Restaurants save the day after wedding caterer no-show

Image source, Unveil by Hollie Image caption, Matt and Kate Dean had to hastily source catering after the firm they had booked let them down By Angela Ferguson North West Published 23 July 2026 A couple have praised staff at three restaurants that stepped in to save the day when they were let down by wedding caterers at the last minute. Kate and Matt Dean from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, were preparing to celebrate their wedding with family and friends at a venue in Ormskirk when the caterers failed to turn up and they were unable to get in touch with them. With guests starting to arrive, Kate said they decided to ask two local restaurants if they could help. Kate said she first approached restaurant staff at Piri Piri Grill, saying: "Hi! I don't suppose you can cook for 100 people?" and "he just went, 'oh, when?'... and I went, 'now'". The couple, who have four children aged two to 12 between them, were married at Ormskirk Register Office on 13 July. They decided to organise a special celebration for family and friends at Lost and Found Ormskirk on Sunday and were looking forward to the food arriving. They arrived at the venue two hours ahead of time to get it ready but when time was ticking on - with no sign of the caterers - their concern grew. They tried to call and message the business but there was no response and despite initially feeling upset - including crying in the bathroom at one point - Kate quickly hatched a back-up plan. "I'm quite a laid back person anyway, so I was in fire-fighting mode, like we have got all these people coming and no food, 'what are we going to do?'," she said. Kate said when guests started arriving she thought about local venues she liked. "I just turned to Matt's family and said, 'if I can sort this, is everybody OK?'" Image source, Unveil by Hollie Image caption, Kate was captured smiling with relief here with her best friend Jade Foley, right, when she saw a "tower of pizza boxes" coming through the door The 32-year-old nail technician said they had been planning their wedding since September, after postman Matt, 36, proposed in 2022. She said the couple approached the teams at Piri Piri Grill and also at Scoozi Pizza and Pasta in Ormskirk and were hugely relieved when they agreed to help out. Despite both restaurants being busy with the World Cup final on that day, they insisted on closing to the public and devoting themselves to helping out the newlyweds, she added. Kate said it was great to see "towers of pizza boxes" which were "taller than Matt and he is 5ft 9ins (1.8m)". Meanwhile, staff at the Lost and Found venue in Ormskirk were "more than accommodating" and "so helpful" in working to ensure the change of plan ran smoothly, she said. Kate said the restaurant staff "were so amazing" and came back later on to check that everything was fine. She said that despite having "ended up crying in the bathroom" at one point, they could see the funny side to what happened as they looked back on the photos. "It e