Weddings Ideas to manage the Buffet Line?

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Many people do care about appearance, and it's important to discover and recognize the clientele you're working with.

Taso, if a client asks for me to so this, I have no idea what area the guests are from or what perspective they have. I only know what my client wanted.
 
Unlike you boorish Americans who need to be released a table at a time so you don't act like the Black Friday mob at Macy's....
Take off, eh!

Unlike Canadians, us Americans have more than 2 friends each so an orderly plan allows for the hundreds of our cherished loved ones to enjoy the delicious variety of our renowned, international food culture as opposed to everyone receiving a plate of poutine! :p :p

...we polite Canadians don't need individual table release because no one wants to be the first pig in line at the trough!:p
No shit, who'd rush to get a serving of "Canadian cuisine."

Great beer, crap cuisine...sounds like a Jon Taffer line.

Your turn, hosehead...Good day! LOL
 
Taso, if a client asks for me to so this, I have no idea what area the guests are from or what perspective they have. I only know what my client wanted.

I straight up ask them during my walkthrough.

"Tell me about your families"
--This gives me an idea of any "behind closed doors" battles that may be going on and clues me into anyone who may try to order me around and take over the show that I probably shouldn't listen to. This also helps me gauge any sensitivities to watch out for and work through - death, divorce, step parents, mismatched last names etc.

"Do you have a lot of people coming in from far away"
--While this doesn't tell me much, it gives me a little information to help frame a few things. Not only might these people come up to me and question the way I am doing something (for example on the coasts dance sets begin during dinner which is rare in the Midwest); but it also helps me be sensitive to those who may want some extra time to talk to the bride and groom, perhaps they have an early flight out the next day and I should get their requests out early etc. Again, this question doesn't do much, but it is just more information I can use as I plan. In a few weeks, I will be performing at a large wedding where the couple has relatives flying in from Italy. Having this information helped us plan a special blessing in Italian and incorporate some music from the home country. I wouldn't know if I didn't ask.

"Now, let's talk about your guests"
--Get as much demographic info as possible without sounding discriminatory or creepy. Let's face it, the average age, gender and ethnicity of your audience can affect your play style. Knowledge is power here. You can also broach this from a musical perspective "what did you listen to growing up?", "what kinds of music do your friends like" etc. These types of questions allow you to personalize your performance for the couple and their guests as well as make sure things are appropriate for your audience as a whole.

"Ok, let's manage a few expectations"
--After I've done my fact finding this is where I try to sell the couple on playing to everyone (with an emphasis on the older and younger crows who might leave early) out of the gate and then saving their "Must Plays" of "Marilyn Manson" and "Coolio" for the end of the night in what I call an "Anything goes all request hour" when the crowd in my experience might be whittled down to a handful of drunken friends and family.

Of course this is not the norm and not one size or form fits all, but the theme is knowledge is power - hopefully you get the idea. Questions like these might also help you assess if doing something like trivia etc. would be warranted, and if so, what might appeal to the masses.
 
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Take off, eh!

Unlike Canadians, us Americans have more than 2 friends each so an orderly plan allows for the hundreds of our cherished loved ones to enjoy the delicious variety of our renowned, international food culture as opposed to everyone receiving a plate of poutine! :p:p


No shit, who'd rush to get a serving of "Canadian cuisine."

Great beer, crap cuisine...sounds like a Jon Taffer line.

Your turn, hosehead...Good day! LOL
Hey .. I love poutine ! :)
 
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Taso, if a client asks for me to so this, I have no idea what area the guests are from or what perspective they have. I only know what my client wanted.
I think it's important to be proactive and, as I said, "discover" what your client is truly looking for. Keep in mind, in NJ/NY/PA we typically have sit down dinners 90% of the time. However, on the occasions where a buffet is the dinner option, I get plenty of times from clients saying "for dinner can you announce the tables" and rather than saying yes and leaving it at that, I say I could, but let me ask a few questions to see if there is a better way to handle the flow of dinner. I then do a process of figuring out how many guests, is it stations or just one line of food, is there a mater di and banquet staff, or is it just one guy in the back setting up the food and that's it. This tells me what options I have, and then present them for the client to do what they think fits their event profile best. As a result, I rarely actually call up the tables or numbers, and usually say a staff member will come table by table to invite you up. This is my clients choice (who tell the caterer ahead of time), not my choice, but rather give the info for the client to make an informed decision on how they want their event to flow and appear.
 
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close hand magic!
I have a friend who does magic for a living, and I always wanted him to teach me some tricks for dinner.


As for ME releasing the tables....I will avoid it like the plague.
I don't care HOW you do it, how fair your system is, how funny you are about it, or how well you dress it up...
the tables that are called last will ALWAYS be mad.
I always ask the caterer or the banquet staff to do it.
For some reason, nobody gets mad at THEM!
If it ends up that I do have to be the bearer of bad news...
I'd rather walk up to each table and invite them, rather than announcing it over the PA.
 
I don't care HOW you do it, how fair your system is, how funny you are about it, or how well you dress it up...
You should care just a teeny little?? Very few out of the ordinary circumstances present themselves to rise above the "biz as usual" reception. AS for the last table being mad, never happens unless you're called in the numerical order and that angry table happens to be # 1,321. LOL.
 
You should care just a teeny little?? Very few out of the ordinary circumstances present themselves to rise above the "biz as usual" reception. AS for the last table being mad, never happens unless you're called in the numerical order and that angry table happens to be # 1,321. LOL.

Oh I do care.
My comments were NOT from MY point of view...
it was from the point of view of the people who have to wait the longest.

And perhaps "mad" was not the perfect word to use.
The last table called is always "disappointed".

Also, I never call tables in numerical order...
and I usually try to make the bets of it, with a joke...
"somebody has to be the last table"... or ....
"for the right price, I can bump your table up on the list..."
 
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Ahhh, so you ARE entertaining. Whew. Pardon me for that fleeting second where it was thought you were a bump on a log. Oh silly me.
 
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As for ME releasing the tables....I will avoid it like the plague.
I don't care HOW you do it, how fair your system is, how funny you are about it, or how well you dress it up...
the tables that are called last will ALWAYS be mad.
I always ask the caterer or the banquet staff to do it.
For some reason, nobody gets mad at THEM!
If it ends up that I do have to be the bearer of bad news...
I'd rather walk up to each table and invite them, rather than announcing it over the PA.

Interestingly, I had a wedding last Saturday and it's been 100°+ here in CA, and the food was a taco buffet out in the courtyard. So I managed the tables being released (no singing), and no one complained about sitting inside instead of standing in line. I think they appreciated it, even if they weren't the first few tables called.
 
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ok, you are pretty close to me (Woodland Hills). What's your website? I am always looking to network and help the community out when needed (exta hands, more sound, etc.). I am sure we could benefit off each other.
 
Have you been to Monterey before, Mike? If no, you MUST put the Aquarium on your must do itinerary. It is arguably the most engaging aquarium in the US.
 
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Have you been to Monterey before, Mike? If no, you MUST put the Aquarium on your must do itinerary. It is arguably the most engaging aquarium in the US.

Yes!
From the first trip we made to Cali to visit Shayna (our daughter)...
the aquarium was a MUST SEE.
My wife has an obsession with sea otters.
And honestly, I am understating that fact.
She's been to the aquarium every trip since...and it's on the agenda for our trip in September!
In fact, we briefly joked about moving out to the West Coast...
and of course, her idea was to get a job there!

Me?
I was happy as long as we went to Universal Studios.