Ideally you should be heading over to the venue at this time. It is a good idea to let the facility coordinator know your arrival time. You should coordinate your arrival with that of the rental company. If by chance another staff member is checking in rentals, call the venue for a progress report. Let someone at the venue know if you are running late, and give instructions for vendor check-in.

Staff Arrival and Setup

If it was not necessary for you to be at the venue to check in the rentals, it is mandatory you are there for staff arrival. Remember, you have the server packets and instructions. Station yourself or another staff member to greet staff as they enter the venue. Most front-of-the-house staff will arrive in street clothes. Give verbal instructions on when to be dressed and when staff meals will be served.

As you are greeting the arrival of staff and vendors, keep an eye on the time. Be mindful of any vendors who are running behind schedule. Do not hesitate to phone a vendor for his arrival time.

Finally, your staff has been equipped with instructions and all of your vendors have checked in. Now is the time you should be pitching in to help any team members falling behind schedule. Do not get too focused on one task. Pull yourself away every fifteen minutes or so to oversee the rest of the production team.

Bar Setup

The bar setup may need to be managed by a veteran bartender or yourself. A poorly set bar can leave the bartenders working inefficiently. The bar can be a busy spot in the venue, so avoid traffic jams here at all costs. A satellite bar can be created in lieu of a traditional bar. Most restaurants will have a traditional bar, but for a cocktail party you may want to set up a satellite bar to relieve pressure from the main bar. Following are instructions for setting up a satellite bar:

• The bar should be set up on a long table. Place all wine glasses and bottles of wine and beer on one side of the bar. Instruct the bartenders to chill the white wine and beer upon arrival.

• All martini glasses should be placed at another section of the bar along with shakers, ice, and spirits.

• The next section of the bar can hold the spirits for mixed drinks, ice, and highballs and other glasses to make mixed drinks.

• Use a long tablecloth for the bar and store glass racks, ice, and dump buckets underneath the table. Extra wine, spirits, and beer can also be stored underneath out of sight of the guests.

• When setting up a bar, avoid stacking glasses. Use a table behind the bartenders to create more surface space for glasses.

With this arrangement, three bartenders can work three separate stations efficiently. If you have only two bartenders scheduled for the event, you can easily station yourself behind the wine station until the bar traffic eases up.