What You Can Learn From the Experiences of a Wedding Caterer

I worked as Catering Manager for a golf course for many years. I had coordinated and orchestrated many weddings! Trust me - - even wedding professionals experience many obstacles, unusual requests, and unplanned situations, during a wedding reception. From tilting cakes, a request for a helicopter landing, and missing champagne glasses - - here are some of my own experiences that you, too, can learn something from!

You would think that if you had an inside wedding reception, with air conditioning, that your wedding cake would not melt. Right? Wrong! It was an unusually hot, summer afternoon. We set up the cake table in its usual location, in front of the window overlooking the gorgeous view of the golf course. The sun was shining bright, through the window, onto on the cake table. The bakery usually requests the responsibility to set up the cake and doesn't want anyone around it, except, of course, the florist. Well, on this day the bakery wanted to deliver the cake earlier than usual, because they had an unusual amount of cake deliveries. They told me that the cake should be fine setting on the table, because the room was cool enough. So, I wanted to be accommodating and agreed. Big mistake! The cake sat in the glaring sun for an hour before the reception. As the wedding party was being introduced into the room, I noticed that the cake was starting to melt and tilt. I had to think of a solution - - quick! I took the mother of the bride aside and recommended that we change the order of reception. Usually, I had the cutting of the cake at the end of the reception. In this case, I calmly suggested that we cut the cake as soon as the room settled. Before the guests realized that the cake was melting, we grabbed the photographer, groom, and bride and cut the wedding cake. The couple received their beautiful pictures of their wedding cake and the guests didn't have any idea what had just happened! Then, leaving the anniversary cake on the cake table, with fresh flowers circling it, I took the rest of the cake back to put into our walk-in refrigeration. It would keep there until it was time for it to be served. What do I want you to learn from my lesson? Brides and grooms: remain flexible and have a sense of humor on your wedding day! "Murphy's Law" is bound to happen! Make sure you interview your caterer and vendors before you hire them. You want professionals that know what they are doing - - especially if they could solve a situation before it becomes a disaster! Thankfully, the couple was very pleased with the reception! They thanked me for solving the problem, before it became a disaster!

I have had many unusual requests during my career. However, this one takes the cake! I had a request from the mother of the bride to have a helicopter land on the golf course. It was a gift and a surprise from the mother to the bride and groom. The mother wanted a unique way to whisk them off into the sunset. Obviously, it was very difficult planning a helicopter to land on a busy golf course. I ran into many obstacles, during the course of planning this event! At first, the general manager was against the idea, for obvious reasons. I scheduled a meeting with the fire chief, fire marshal, pilot, and general manager. The golf course had a concrete pad underneath the banquet rooms, where we parked golf carts, during the hours of operation. The banquet facility had stairs or access to this area. The concrete was a perfect place to land the helicopter. Then, I had to get the couple and mother to agree on changing the reception time, when the cart room was closed. Thankfully, they agreed! Next, I had to arrange for the fire ranger to be there when it landed. Finally, we had to keep this a secret from the couple. The mother and I had many late night meetings discussing these arrangements! On the day, the "surprise" landed without a problem! This event ended up being my most memorable moment of my career! I learned, with perseverance, that all small and large unusual requests could happen as long as you had the right people involved!

My next experience, I learned at the beginning of my career! I learned that communication between all your vendors is inessential! It was an afternoon, summer wedding reception and the order of the reception was changed the night before. The bride wanted the champagne toast to come at the end at, after cutting of their cake. She forgot to tell the DJ! The DJ announced the champagne toast was about to be served, at the beginning of the reception, and we didn't have the champagne ready to be served! So, we immediately poured champagne in glasses and served it to 200 people quickly! I, from then on, had a meeting with the photographer and DJ before the reception to make sure that we were all on the same page! Couples, make sure you communicate all your schedule changes with all your vendors, even if you don't think it pertains to them. Because in many cases it does!

Wedding professionals experience unplanned events, obstacles, and unusual requests all the time! From these experiences, I have learned a lot and these events have made me a better wedding professional. Hopefully, you have learned from my experiences! If anything, please hire the right professionals. Most of the time, if you hire the right team, you're wedding will appear "perfect", even if there are a few unseen glitches!