How we plan an event

The problem

Most quotes for an 800-guest reception open dinner at 9 PM and run it until midnight, because one long buffet cannot move that many people any faster. Families who want the dancing to start are told the queue is unavoidable. It is not — it is a layout problem.

What we did

• Split the buffet into island counters placed around the lawn, so no guest walks more than about twenty metres or stands behind more than a handful of people.
• Put the two slowest items — live dosa and tandoor — on their own counters at opposite ends, which is where queues otherwise form.
• Pre-plate the chaat course, so the opening minutes of service need no assembly at all.
• Staff the dinner hour more heavily than the rest of the evening, then drop back for dessert.

The thinking

The plan is built backwards from the time the family wants dinner to end, and the counter count follows from that rather than from a price list.

The problem

The usual arrangement is one menu with substitutions, which in practice means plain dal and rice for anyone with a restriction. People notice being catered to as an exception, and they remember it.

What we did

• Build two complete menus of equal length rather than one with substitutions — same number of starters, same number of mains, same desserts.
• Cook the Jain menu in a separate section with its own pans, boards and staff, and label every chafing dish on both sides.
• Run the counters side by side with identical signage, so nobody has to ask which line is theirs.

The thinking

Parity is the design goal rather than accommodation: both menus are written to be worth choosing on their own terms.

The problem

Nobody eats at the same time at a mela. Cook everything upfront and the last hundred people get cold food; cook strictly to order and the queue never clears.

What we did

• Move the menu towards items that hold well or cook fast: chaat, tikkas off a live tandoor, and dosa.
• Cook in short batches against a live headcount at the gate rather than a fixed plan.
• Keep one sweet counter deliberately over-stocked, since that is where the drift concentrates at the end.

The thinking

Batch cooking against an actual headcount is what keeps the last hour as good as the first, and keeps what is thrown away down.