Please share with me what it’s like to work large events and how that might differ from waitressing/bartending/managing in a restaurant.
I would love to hear how the hall you worked at functioned - how was it staffed? Regular staff or hired per event? What kind of events were held at the hall? What kind of food was served? Was it a super-fancy type place? What kind of work is done before an event, during, and after?
Any info, stories, details much appreciated!
I worked in one in NY for YEARS. That job paid for my college. 
Mind you, they were one of the more higher-paying places in the area, so that helped. One major difference is you’re working for hourly wages, usually, not tips. It’s very rare for a banquet staffer to get tipped at an event. Gratuities usually go the the Maitre’d or “Captain.”
Most of the work is weekend (Friday night through Sunday), and you can sometimes manage to squeeze 25 - 30 hours out of it, if you work doubles on the weekend. I worked three doubles one weekend and had a check for almost 40 hours. Not bad for 3 days work, and I had the rest of the week to recover. We would do parties that ranged anywhere from 50 to 600 people, sometimes more. In teams of 2, a team would get at LEAST 4 - 6 tables, depending on the team and experience. More experienced teams got more tables, or the “VIP” tables only(Bride & Groom, for example).
Honestly, I loved that job. I worked my way up from lowly wait-staff/bartender to Captain in about a year and a half (tips, yay!). We had a regular staff, and schedules were set weeks in advance, especially during the busy season. Mind you, some banquet halls have a “dead time” where they actually CLOSE because it’s so slow – usually in winter, for 2 or 3 months. So if you were full time, you could either collect unemployment for those few months or go work at one of the places that stayed open year-round. In NY, the catering hall/banquet business is prety incestuous, and everyone knows everyone else - so it was pretty easy to find work year-round.
We served typical “wedding food,” but our chef was pretty flexible (although a little nuts) and preferred if a party had a “vision” of what kinda food they wanted rather than just going with the usual “chicken, beef, fish” choices. We would also allow outside caterers in if we couldn’t accomodate with what we already had in-house (Hindu/Indian, Eastern European, Kosher, etc).
It’s not an easy job. You’re easily working at LEAST a 12 hour day, from set-up to break down. And yes, you need to do ALL that. Set tables, polish silver, make sure glasses are spotless. Youre constantly serving, bussing and cleaning. You’re running drinks and dodging drunks while carrying 10 - 12 entrees with metal covers on a tray on your shoulder. When you get home, you stink like food, booze, and cleaners. Your feet hurt, your shoulder is sore as all hell, and the last thing you want to see until the next weekend is a bow tie or tin-foil swan.
If I didn’t eff up my shoulder from working that job, I’d go back to it in a heartbeat.
I have a part time job as a banquet bartender in a hotel. The hotel employs most of its own staff. When they are short, they hire temps. To work there you have to join the union. It’s a fairly fancy place. It’s “Historic”. We are not permitted to put out a tip cup, as the gratuity is included in our pay (same with the servers). However, at most event, people tip us anyway (not the same for the servers, generally).
I love the fact that there are no regulars. When I was a bartender full time, the regulars really got on my nerves after awhile. This way, it’s a different party every time. Also open bars are nice as I just make the drinks and don’t have to worry about making change. I do mostly weddings on Saturday nights, but there are the occasional bar/bat mitzvahs, and smaller parties like 50th birthday dealies or anniversaries. The Christmas season is very busy for us. Lots of company parties. The worst ones are the small dinner parties and they have the bar in the same room for several hours. I just stand there feeling like a maroon.
I’ve been doing this as a part time thing to supplement my income since college (15 years or so). I do very well.
I would not want to be a banquet hall manager. They run around all night sometimes working several events. If something goes wrong, it’s their fault.
Last year Joan Rivers did her routine at someone’s event. It was very odd.
Wow, you guys, this is fantastic info!
Thank you both very much.