Your big day encompasses so much more than an exchange of vows and a cutting of cake. Unfortunately, most don’t have experience in event planning, so we do the best we can. Being that there is no do over it can be very stressful, unless… Unless we count on those who do this type of thing daily to take care of it for us. Now, I can’t talk about all facets of your event, but having hosted thousands of rehearsal dinners and parties annually for many years, I can give you some pointers there.

IMG_1576-1 First off, the facility you wish to do it at must be conducive for your event. It must be large enough, open enough, has a huge menu, not too stuffy and it’d better be classy. When we renovated and expanded Pizza House to our 440 seat facility, we had to make sure we had rooms that would seat over 100, some that would seat 20 and areas in between, without interfering with our normal dining, believe me it wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Additionally, we created the largest menu in town, this is crucial when feeding a group. Make sure the facility you choose isn’t so stuffy people will have a problem with your guests having fun, this is often overlooked.

Make sure the place is high volume. Ample staffing, both serving you and kitchen is crucial. Many events I’ve attended in different areas tended to be lacking this. The temptation to save a few bucks to go to a place understaffed is understandable, however, when the help is overwhelmed your service is bad, it’s easy for them to lose composure throwing your whole night off, typically the night before your wedding! At Pizza House we have always made this a priority as we employ well over 150 well trained staff year round, we feel the added expense on our end will give you a smooth, fun evening.2E0H8926

When reserving your room, make sure the manager is 100% confident, any sign of indecisiveness should be a red flag and you don’t want to be a Guinea pig for anyone! Our managers do several parties a day, it’s good to work with people who can do it in their sleep.

Ah, then there’s the budget. You will always spend way more than you thought you would at every juncture of your wedding, everyone does. There are a few ways to control cost a little. First, consider having buffet style, this way there are no surprises. Second, have the server mention to guests that soft drinks are complementary and if they’d like they can run a personal bar tab, or one beer/ wine is complimentary etc. open bar can easily shred your budget. If it’s still too much, consider catering to the venue of rehearsal. We at Pizza House cater dozens of events per week, sometimes per day, so we’ve learned a thing or two about this. It’s much cheaper for food service to be delivered and dropped off, for obvious reasons.

I hope these brief ideas help you, feel free to email me with any questions that I may help you with.

Matt Barrett is the Marketing Director of Pizza House and Catering in East Lansing.
Email: mbarrett@pizzahouse.com
Phone Number: 517-336-0033

Images courtesy of: Pizza House