The vegan wedding feast was supposed to be a big surprise. The Twin Cities couple wanted their guests to enjoy the meal before being told it was all plant-based. They would do the big reveal at the end of the reception.

It didn’t turn out that way, and now the newlyweds and the mother of the bride have served the caterer with a lawsuit.

The suit filed in Ramsey County District Court said the bride, Siara Zee Elovich Williams, and her husband-to-be, Kevin Williams, wanted to surprise their wedding guests with a vegan meal at their May wedding reception at A’Bulae in St. Paul.

Instead, the caterer, Mintahoe, ruined the surprise and the meal was a disaster, according to the suit against the caterer, the event center and their parent company.

Servers let on to guests throughout the meal that they were eating vegan food, saying they couldn’t have creamer for their coffee or soy sauce because it wasn’t vegan and then asking guests which dish they liked best, according to the lawsuit.

To make matters worse, a guest was allowed to bring chicken fingers to the meal without the bridal couple’s approval.

“The food and service at the wedding was horrific,” the couple stated in their lawsuit.

The tofu that was supposed to be crispy was raw. The curry was “just a bowl of vegetables, which were missing bamboo shoots as instructed, and had an exorbitant amount of carrots.” As for the pad thai, the noodles were mush and broken into little pieces against explicit instructions, bean sprouts were few and the sauce was “sickeningly sweet.”

The peanuts on the table weren’t chopped as instructed. Seitan skewers lacked texture and taste. The late-night flatbread pizza was “simply nasty and inedible.”

The wedding day blues weren’t just limited to the food, according to the suit.

When the father of the bride asked for a glass of water, he was told to get up and get it at the bar. When the grandfather asked for his slice of wedding cake to be packed up so he could take it home, it was removed but never given back to him. The mother of the bride had her cake taken during her speech and others complained their slices were removed when they stepped away to use the restroom.

Leftover cake with gold chocolate leaves was supposed to go home with the bridal party. It didn’t, the suit said.

The pre-wedding suites were hot and stifling and “not even half of the beer” that was supposed to be served to the groom’s wedding party was served. A guest who has celiac disease was told the seitan skewer appetizer was gluten-free. It wasn’t, and she got sick.

The couple argue that working with the caterer was problematic from the beginning. As the meal was being planned, the food varied in flavor at each tasting event. The chef they worked with was replaced by another during the event. In the meantime, a dispute over costs arose.

The suit seeks $21,721.05 in damages for each of at least six alleged civil violations.

The caterer did not respond to requests for comment. The bride declined to comment, referring questions to her attorney. Her attorney didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788