1. Chapter one
The Banquet Business and
the Banquet Manager
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2. What Is a Banquet?
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• A meal that has a menu that is preselected by
the client for all guests attending the event
• Usually occurs in a separate location from other
existing hotel guests
• Client may request special items (such as Color
of tablecloths, centerpieces, different menu etc.)
• Can range from 10 to 10,000 but depending on
space availability

3. (continued)
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• Can be held on the hotel’s premise as well as
other places such as hall, on a field or even a
stadium
• The principle of serving a banquet to a large
group is the same as serving a small group

4. Clients’ Reasons for
Having a Banquet
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 Many reasons to hold a banquet
• Personal entertainment – Religious ceremonies,
celebrations, social
• Business – Meetings, conferences, celebrations
• Other organisations – Weekly meetings, sports,
awards
• Allows the client to invite large group of people
without doing the planning, buying, cooking, and
serving foods and don’t have to clean up

5. Key to Successful
Banquet Management
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• The banquet manager MUST take the
RESPONSIBILITY for the total event off the
client’s shoulders and put it on his or her own
shoulders

6. Why Banquets?
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• Restaurants getting into the banquet business
can make more money with a lot less chance of
failure
• Or simply put, the profit potential is much greater
for selling banquets than for an à la carte
restaurant only

7. Why Banquets?
(continued)
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 Banquet manager knows
• How many guests are
• What they are going to eat
• Guaranteed number of guests
• Has less inventory, waste, and labour costs
 Restaurant manager does NOT know what or
when the guests will eat
• Has more inventory, waste, and labour costs

8. (continued)
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• Advertising and selling is easier for a banquet
than for an à la carte restaurant
• Advertising can be 3 to 7 percent of gross sales
• Five times more expensive to acquire a new
customer than it is to keep an old one

9. (continued)
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• Restaurants changing to banquets
• Reduces full-time staff
• On-premise parties increase profits
• Banquet business is guaranteed

10. Catering versus Banquets
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• Very little difference— if any at all
• Caterer performs service
 ► Takes place away from their
establishment
 ► Off-premise catering
 ►ALL food and beverages brought to the job
• Banquets
 ► Takes place at the establishment

11. Staffing a Banquet Facility
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 Banquet manager
• Responsible for the success of the banquet
• Handles ALL details— key for successful banquet
managers
• Solves any problem that arises
 Sales manager
• Responsible for booking the banquet
• Inside sales—works at the banquet facility
• Outside sales—travels to client’s location

12. (continued)
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 Head banquet waiter
• Employed at establishments where many
function rooms are located
• Responsible for the banquet in the room they
are supervising
 Banquet captains
• responsible for service in a section of a banquet

13. Banquet Manager Qualifications
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 In general…
• Must be cheerful
• Deals with clients who are in a stressful situation
 Attention to detail
• Trait that is most important
• Difference between a good and great manager
 Neat Appearance
• Looks professional at all times

14. (continued)
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 Tact and diplomacy
• Tact—ability to say or do the correct thing
without offending the guest
• Diplomacy —ability to act tactfully with the guest
 Ability to react quickly to changes
• Without guests’ realizing there is a problem

15. (continued)
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 Tendency not to become flustered
• When problem occurs, remains calm
• Solves the problem without becoming annoyed
with the guest
 Ability to work with different personalities
• Must manage staff as well as interact with
guests

16. (continued)
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 Oral communication skills
• Speaking to guests
• Conducting meetings for employees
 Written communication skills
• Communicate clearly and concisely
• Memos and forms for staff
• Letters and contracts for guests

17. (continued)
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 Organizational skills
• Critical trait to have
• Vast amount of planning for a banquet
• Needs to be organized to pull it off

18. Banquet Manager Benefits
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 Prestige
• Has contact with influential people in the social
and business community
• Makes valuable contacts for any successful
event
 Psychic Income
• NOT money BUT a positive feeling from a job
well done or from serving important guests

19. (continued)
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 Pay
• Generally paid an excellent salary because wouldn’t
want to lose a good banquet manager
• Possibly receives a percentage of the service
charge
 Prerequisites (Perks)
• Benefits in addition to pay
• Allowance for clothing, including cleaning
• Sometimes lodging will also be included

20. Drawbacks to Being a
Banquet Manager
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 Long working hours
• Work when everyone else is off
• Weekends, holidays, evenings
• The manager may have a number of functions
to handle in one day but for the client, their
party is the only one that matter

21. (continued)
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 Stress
• Under pressure to do an excellent job
• Guests want to enjoy themselves
• AND…
• They expect a PERFECT party

22. (continued)
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 Availability of food and liquor
• Banquet managers always “turns to the bottle”
when highly stressed
• Because of the “perks”, the Banquet Manager is
entitled to consume some (or any) food and
drink they want
• Have poor diet – eat whatever available at that
time

23. (continued)
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 Illegal activities
• In contact of all different people
• e.g. gambling, drugs etc

24. Job Knowledge Needed
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 The Banquet manager must know the following
to conduct business successfully:
1. The style of banquets
2. The size of each room in the operation and how
to diagram rooms
3. How to book banquets
4. The difference between tentative and firm
reservations, and how to make a tentative on
firm

25. (continued)
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5. The variety of choices of menu items from which
the client may choose
6. The importance of communication with the guest
and the kitchen
7. How to construct a menu that is eye-appealing,
nutritionally sound, and the kitchen will be able to
serve in addition to all other foods they have to
produce
8. The timing of the party so that the food arrives
when the clients desires it and the guests are
ready
9. The variety of ways in which banquets can be

26. Styles of Banquets
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Styles of
Banquets
BuffetSit down

27. Styles of Banquets
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Sit Down
American
service
Russian
service

28. Styles of Banquets
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Simple
Buffet
Modified
deluxe
Deluxe
Buffets