'We ended up ordering pizza': Couples accuse Edmonton caterer of jilting them on wedding day

Local wedding caterer charged with fraud Couples say they were jilted on their wedding day by a caterer now facing criminal charges. CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha has more.

A couple's wedding day is something they'll remember forever, but for some recently married in Edmonton it's memorable for the wrong reasons.

Mark Davidson, who got married on Sept. 21 said he and his wife found a catering company run by a woman named Deidre Schlotter.

"Initial contact went fine, met up with her, signed a contract, everything seemed above board at the time," he said.

"We were just doing a kind of barbecue thing for the fall, hotdogs, hamburgers, some salads, nothing too crazy," he said

He said he paid a 50 per cent deposit of about $700, but then a month before the wedding said his calls and texts to her started going unanswered.

"(We) started looking at alternatives, but eventually she did call us back or reach back to us before I had booked other vendors," said Davidson.

He said the menu and times for dinner to be served was confirmed, but the day of the wedding – as dinner time neared – there was no sign of the caterer.

"She texted back, said she was having car trouble, she forgot her phone and that she would be another 45 minutes," he said.

Instead of enjoying time with his new bride, their family and friends, Davidson was trying to sort out how and when their 100 guests would be fed.

"I just ended up standing in the parking lot on the phone texting, calling, trying to find an alternative for about two hours," said Davidson.

"We ended up ordering pizza."

He said Schlotter showed up two hours after dinner was supposed to be served, with food that wasn't agreed upon and was cold.

"Everything was very sloppy looking, not what you'd expect from a professional caterer," he said.

Kristi Mingo also hired Schlotter for her big day to cater and provide bartending services.

"She just seemed really disorganized, but we’re nice people, we’re trying to give her the benefit of the doubt," she said.

Mingo said it wasn't until closer to her wedding day that the problems began.

"That’s when we were like, 'We might be rolling the dice here.' But we were already so many thousands in that we could not change to a different caterer," she said.

Mingo said the bartenders didn't arrive on time the day of her wedding claiming they had been in an accident.

She also said Schlotter wasn't there with the food at the agreed upon time - sending excuses instead.

"One of my new staff dropped a full roast on the floor. I refuse to serve food off the floor. We are going to be a bit late," said Schlotter, according to Mingo..

Like Davidson, Mingo said they had to improvise.

"The DJ was passing around a bag of cherries from the farmers market and one of my teacher friends, she was like, 'I just cleaned out my classroom, I have snacks in my car,'" Mingo recalled.

She said they eventually ordered pizza, adding Schlotter didn't arrive until hours later.

"She didn't apologize. She was just like 'Where is the catering setting up?' And (my husband) was like 'You're not, you're late, you ruined our day you can go'," said Mingo.

CTV News Edmonton called Schlotter on the phone to ask for her side of the story.

She said, "I just want to speak to my lawyer and I'll give you a call back," but hasn't yet.

Both Mingo and Davidson said they requested refunds after their weddings but neither got one.

"Now that we’ve been officially ghosted – just ‘cause it’s only been about a month-and-a-half since our wedding and we were trying to sort it out amicably – now we’re going to pursue the same sort of action that the other brides in the group are," Davidson said.

The Edmonton Police Service said Schlotter has been charged with seven counts of fraud under $5,000.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha