Tonight I finally saw and felt what happens when there are more people coming to the event than planned, And let me tell ya, it was no picnic!
Our event manager told us during the briefing that it’s going to be a quick event, about 100 people, they’re going to have reception, lectures for about 2 hrs - it was a convention – dinner and that’s it. No big deal after the last shift with the 7 full tables.
Anyhow, right after the reception she comes and let all the crew know that there are 150 people! the catering took care in advance to have enough food and places for 100 people+20%, but now more people came – I’ve no idea why, the lectures were long and boring to my opinion, guess they came for the food…
So now the kitchen crew rushed to make extra food, the waiters polished wine glasses, and we all waited for the lectures to finish because we couldn’t start arranging extra tables until they’re done. once they did – the men carried out the bar tables and chairs, the ladies carried out the forks and knives and glass wines and in less than five minutes 8 tables were all set and ready.
The main problem was the line on the buffet. Since we all knew at the beginning that only 100 people would come, we had 3 main course buffet stands and 2 of dessert – which is just fine, during my classes our teacher always said it it important to maintain one buffet stand for every 40 people, so the line wouldn’t be so long. But as we already know, we had 30 people extra. and they all waited on the line to the buffet. some left without eating – not because they weren’t hungry, but because they didn’t have the Patience to wait for so long for food.
If you ask me, I think it’s the event producer’s fault. s/he should have make sure at least a day in advance with the client how many people are coming, and have the client know that after giving the final number they can’t add more guests beyond that. The extra day could have given the Catering to bring more people to work, plan more buffet stands, etc etc, it could have saved us all alot of tension.
To sum it all up, here’s another lesson for my future career - Last minute changes are possible only 24 hrs in advance!!
Well, the good thing about it all is that it did finish early and I got home at 1am instead of regular 2-2:30. 
Filed under: New beginning - de'Plus Kitchen | Tagged: 150 people, for the food, lesson, no picnic!
