RESERVING THE RESTAURANT
All right, you’ve made your choice and you want to make sure to reserve a spot for your party. Here’s what to do when the time comes to contacting the restaurant –
Allotting Time. One of the most crucial aspects of planning a bachelor party dinner that constantly gets overlooked is allotting a proper amount of time to the actual meal itself. If you’re not careful, the meal takes longer than it should and you find the rest of your night’s activities getting pushed and pushed until it’s too late. I recommend the following time allotments:
• For parties under 40 people: 2 ½ hours
• For parties over 40 people: 3 hours
This should cover enough time for everyone to arrive, get some drinks at the bar, get seated, eat, and leave for the next destination. So, as an example, for larger parties – if your limos or the bus taking you to the strip joint are scheduled to pick you up at 10:00PM, I would back time everyone to arrive at the restaurant around 7:00PM, just to be sure. Trust me, nobody will complain if they have to wait for a few minutes after dinner in the bar and have a couple more drinks for the road.
Speak to the manager. Do not speak to the host or hostess in order to make your reservation or to discuss details of the party. These “minimum wagers” have a tendency to make all sorts of promises that they have no power to guarantee. It can be very disappointing to arrive the night of the party and find out that the establishment has a policy against naked women jumping out of cakes – or, health codes that prohibit your guests from mooning the guest of honor. When you speak to the manager, you are speaking to someone you can hold responsible for what is being discussed and requested. Never settle for less than this.
Write their phone number down. If, at all possible, you can get the manager’s direct phone number, you should write it down. You want to have as direct a line of communication with the manager as you possibly can. And if he or she really wants your business, there shouldn’t be a problem with giving it to you.
The reason you want to have the manager’s direct phone number is because you want a line of communication that is as short as possible between you and the person who has the authority to make decisions for the restaurant. If you make the mistake of going through the main line of the restaurant, it is far too easy for the “host” or “hostess” to conveniently “misplace” your message – or, worse case scenario – send you directly to an answering machine.
Do they want a deposit? Here in Los Angeles, restaurants are starting to appreciate larger groups less and less. Generally speaking, they take up too much time and monopolize tables, keeping other guests from being seated. Large groups can also be loud and noisy, a nuisance to other patrons. Even more importantly, when bigger parties are planned, restaurants need to increase the amount of staff they have in order to accommodate everyone. Understandably, this can create a cash flow problem for them should some of your guests decide not to show up. Instead, what some L.A. restaurants are implementing is a deposit to insure that if any members of your gang don’t show up, they will be covered for the amount that would have been spent. If they don’t ask for the amount up front, be prepared to see it added to the check at the end of the night. So, it is imperative that you know this up front. If you show up that night without some sort of idea what you may be charged for no-shows, you could end up doing dishes in the back instead of stuffing dollar bills in g-strings at the strip club.
Confirmation. There will be several things that you are going to want to confirm with them. First, if a deposit is required, when does it need to be paid? Second, when do they need to have a final head count for everyone that is going to show up? If they don’t charge for no-shows, it might be a good idea to add about 2-5 people, just in case. You know that there will always be those guys who want to show up at the last minute.
Fax them your notes. This last bit of advice can save you a whole mess of problems if you take the effort to actually follow through with it. While you are talking to the manager, make sure that you take detailed and copious notes about what has been promised to you. After you are done, fax the notes back to them and HAVE THEM SIGN IT AND FAX IT BACK. That way, there’s no misunderstanding about what everybody has agreed upon (on both sides) and they can’t deny what they have told you when you show up the day of the event.
In part two of my advice for a planning a smooth and fun bachelor party dinner, I will go into what you need to do in the days leading up to the date and what should happen when everybody actually shows up to the restaurant. So, stay tuned!
