The Wedding Case
As I watched the ferry pull up, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment. I
glanced over the list of event staff my boss had chosen to work the wedding; I was expecting eight people to walk off the ferry and get right to work, but instead I only got one. I had already been up all night finishing the final details of the food counts for the 150 person event. After not getting enough sleep and waking up at 6:30 to start nonstop prepping for the 3:30 wedding, I was so ready to finally get some assistance. It was now 10:00 and I was supposed to have eight workers to help me set up all 23 tables, three bars, and 300 hundred chairs not to mention all the decor and table settings. But all the eight had missed the boat and would now not arrive until noon. I was in panic mode, but I had to keep my composure because the bride and her mom were constantly checking up on me.
The summer before my senior year of high school, I got a paid internship at the Chebeague Island Inn to work with the Event Coordinator. I immersed myself in this job, working four days a week. I quickly learned how to write a Business Event Order and pull hundreds of flatware sets in under 10 minutes. I loved my job because there was never a dull moment planning, prepping and executing the weddings.
But on this weekend I had been left boss-less and needed to pull off a wedding all by myself. The confidence that my boss, who had taken the weekend off to attend her best friends wedding, had in me only increased the confidence I had myself. I knew I could do it. The first curve ball set me two hours behind, slowly setting up instead of having sixteen more hands helping me. The list of everything that needed to be accomplished constantly repeated in my head. “The band arrives at 12. Place the fork and knife inside the folded the napkin. The bar on
the porch gets wine and beer, but no liquor.” Things that needed to get accomplished were not because