OUR TO HAVE & TOO OLD WEDDING FEAST
Couple ‘recycle’ grub for their 140 guests
A THRIFTY bride and groom served up a mouth-watering “bin banquet” at their wedding reception.
All the food at Cherie Harris and Jaimes Mainwaring’s big day had been earmarked for the tip.
The couple wanted their party to have as small an impact on the environment as possible.
So they asked The Real Junk Food Project – a charity using grub that is out of date but still edible – to prepare the feast for 140 people.
Jaimes, 29, and his bride did not tell guests where the meal served up at East Keswick Village Hall, near Leeds, had come from but it went down a storm.
Among the dishes on offer were spinach and chickpea curry, chicken and bacon pies, and tortilla cups filled with Mexican salad. Dessert was a Greggs’ doughnut tower.
Carer Cherie, 36, said: “We did not tell our guests what they were eating until the speeches. We wanted the food to speak for itself.
“They were very surprised but also very impressed.
“The food was absolutely beautiful and really made our day. We could not have asked for anything better.”
Cherie and Jaimes, who have a fourmonth-old daughter Iona, did not know in advance what was on the menu.
The Real Junk Food Project collects leftovers from supermarkets, sandwich chains and fast food outlets.
Experts then turn it into meals from as little as £5-a-head.
All the food is still classed as fit for human consumption.
Spokesman Emma Buckle said the banquet saved 35 kilos of waste and 66.5kg of CO2 emissions – the same as six days’ worth of electricity for the average household.
The Star Says: Page 6