd for the outstanding balance on her catering bill for her 2014 wedding.

Both the bride and her mother insisted in court that they had expressed concern that the suggested list of food items appeared to be insufficient when they had visited the caterer to place their order. 

Yet the assistant catering manager had reassured them that the items chosen would be enough to feed the 500 guests, whilst ensuring that there would be no excessive leftovers.

On the big day, trouble began to brew more than halfway through the reception.

Some family members began complaining about the quantity of food being served, with a waiter allegedly telling them that the catering was tailored for 400 rather than 500 guests.

At the end of the wedding, Busy Bee Ltd.'s representative at the wedding told the father of the bride that there was no food left and that the guests had "even tucked into plastic." 

The issue spilled over and ended in a civil suit, wherein numerous family members and employees from the catering company were summoned to testify.

On the basis of all evidence, the First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Madam Justice Jacqueline Padovani Grima, concluded that it had been objectively proven that "there had been enough food according to norm."

Evidence showed that the reception had lasted longer than usual, well up to 8.30pm, so much so that the couple had not even cut the traditional cake at 5.00pm.

The fact that the waiters could not keep up with the guests’ demands and that by the end of the party "there was no food left" was certainly no fault of the caterer, the court concluded.

“The caterer was surely not to blame if the bride ordered enough food to last five hours, when in fact the reception lasted some seven hours,” the court observed, further noting that no ‘after party’ order had been placed. 

The head waiter had testified that when the food was delivered to the reception hall, the wedding organiser had certified that “all was according to the order placed by the bride.”

Moreover, Busy Bee Ltd had acted in "a highly professional manner", since the assistant manager who had drawn up the order had advised against excessive amounts so as to avoid wastage, "placing the customer’s interests first."

Rather than inflate the order so as to benefit from a higher commission, the company official had ordered 26 items per guest, which worked out to around 1kg of food each. This was well within the average standard practice tried and tested over his 14-year career, the court found. 

The court also observed that there was no dispute regarding the quality of the food.

In the light of such evidence, the court upheld the caterer’s claim, ordering the respondent to pay €12,359 together with interest accrued since 2014.