Farah Wells Post #3

My Monday was definitely the busiest day I think there will be during this internship! Ralph Brennan's Catering had an event for the American Alliance of Museums focused on the new Sculpture Garden at NOMA with the expected guest number of up to 1,600 people. I got to the office around 2:30 and at 3:00 we set off to City Park to go set up the event to start at 7:00. I personally was more involved in this event which I really loved. I got to know a lot more of the staff members and talk to everyone throughout the night. I did a lot of running around because the guests were going to three different sections: NOMA Museum, the new Sculpture Garden, and the Botanical Garden. All three parts were decorated beautifully and I got to see the food tables and decor outcome based on the design meeting I sat in on my first day last week! Since the guests were all spread out and there were stations of food everywhere, the staff used radios to communicate and it made things go a lot smoother, such as replenishing food, maintaining traffic flow, and assuring the guests that the food was dairy-free, gluten-free, or vegetarian. So the point of that: communication in this business, especially with the number of guests, was vital to keep it running smoothly. At one point, I had to go and work a table for about an hour handing out food because the replenishments were running behind and traffic was stopped up. Because I have worked catering events from the side of a staff member, I knew what I was doing and I was very happy to have been there to be an extra pair of hands to continue the smooth running of the event. Overall, the night was beautiful and I highly recommend anyone to go visit the new exhibit! The day was exhausting and I didn't get home until about 11 pm, but the staff at Ralph Brennan's really couldn't be more inviting towards me and I really appreciate their trust and mutual help, especially at the event yesterday. It really made me value the structure of the company and the teamwork everyone must do. I am looking forward to my next event today!

In this picture, I am delivering all the respective supplies to the three stations in the Sculpture Garden where the tables were being set up nearby and the chefs were soon to be cooking under these tents. (the clouds look gray and there was a rain scare for a hot second, but the weather held out beautifully and the sun came out not too long after :)!)