Yesterday, our happy little troupe convoyed to the wedding reception site to set up for our first catering effort--a wedding reception for 100 followed by a post-reception party at the groom's father's house.
First we all met at Monica and Mark's house--Monica's parents (Ann and Larry), her sister-in-law, Julie, Mark and me. We loaded up my pickup with coolers, and Mark and Monica's rented U-haul truck with coolers, grill, margarita machine and chocolate fountains. More went into Ann and Larry's and Julie's cars.
We got to the site, and after negotiating parking, we started by fetching and setting up tables, cleaning them off and covering them with linens. Mark's cousin Jennie and her husband Steve joined us on site and pitched in as well. Then we carted out all the coolers and set up empty bowls and decorated the tables.
After that, the food preparation got serious. Timing is everything. We didn't want to make mayonnaise-based sandwiches (chicken salad and shrimp salad) too early and risk the rolls getting sorry. Likewise, didn't want to toss the salad too early and have it get soggy. We started by preparing the Cuban sandwiches, and decorating the salad bowls and filling them with chicken, shrimp and curry salad, then covering them with plastic wrap and returning them to the coolers. Then we assembled tenderloin and carmelized onion sandwiches on rolls and fit them in the refrigerator. We laid out the vegetable table minus the dips, and the less sensitive of the fruit. Got a white chocolate fountain going, but it's motor died before the reception started, so the dark chocolate fountain got to do all the heavy lifting. Fortunately, no one noticed.
Then we prepared the more perishable stuff. Croissants got filled with chicken salad and shrimp salad. Bowls of the same salads were put on the salad table. The salmon ball was displayed. Mandarin orange salad was tossed and put out, as was pasta salad. Vegetable and fruit dips were put on display.
The wedding was delayed a bit, so we tried to keep things that needed to stay cold in the coolers or the refrigerator until after the ceremony had started.
After the ceremony, the reception started, and we kept busy restocking the food as it was eaten, picking up plates and assisting the diners. It kept us very busy.
Unfortunately, they had booked two weddings for the same day, and the next caterers were set to take over the space at 4 PM. So we rushed around picking stuff up, repackaging leftovers and cleaning dishes, and reloading the van and truck. Sadly, a lot of food went to waste. Some you couldn't keep (mayonnaise-based salads, delicate fruit, sandwiches that would get soggy). More than we had time repack and try to keep. Some of it went on to the post-reception party. The rest wouldn't keep until we did the next party and got home.
(I found this waste very disturbing. We prepared food for 100+ people--I guess you have to have enough of everything for a hungry crowd, and fewer showed up. In addition, having to turn things around so quickly because of the second wedding meant we didn't really have time to salvage all that could be saved, or to take it to a food bank or somewhere where it could be put to use. I wonder if people with regular catering business find a useful outlet for uneaten food...)
Jennie and Steve had to leave us at that point, so Julie and I trailed behind Mark and Monica to the post-reception party. This was at a beach house, and we set the bar up downstairs, and the food upstairs. So we hauled food and chafing dishes, decorations and chocolate fountain up the stairs. Grill to the garage, margarita machine to the bar. The bar was pretty comprehensive, but the Rolling Rita machine was the hit of the evening, so my stint as bartender was analagous to being the lonely Maytag repair man. Yeah, I had a margarita. It was goooood.
Mark made chicken and tenderloin fajitas, there were chips and homemade salsa and guacamole, queso and multi-layered dip. The drinks were flowing and the food being chowed down in short order.
I left before 8 PM, taking some empty coolers with me. I had told my friends that I couldn't stay for the post-reception, but couldn't very well desert them as the enormity of the job became obvious. I did leave them with the cleanup at the end, though. I wonder if they are still speaking to me.
The truth is, I don't think any of us realized the amount of work this would require. It was fun because of the spirit of camaraderie. Everyone was effusive in their praise of the food and decorations. Perhaps it was because we don't do this regularly (or ever before, for that matter), and maybe the guests perceived some freshness and originality, rather than standard catering fare.
Today, my back hurts. I know I must have taken 20 trips up the stairs carrying things, not to mention all the other lifting and hauling. I am good for not much more than lying on the couch with the Sunday paper. Fortunately, that is all I am obliged to do.
My friends said they would never take on two parties in one day, or a wedding where you are rushed the way we were because of a too-closely scheduled second ceremony.
I said--"I'll help with the department's holiday party, and with catering if it is someone I know, but don't count on me on any kind of regular basis."
They said "Gee, that was hard work, but everyone really liked it. What a feeling of satisfaction."
In conclusion, I am not going to quit my day job. I will not be a caterer. But if I ever decide to have a big party, I know whom I'll go to to put together the best bash you've ever seen.
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