Once while catering an RSVP wedding, one hundred additional people showed up for dinner. Most people may not realize how Chef's always know how many people are eating dinner in a banquet hall, but we have our ways. First, we count every plate that gets put out on a buffet table or at the table where the guests sit. Next, we count every chair. After the 300 or so chairs, and plates have all been used for seating and eating, we know everyone who is supposed to be at the dinner is there. Also, the tables we use can only support so many people, and we happen to know that number. Sometimes we even count forks, knives, and spoons.
While looking for additional service ware for the additional 100 people, I sent my hostess out for a physical head count. The look on her face as she returned to the kitchen suggested that we may have other problems in addition to the extra 100 people who showed up either uninvited or at the least without an RSVP. It seems the brides' family invited their half of the guest without informing anyone of the need to RSVP, and there was an expectation that even more people would show up.
In all my years of being a chef, I thought I had encountered every food situation imaginable, but then I remembered the words of my first chef mentor telling me "no two days are ever alike in the restaurant business." I also thought about what his advice might be in a situation like this. Maybe he would tell me something like "get out of the kitchen, smile, go walk around and talk to the guests, tell them who you are ...". If there ever was a time when I no longer wished to be "the chef", this was one such moment. As for table visits, and announcing I was in charge of this event, NO WAY! I had a well founded fear that something more may go wrong.
Since I happened to be catering two other weddings that same day, I had additional food that could be served at this wedding and only needed to find additonal seating, plateware, and glassware to accomodate extra people. When chef's determine the amount of food to use at such parties, the standard practice is to prepare for an additonal 10 to 20% more than the number of expected guests. So I just moved some food from the other two parties to this one to accomodate the extra people and had the cooks prepare more for the next events. Food problem solved, right?
What happended next is what made this wedding stand out moreso than any I have ever catered. During the confusion over the extra guests, the grooms parents took exception to the brides parents having invited more people than their fare share. Of course that's not how the brides parents saw it at all. The brides parents accused the grooms parents of having sent out all the RSVP invitations to only their guests, leaving out the brides guests. Since the bride's family was paying, they sent out their own guest invitations. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell the chef.
As the argument between the two families escalated into a full blown confrontation, the poor bride and groom retreated to the kitchen to be consoled by my staff. Unfortunately, the wedding dinner turned into Hatfield vs. McCoy and did not end well, but the marriage has continued to last to this day.
This is a true story, but the names of the wedding parties have been omitted to protect anonimity.
Brent Barbour
