Kristen Prescott's job as a Senior Catering Manager at The Carolina Inn is not always without incident. When I sat down for lunch with Kristen a few weeks ago she had so much to share about what she loves about her job (see Part 1 of our interview), and some of the challenges that she has faced which I will feature here.
Kristen's job is very flexible and fully staffed. She has a rotating on-site schedule with her fellow catering managers, so that she only needs to be on property over the weekends every few weeks. This notion was completely surprising to me, especially for the wedding industry. However, when she is on-site there are sometimes multiple weddings going on at the same time. Last month, Kristen was in charge of five weddings in one weekend. What a feat!
The first one kicked off on Thursday, followed by three weddings on Saturday, and concluded with one on Sunday. I'm not actually sure how she survived! Needless to say, I was impressed. She said it was a beast! And it was raining cats and dogs outside. With so much to do logistically, she knew she needed to be organized.
The Carolina Inn does approximately 85 to 95 weddings per year and some months they don't have weddings at all. May, June, September, and October are by far the busiest and most popular months. While January creates an influx on inquiries after the holidays. September and October are the toughest because being on campus means The Carolina Inn is subject to the football schedule. It can become quite a juggling act!
Kristen and I both have a sense of calm when it comes to dealing with "crises." Unless, someone is dying, I don't tend to get too anxious about my events. I obviously want things to go well, but the things that stress me out during an event are fairly limited. Kristen is much the same way. She recently diffused a situation where a bride was worried about people not sending their RSVP in and was panicked about what to do. Kristen's solution: to set an extra place setting at one of the tables. Easy fix! She took it a step further too, if there is a guest that shows up unexpectedly they will have food, it may not be the same food as everyone else, but everyone will eat. Another easy fix!
One of the funniest RSVP cards she has seen said, "If you don't RSVP, but decide to come, please feel free to bring a chair and a sandwich." That's certainly one way to get someone to RSVP!
Though sometimes solutions are not so simple. She had a Saturday wedding come in on Thursday to cancel. These situations are often heartbreaking for the families. Kristen always makes a point to try and ask for more information, but that can be a sensitive thing to do. On top of everything else that she does, she has to sometimes play the role of therapist too. If the families are able to provide a reason, sometimes she is able to work with them to reschedule.
In terms of day of issues, she's never had anyone not walk down the aisle, but she has had wedding cakes fall. Her solution, ask the catering kitchen to make one. This has been done! It's not ideal, but she's had to make it work. Because of things like this, she recommends that her client's use professional vendors, so incidents like this do not occur. Translation: Aunt Grace cannot make your wedding cake unless that is her line of business. I think this is a great policy to have to prevent mishaps like falling cakes!
She's also had a groom with the stomach flu. The poor guy suffered during his own wedding. Of course, the staff made him as comfortable as possible, even though he had to spend most of the day in the room.
“I’ve never had a situation where I felt like things weren’t going to be okay. ”
For Kristen, most any problem can be fixed, including the weather. Well... she's not mother nature, but she has great problem solving skills. With so many people desiring a beautiful outdoor location, there are times that the weather hasn't cooperated. Rainy days are just opportunities for creative solutions. When these things happen, she has a plan. The plan usually involves a beautiful indoor space instead, which can be disappointing for many couples. However, putting things in perspective is important. (You can review my post about the importance of perspective here.)
Kristen talks with her clients about various options for moving the ceremony indoors if the weather doesn't cooperate. After all, the wedding is really about the couple getting married and they can do that anywhere at The Carolina Inn. They have the rest of their lives together and this setback shouldn't hinder their good time. What's important is that they get married... where ever that happens to be. After all, is there really a "bad room" at The Carolina Inn?
So what's Kristen's motto? Event planning is about, "Handling really difficult situations very diligently and quickly." Whether you're planning a conference, wedding, or other big event problem solving is key. I think this is sage advice to live by in the event world.
Thanks to Kristen Prescott for a great conversation and delicious lunch, including the biscuits with honey made by the Chapel Hill honeybees!
If you have a perspective about your event job that you want to share please contact me.