Mother sparks debate about wedding etiquette after letting her ‘picky eater’ son bring fast food to reception

A woman has sparked a debate about wedding etiquette after revealing that she allowed her 22-year-old son to bring fast food to a wedding reception because he didn’t like the meal that was served.

In a viral Reddit post shared to the popular forum r/AmItheA**hole, Reddit user u/Houstonstan2618 explained how she let her 22-year-old son – who is in college – bring fast food back to her cousin’s wedding reception, which “appalled” both the venue and the family of the bride.

The mother began by describing her son “Johnny” as a “picky eater”.

“My cousin was getting married and had a lovely reception with a nice buffet,” she wrote.

According to the post, the food that was served at the wedding reception included “a nice soup, salad, tenderloin, BBQ beef, pasta, a few other selections.”

“Johnny wasn’t a fan of what was served so I let him leave and get some food,” she said. “Word spread amongst our family where he was going and a few people asked him to bring things back so he did.”

The mother added that they were seated at a table near the dance floor, so wedding guests “could probably smell” the fast food throughout the venue.

“Apparently the venue and the family of the bride were appalled and I don’t understand why,” she continued. “It was a great party but he wanted something different and other people did too.”

The viral post received more than 4,000 comments from angry Reddit users who believed the mother was in the wrong for allowing her son to bring fast food to a wedding reception. Many people also felt the move was disrespectful to both her cousin and to the wedding venue, while others claimed the mother was “enabling” her son’s picky eating habit.

The top comment, which came from user Necessary_Jello_1206, read: “The venue and family of the bride were appalled because bringing fast food into the reception for multiple people to eat embarrassed the venue because you all showed publicly you did not like their food, and angered the bride’s family because they most likely paid a good amount of money for the food you publicly replaced (assuming the bride’s family paid; I know this is not necessarily the case).”

“If you were invited to a dinner party, would you leave halfway through to get fast food and bring it back to eat at the dinner table?”

“At most, he should have slipped out, eaten, and returned quietly,” commented u/Pair_of_Pearls. “Letting it be known and eating at the reception is a VERY [a**hole] move. You were rude, disrespectful and trashy. Apologise and teach your son better. Also he’s 22. Ummm, enable much?”

“It doesn’t matter who did or didn’t have a problem with it,” added u/Dcc456. “That’s incredibly rude and most likely broke a health code. He’s 22, not two. He can either eat beforehand since he knew he wouldn’t like the food, or he can wait until after. Or, here’s a crazy thought: he can try new things and just eat what is served.”

Meanwhile, others suggested that the venue could’ve charged the bride and groom for bringing outside food not included in their catering fee to the wedding reception.

“Some venues will charge the bride/groom if you do bring food or alcohol onto the premises that wasn’t bought there, so the bride and her family may have been upset because they may face a charge,” said u/Herps15.

“The bride and groom may not have minded him eating fast food, but they very much minded him bringing the food back to their reception (at a restaurant no less!), and passing it out to their guests,” agreed u/SearchApprehensive35. “That’s insulting behavior, and it also probably got them in trouble with the restaurant and possibly charged a penalty fee.

“The business could have gotten a health code violation citation over it, so they would absolutely have emphasised in the contract that no outside food can be brought in,” they added.

Despite the backlash, many users simply suggested that her son could’ve stopped for food after the wedding, or eaten it discreetly in the car before returning to the reception.

“Eat it in your car or at the fast food place,” said u/NakedRandimeres. Why even tell anyone you’re leaving to go get it? Just do it and come back. Or eat before you go...or go in between the ceremony and reception...there were so many options. Why pick the WORST one?”