Woman Cheered for Why She Warned Guests Not to Eat Food at Sister's Wedding - Newsweek

A woman has been widely praised after telling people not to eat food presented at her sister's wedding.

In a viral post shared on Reddit, user Tasty-Watercress explained that she had married her husband, 27, eight months ago. She had arranged to have leftover food be donated to a soup kitchen, but her mother took most of it, and the poster was unsure what had happened to it. Several months later, the Reddit user was at her sister's wedding and noticed something unusual following the ceremony.

A stock photo of a person holding a plate of canapes. The woman explained online she believed food from her wedding had been used at her sister's event. Getty

The Reddit user added: "The ceremony was beautiful, but it was when the buffet was revealed that I noticed something odd. The food looks eerily familiar. Like, identical to what I had for my wedding for a little more dried out and sad." When the woman asked her mother about it, she said that she had "saved a fortune" by unfreezing the food from the previous wedding to serve to the guests.

The average wedding catering cost in the U.S. is about $4,000, according to WeddingWire, a global marketplace connecting engaged couples with local vendors. In fact, most couples spend between $1,800 to $7,000 on their wedding catering costs, although costs vary, depending on location and guest count.

Wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk Zoe Burke told Newsweek that donating leftover food could have been a nice idea and that the mother's actions were regrettable.

Burke added: "It's a really lovely idea to donate leftovers and surplus goods from your wedding. I've heard of couples donating their flowers to care homes and hospices to cheer up the residents, and I think it's so kind.

"In this instance, it's regrettable that her mother took it so she didn't get a chance to donate it," Burke said. "The situation would have been easier to navigate if the mother and sister shared their plan with the couple ahead of time so they'd have a chance to okay it, and make proper arrangements if they did agree."

Concerned about the potential health hazard, the woman and her husband started to tell some guests at the wedding to be wary of the food. While the mother "caught some flack for being cheap," the Reddit user was also criticized by some relatives who said she intentionally made the family look bad and that the food was fine.

Food poisoning can happen after swallowing certain germs such as salmonella or E. coli, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common symptoms of food poisoning are:

• Diarrhea
• Stomach pain or cramps
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever

Since being posted on Tuesday, May 30, the Reddit story has attracted around 11,000 upvotes and more than 1,500 comments. The overwhelming majority praised the woman for her decision and others expressed shock at the idea of freezing wedding food for so long.

Reddit user Temptingpenguin wrote: "It's not that it was stored frozen for eight months, it's that it sat on the buffet table for God knows how long at your wedding, then your mother's car, before it was frozen. This is not only tacky but super dangerous."

Objectvkjhn added: "Honestly it's not unthinkable that that food could have botulism in it or other serious foodborne illnesses."

PublicRedditor commented: "Don't forget it already came from a buffet that had been sitting out or ready to be sat out. Let alone it then being refrozen for 8 months, then thawed and sat out again."

Newsweek has contacted Tasty-Watercress for comment via Reddit.

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