Overcrowding guests: Why & What to do?

Overcrowding guests: Why & What to do? 

This is resolved only by luck. Who knows? Before I state my story let me remind you three basic things on how to avoid this case. Especially for a wedding event. It should be very much prepared because the guests were expecting great presentation of meals knowing others would traveled miles away to attend the special event:

 1. Limit the invitations. Invitations can produced one family or 5 or more guests if you don’t declare how many seats are reserve for your guests. This is the primary source of attendees in your social event. The more the invitations: the more the guests will come. 

2. Have a draft of your guests attending. Grab a pen and paper and take time to sit down and notes all the possible names attending your event. All the guest whom you have given your invitations and all to whom you have sent your online save the date invitation 

3. Make time to print their names and attached in the invites and make it an exclusive occasion that has limited seating arrangement. Ex.g. “We have reserve Strictly 3 or 4 seats for you” 

One of the most memorable wedding reception wherein I was really shocked is a wedding reserved to our head marketing for 100pax. But as the coordinator in church called, she said that the headcount is 130++ so, as a food handler setting up in the venue, we have to make extra effort and adjustment to resolve and add supplies. I said on the introduction that this is solved by luck. Because luckily, our host / event specialist have a friend to contact party needs supplies near on the venue to deliver more table and chairs for extra 40guests in just 10-15minutes. And we, the food handlers rush up to buy our recipes and condiments on the market 300 meters away to cook more food for the guests that is not covered on the package. I even bought cooked grilled chicken to lessen our rush cooking time. 

Fortunately, the venue staff understands our situation and let our chef to set up our cooking equipment which we had on the truck as emergency tools on their pantry. When the guests arrived. We are wondering why there are more than a dozen of people who are still standing. We realised then that the 40 chairs is not enough! So we ordered again 20 more chairs to accommodate everyone. That’s a big UH-OH to me. And so even the staff or crew meal was serve and stretched out until the line in the buffet finished. All the staffs was left starving and we just bought our food in the nearest 7-11 store which left us all disappointed. 

I was a graduate of HRM and this is the most unforgettable experience in working as a food handler of Elite Memoirs. I hope this help a lot of people organising their occasion. Better read this journal and keep in mind all the time.

_______________EDWARD JANNO