This past weekend, we participated in a surprise 70th birthday party. It was certainly a highlight of my week.
I was contacted by a local professional who wanted to do something special for his wife who would be celebrating a milestone birthday. He called to gather some information about our catering services in order to make a decision about how best to distinguish the birthday. He’d thought about gathering their friends and going out to dinner to a nice restaurant. He’d never actually worked with a catering company before. When he called and told me about his considerations, I suggested that we meet to talk in greater detail about how we might be able to help him.
When we met, I felt excited about helping him show his wife a special time along with their closest friends. They would all be in on the surprise and his son’s who lived nearby would help us pull off the deed.
We talked about menu, decoration, details…. We talked about budget and cost, china, glassware and linens. We planned a special birthday cake, it had to be her favorite, of course. “Not a problem,” I told him. “You can relax about things on my end. I will see that everything is perfect. All you need to do is take her away from the house while we set it all up.”
When the time came, we pulled up to the house, and met his son who was there to let us in. Setting a table, with linens, china, silverware, candles and fresh cut flowers was completed. Then we setup the cocktail table in the living room with a platter of beautifully displayed antipasti, accompanied with crostini. Plates, cocktail napkins and shiny forks were at the ready.
Specially selected wine was opened to allow it to breathe and the wine glasses set nearby. Guests would be able to help themselves while they waited for the guest of honor. Nearby, the inviting angle food cake was placed on a crystal pedestal. It was layered with fresh, juicy strawberries and light whipped cream. This was her favorite cake…details. The buffet was set with a coordinating overlay and the necessary catering equipment. Sternos were lit and water pans filled.
The salad was dressed and tossed and placed on the buffet. The Cambro (temperature controlled food carrier) was popped open. A pan of elegant potato purée with wild mushroom ragout was assembled and stationed in the chafer. An herb roasted beef rib roast was place on a cutting board to be carved. It had been cooked perfectly to medium rare with those nice crusty ends. The cut beef was layed asthetically into an insert pan, the au jus poured over it and freshly minced parsley was sprinkled. A dish of zippy horseradish sauce was unveiled and set close by. Sweet cream butter pats were snugged next to the freshly baked sunflower wheat rolls. Deatils.
I surveyed the setting. Water glasses were filled and placed on the dining table. Candles were lit. A quick glance around the room reminded me to set a pair of crystal salt and pepper shakers on the buffet. Again, was everything as it should be? Oh yes. It was lovely. It smelled delicious, warm and inviting. This scene would be the Greeter of their guests who were due to start arriving in 10 minutes.
Secretly I wished I could stay. I wanted to see her surprise, her delight. I wanted to see him beam and he lavished love on his wife in the generous gift. But of course I couldn’t. We had to go, take our van and our equipment away, leaving no trace that might give the surprise away. Tomorrow I would look forward to hearing all about it when I came to pick up the equipment.
These are some of my favorite ways to serve. I get great joy from helping people realize their vision for their event. It is important to me to capture their vision, making it my own. The details cannot be overlooked. The details are precisely what will personalize it; what will make it theirs. If I were hiring a professional to perform these serves, I would expect no less. Consequently, these customers always get my very best. And that is not something that I put on their invoice…it’s just a given.
When I spoke with the man the following day on the phone, I could hear the smile in his voice. “She was so surprised. Everything was delicious! You didn’t miss a detail.” (!)
