Adoring Christmas

I will not be telling a crazy story in this post. I want to take about the magic of Christmas and how working at the banquet hall really brings out the Christmas spirit in the staff.

After Thanksgiving, the entire hall and lobby is decorated for Christmas. The walls are adorned with wreaths and holly and there are several trees and other decorations throughout the hall. Everything is so sparkly and it just gives off a happy atmosphere.

December brings about the holiday party season and almost all the napkins for the week are red and green. By the time January rolls around, one may be sick of those colors, but they always give off a sense of happiness that Christmas is all about.

The Christmas parties themselves are always a happy time. Everyone is always so nice and in a great mood. Christmas music plays in the background and a smile never leaves my face.

Christmas is probably the best time at the banquet hall. It IS during the season of giving and happiness.

Balloon Shots

Repetitive noises that sounded like gun shots rang through the banquet hall tonight.

There was a party (from my high school Alma Mater no less), and there were purple and white balloons. The people in charge gave the staff some since they really didn't want then anymore.

Well, we took them back into the kitchen to cut the strings....not before letting go of them without thinking.

POP! POP! POP! POP!



The Giant fan above a door in the kitchen caught the balloons, popped them all, and made the loudest noises ever that made the entire kitchen stop in its tracks. It sounded like gun shots.

And the first thing out of my boss' mouth...."who fell????"

Off-premise rules

Whenever I check my schedule and see that I am work an off-premise party, I immediately get happy.

I always prefer working off-premise parties to in-house parties, because there is not as much pressure during my shift. Off-premise parties are parties that we cater.

I worked a Surprise 80th birthday party with one another waitress at a fire hall, and the night could not have done smoother. Since we didn't have the entire staff and management breathing down our necks, there was no stress and days like that are amazing to have.

The people were all super nice and treated us with respect. I love nights like that. Normally you don't have to worry about drunk people spilling their drinks or everyone on staff running you mad because its so chaotic in the kitchen.

Off-premise are always so relaxing and I'll take them over working a crazy wedding any day.

Awkward Argument

I went into work the other day to get my paycheck, and I walked in on the most awkward argument between my bosses.

They were arguing over when they were going to have time to decorate the lobby and different rooms for the holidays. I was just watching them like a tennis match when all I wanted was to pick up my pay for the week. It took like ten minutes for that to happen.

If they were that concerned with time, why not set them up while you're arguing? Some things just do not make sense to me.

Wedding Headache

Having three parties going on at once on a Saturday night is just a recipe for disaster.

I worked a wedding for 200 people. I've worked bigger parties with less staff then we had, so I figured it would be an easy night.

After all the tables were set and guests were lining up out in the lobby, we realized some of the tables had the wrong chair counts. This created absolute chaos.

My boss was freaking out asking everyone on staff how this could have happened, and started playing the blame game with the employees, causing some to end up in the bathroom with tears in their eyes.

In all honesty, no one knows who messed up the tables. Myself and two other waitresses put table clothes on all the tables and might have accidentally switched some table numbers while we were doing it. Another waitress counted the seats and might have miscounted. Either way, it shouldn't have mattered whose fault it was. Once we realized there was a mistake, we should have just accepted it and fixed it right away. But with the blame game going around, everything took longer than it should have.

We ended up setting some tables while the guests started filtering in. They bombarded the appetizer table, and with our staff preoccupied with the missing place settings, no one realized just how low the table was getting....until my boss brought it to our attention.

"WE NEED MEATBALLS, CHEESE, CRACKERS, PLATES, AND NAPKINS NOW!"

My boss has very good intentions and she really works hard to run the business, but sometimes I think she doesn't realize the stress the can mount on the employees. So in the middle of doing something she mad eall the staff for the wedding work on, she made me leave in the middle of it to go to something else. I am only one person, you know.

Some I was the one who ran back to the kitchen to try and replenish the appetizer table. I grabbed some more crackers and napkins. We currently didn't have any more small plates because two other parties were going on, so I had to ask the dish room to wash them and get them to me as soon as possible. There was no more pre-cut cheese for the table, so I had to ask one of the cooks to cut some more for me.

All of this maybe took five minutes, but my boss wanted it immediately and refused anything else and started stressing and putting stress of myself in return.

The chaos continued into the next hour and no one knew it was time to serve soup except me and the head waitress. Everyone was lost and confused and no one wanted to be there.

After soup and salad was served, the evening started to go smoothly, thank goodness.

You can never tell if weddings are going to go smoothly or not. This one was complete chaos that could have been avoided if added stress that was unnecessary just stayed away.

Fallen Brother

On November 11, 2009, John Eyrolles was taken from the earth due to a fatal car crash.

We worked together for several months a few years back at the banquet hall. I also knew him well from high school. I will never forget him. He had an amazing sense of humor and always found ways to make you laugh.

Many of the younger employees at the banquet hall might not remember him, but several still do. He was an excellent coworker and an even better friend.

I was numb when I found out the news and my deepest thoughts and prayers go out to him and his entire family as well as the other victims in the crash.

All 3 victims were students at Edinboro University. John was a just a freshman. Read more about this fatal crash here.

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Stalker of the Night

It was a small wedding tonight- only 93 people. So it was a fairly easy night and dinner service went smoothly. I was all smiles and laughing up a storm, until my nightmare came.

One of the groomsmen hit on me after we were done serving cake. Getting hit on happens occasionally so it doesn't really bother me. I politely told him that I was flattered, but I had a boyfriend and wasn't interested. First off, I barely hit 5' 1'', and this guy was close to 6' 3''. So during this whole initial conversation I am basically starring straight up. Second, I am polite, but it really bugs me when people flirt with me. Maybe because I have a boyfriend, but I still think its creepy. Regardless, he seemed to understand, but I was sure wrong.

I caught him staring at me at several points during the rest of the night, while also gesturing to his buddies about me. I was freaked, but just decided to ignore it. Well, it must have seen that I was ignoring him so he took matters into his own hands.

He came back to the kitchen ( through the doors that say "Employees Only by the way) and was asking the staff where I was and that he wanted to see me. I saw him in there and froze. So another waitress pretended to be my mom for the night and effectively showed him the door

I was beyond freaked out at this point. I refused to leave the kitchen without another waitress attached to my hip.

Eventually I think he got the hint. FINALLY!!! He left the party without attempting to get my phone number so I was relieved. This was a first for me. But it gave way for lots of laughs afterwards.

But seriously. To all the guys out there. Please take a hint if you are ever in this situation.

Uniform Fittings

I would like to talk about our uniforms. We basically look like penguins with waitress trays.

Black pants...white tuxedo shirt...and black bow tie??? While yes I agree that it is professional, I don't think the uniform works year round.

In the winter its fine, but during the summer its a different story. We tuxedo shirts we have do not breathe at all. The past two summers that I have worked there, there have been days where it will reach over 100 degrees in the kitchen (the fan decides to break in the middle of August). Some people have almost passed out from the heat and running around a shift.


Would a short sleeve shirt be such a horrible idea for the summer? Even a longer sleeved shirt that was lighter would be adequate. It would allow for more comfort for the workers and would stop the unsightly sweat stains that can be seen by the party guests (ew!)

Oh, and one last thing. Shirts that actually didn't stain as easily would be lovely :)
Suggest uniform tips to your boss here!!

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Free Falling

The wonderful chandeliers that hang from the ceilings in the banquet hall usually are the first thing to capture a guest's eye. What happens when one falls.....?

The chandeliers in all three rooms are very exquisite, but also decently old, but you'd never guess that by looking at them. Obviously like anything else, they need cleaned and polished on a weekly basis so that they shimmer during evening parties.

The maintenance guy climbed the 12-foot ladder to polish one and to also change a light bulb. He had to reach across the chandelier and just accidentally yanked it every so slightly. Well, that slight yank caused the whole thing to CRASH to the ground.

I was not there this day, but word travels fast with my co-workers. Apparently it was if the world had stopped. I know if that was me, I would run out crying.

The dismantled chandelier was left in a box in the back of the kitchen and it remained there for several months. It took away for my boss to decide what to do with the room, since only one chandelier hung and the make of it wasn't offered anymore. So after some planning and shopping, the room looked good as new.

A few weeks after this event, one of the bus boys was asked to change a light bulb in one of the chandeliers in the biggest banquet room. We all just stared at the bus boy and messed with him saying "don't break another one!" This time, all was well :)