What's the first thing to catch your attention when you walk into a room where a wedding reception is held? Is it the color scheme or flowers or the wedding cake? The answer could vary from person to person. But for me...its the centerpieces on the tables. I think they bring a true essence of the wedding all together. I have seen some seriously interesting ones, as well as some that I would even consider using for my own wedding some day. One night however, the center pieces brought disaster rather than beauty to the dining tables.
For this wedding, the couple decided to use these skinny, 3 foot vases. They were filled up less than half way with marbles, 3/4 filled with water and had a stand on top that held a basket of flowers. Just by reading that, anyone can tell that the weight was not evenly dispersed and something was bound to happen. Our staff noticed it and didn't like how wobbly they were, so we just crossed our fingers and hope for a disaster-free night. We didn't get it.
Less than an hour into the reception, 2 vases had cracked due to the weight on them and exploded on the tables and the guests sitting at them. One broke during the toasts and speeches, so myself and the rest of the staff had to quietly clear and redo the tables while the best man was speaking. Talk about embarrassing even though it wasn't our fault that they broke.
No more vases broke that evening, but it was a night spent in constant fear that no more would fall and ruin someone elses night.
Tip for people planning a wedding: keep the centerpieces simple, yet elegant. Do not to something so over the top that your guests are paying more attention to the disaster is caused rather than the best man speeches about the newlyweds. Check out this website for more ideas and tips!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Hillbilly Wedding Guests
If you had a wedding, would you or would you not expect people to dress up and look nice? Isn't that just a societal rule- women wear dresses or a nice outfit and men wear suits? Apparently some people at a recent wedding I worked did not get the classy memo.
This one guy walks up to the bar in the most hillbilly fashion...wearing torn up jeans and a beater. A BEATER! Who does that? Obviously this classless person who did not bother to look in the mirror after he finished his household chores.
The girl he was with was no better. She was all decked out in a really short blue jean skirt and low cut tank top that could have been a little bigger. What would be the perfect accessory to this outfit. A cowboy hat obviously!
I have never been more disgusted in my life. If those people showed up at my wedding, I would have a fit. I did overhear the groom discuss his utter disgust for them too, which made me smile and laugh. I wonder if they knew people thought they were the most classless people ever.
This one guy walks up to the bar in the most hillbilly fashion...wearing torn up jeans and a beater. A BEATER! Who does that? Obviously this classless person who did not bother to look in the mirror after he finished his household chores.
The girl he was with was no better. She was all decked out in a really short blue jean skirt and low cut tank top that could have been a little bigger. What would be the perfect accessory to this outfit. A cowboy hat obviously!
I have never been more disgusted in my life. If those people showed up at my wedding, I would have a fit. I did overhear the groom discuss his utter disgust for them too, which made me smile and laugh. I wonder if they knew people thought they were the most classless people ever.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sit Down Complaints
Something that irks me about my job- sit down dinners. They NEVER ever go smoothly. They just don't. I can't tell you exactly why, but ask the majority of the staff and they will tell you the same thing.
There are a few things that have happened in my two and a half years experience at this place. One thing is confusing place cards and color codes. For sit-downs, name cards have to have some type of color code to signify to the waitstaff what they ordered. Sometimes the colors make sense such as red for beef and yellow for chicken. But more often that not, you will see purple meaning chicken and orange meaning fish. It bugs the staff to no end and makes us keep asking why we just do not supply the color codes ourselves to keep the confusion to a minimum. But does that happen? Nooooo.
Another things that bugs me is when people try to convince the servers that they ordered something different that what their card says. THEN these people freak out on our staff when we tell them that we have to give them what is on their card, or that they have to wait until everyone is served and we will see if there is anything left over. People just do not seem to grasp the fact that these dinners are all made in correspondence to a list given to the staff by the people in charge of the parties. Normally, the cooks make just the correct number of dinners needed and no more and it bugs me that people cannot grasp that.
There have been smooth sit-down dinners, but more than likely there will be at least one instance of confusion during the night. Either way, it always calls for an interesting night. :)
There are a few things that have happened in my two and a half years experience at this place. One thing is confusing place cards and color codes. For sit-downs, name cards have to have some type of color code to signify to the waitstaff what they ordered. Sometimes the colors make sense such as red for beef and yellow for chicken. But more often that not, you will see purple meaning chicken and orange meaning fish. It bugs the staff to no end and makes us keep asking why we just do not supply the color codes ourselves to keep the confusion to a minimum. But does that happen? Nooooo.
Another things that bugs me is when people try to convince the servers that they ordered something different that what their card says. THEN these people freak out on our staff when we tell them that we have to give them what is on their card, or that they have to wait until everyone is served and we will see if there is anything left over. People just do not seem to grasp the fact that these dinners are all made in correspondence to a list given to the staff by the people in charge of the parties. Normally, the cooks make just the correct number of dinners needed and no more and it bugs me that people cannot grasp that.
There have been smooth sit-down dinners, but more than likely there will be at least one instance of confusion during the night. Either way, it always calls for an interesting night. :)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Atop the Bride's father
So, for once a wedding seemed to be going as planned. Nothing was going wrong and the staff we had that night got along great so everything was getting done.
It came time for the bridal party to be introduced. The DJ was pumping his music and the pulsating beats echoed throughout the entire room.
One by one the members of the bridal party were announced. The bridal party enters under a white archway. Normally, the archway is steady....tonight it was not.
Right as the parents of the bride walked through the archway...it fell...and hit the bride's father in the head.
Our entire staff's mouths dropped instantaneously and we all rushed over. We successfully propped it back up and luckily, the bride's father was a good sport and made jokes about it the whole night.
So the lesson learned....flimsy archways are not the way to go. :)
It came time for the bridal party to be introduced. The DJ was pumping his music and the pulsating beats echoed throughout the entire room.
One by one the members of the bridal party were announced. The bridal party enters under a white archway. Normally, the archway is steady....tonight it was not.
Right as the parents of the bride walked through the archway...it fell...and hit the bride's father in the head.
Our entire staff's mouths dropped instantaneously and we all rushed over. We successfully propped it back up and luckily, the bride's father was a good sport and made jokes about it the whole night.
So the lesson learned....flimsy archways are not the way to go. :)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
the wedding pimp
While working weddings, you see the best and worst of everything. Regardless, you always meet interesting people along the way.
There was a guest who was definitely a pimp. He was decked out from head and toe in purple and even had the hat and cane. He probably had a ring, with some serious bling-bling, on every finger. He provided many laughs for the waitstaff during the night, but the best came after dinner service.
He was hanging out at the bar while everyone was dancing and celebrating the night away. He started making small talk with the wedding director, who coordinates with the wedding party and announces dinner and such.
Well, this small talk seemed to get a tad cozier as the minutes rolled on. Passing the two while clearing some tables, I began to see the uncomfortable expression upon the director's face just continue to grow and grow. Obviously, the pimp wanted to get cozy with the director...in a way the director was not comfortable with.
The pimp turned out to be less than straight, to the directors dismay, and when the pimp tried to put his arm around him, he yelled "Boy, you try that and I'll rip your arm off!" I, along with some of my co-workers, got to witness this event and laughed uncontrollably about it back in the kitchen.
Needless to say, the rest of the night was packed with jokes about this situation. To clarify, this is NOT a shot towards anyone's sexuality. I have full respect for everyone, but this certain event needed to be retold to an audience. :-)
There was a guest who was definitely a pimp. He was decked out from head and toe in purple and even had the hat and cane. He probably had a ring, with some serious bling-bling, on every finger. He provided many laughs for the waitstaff during the night, but the best came after dinner service.
He was hanging out at the bar while everyone was dancing and celebrating the night away. He started making small talk with the wedding director, who coordinates with the wedding party and announces dinner and such.
Well, this small talk seemed to get a tad cozier as the minutes rolled on. Passing the two while clearing some tables, I began to see the uncomfortable expression upon the director's face just continue to grow and grow. Obviously, the pimp wanted to get cozy with the director...in a way the director was not comfortable with.
The pimp turned out to be less than straight, to the directors dismay, and when the pimp tried to put his arm around him, he yelled "Boy, you try that and I'll rip your arm off!" I, along with some of my co-workers, got to witness this event and laughed uncontrollably about it back in the kitchen.
Needless to say, the rest of the night was packed with jokes about this situation. To clarify, this is NOT a shot towards anyone's sexuality. I have full respect for everyone, but this certain event needed to be retold to an audience. :-)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Loading dock mayhem
The employee entrance is located on the side of the building. The loading dock happens to lead to the door that I enter every weekend for my 10 or so hour shifts.
The loading dock is a rickety wooden thing that probably has not been redone in over 10 years. If there is ever an off premise party, the loading dock is used to, obviously, load the food and supplies for the parties into vans and trucks. Simple process right? Walk through the kitchen door to the outside world (this place refuses to have windows so it is a wonderful sight to see the outside world) However, this old dock was bound to cause problems at some point.
Some waitresses were loading supplies, salads, and other such food into the van one afternoon. All of them probably walked through the door, onto the dock, and into the van about 5 times. Well...the dock must have decided that it hated being walked on....and collapsed under a waitress.
A board split under her feet and she feel straight through the dock. Yes, the dock is only a few feet off the ground, but you think the worst when you see someone fall like that.
Everyone who witnessed this, immediately ran to her with concerned faces. When we get to her side, she is laughing hysterically saying, "This would only happen here!"
So we wasn't hurt at all. And the management at work replaced the hole by placing a skinny table over it, which makes no sense to me. That replacement is just as wobbly as the dock itself. Would it really take a lot of effort to redo a board or two?
Anyway that is my first story from the banquet hall. I decided it would be fun to open up with an employee anecdote. We love our job :)
The loading dock is a rickety wooden thing that probably has not been redone in over 10 years. If there is ever an off premise party, the loading dock is used to, obviously, load the food and supplies for the parties into vans and trucks. Simple process right? Walk through the kitchen door to the outside world (this place refuses to have windows so it is a wonderful sight to see the outside world) However, this old dock was bound to cause problems at some point.
Some waitresses were loading supplies, salads, and other such food into the van one afternoon. All of them probably walked through the door, onto the dock, and into the van about 5 times. Well...the dock must have decided that it hated being walked on....and collapsed under a waitress.
A board split under her feet and she feel straight through the dock. Yes, the dock is only a few feet off the ground, but you think the worst when you see someone fall like that.
Everyone who witnessed this, immediately ran to her with concerned faces. When we get to her side, she is laughing hysterically saying, "This would only happen here!"
So we wasn't hurt at all. And the management at work replaced the hole by placing a skinny table over it, which makes no sense to me. That replacement is just as wobbly as the dock itself. Would it really take a lot of effort to redo a board or two?
Anyway that is my first story from the banquet hall. I decided it would be fun to open up with an employee anecdote. We love our job :)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Ashley Jasin and I am 19 years old. I attend Point Park University and I am a journalism major with a advertising and public relations minor.
This blog will be the outrageous things that I encounter at my job. I work at Salvatore's Banquet Hall in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. I have worked there for about 2 and a half years. If you have ever worked in resturaunt or food service, you will be able to relate to these stories. I will continually update this blog about what goes on during my shifts.
This blog will be the outrageous things that I encounter at my job. I work at Salvatore's Banquet Hall in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. I have worked there for about 2 and a half years. If you have ever worked in resturaunt or food service, you will be able to relate to these stories. I will continually update this blog about what goes on during my shifts.
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