After all the hard work the Quinceanera and her family have done prior to her important day, there can still be last minute problems.
This is a story about Maria Garcia, the Quinceanera and her family. They thought they had done everything right regarding the order for the special cake birthday cake.
The family had spent hours checking out the different designs the baker could make for them. They tasted a variety of fillings and flavors. The experience was lots of fun. But, when it came down to how much it was going to cost. Everyone was surprised the cost was so much more than they expected.
They sat down with the baker and started to make changes regarding what they had decided on. The baker asked how much had they budgeted for the cake. That is when the negotiations started between the baker and the Garcia family. Back and forth regarding every detail that influenced the price of the cake. The baker advised them, the more complex the design of the cake the higher the cost.
The baker recommended they could save money if they had someone add fresh flowers to the cake at the celebration. They said that would not work for them. So, they came up with a less elaborate design and everyone was happy. They signed the contract and gave a 50% deposit on the cake. They paid extra for the baker to deliver the cake to the reception hall the day of the party. They also agreed to pay the balance due one week ahead of the celebration.
Maria and her family were very busy the week before her Quince celebration. Not only were there last minute things to take care of, they had family coming in from out of town. Maria and her family were trying to track down the different receipts for the vendors. The stress was building up. They did not have things organized. Maria felt overwhelmed as did her mother and father.
All Maria could think of, what was going to go wrong. When everyone got to the reception hall after the beautiful mass, Mrs. Garcia looked around the reception hall to check things out. Everything appeared to be OK. Until she realized she did not see the beautiful birthday cake. She asked the banquet manager, where is the cake? The banquet manager said he never received a delivery for the cake. Worse yet, Mrs. Garcia did not have a copy of the contract with her to call the bakery.
Instead of the Garcia family welcoming the guests, they were trying to straighten out the problem. After Mrs. Garcia got the bakery on the phone, they told her they had attempted to deliver the cake, but there was no name for someone to sign for the cake. So the driver returned to the store with the cake. The Quinceanera cake was finally redelivered in time for the photo shoot and the cutting of the cake.
All the stress could have been avoided if the family had done to following:
1. Used a planner and organizer and kept all the paper work for the event in one place. They should have specified a time and name of a person to sign for the cake delivery on the contract.
2. They should have requested the help from a reliable person to bring the planner and copies of all the vendor contracts needed for the day of the event.
3. An event agenda including a list of every item that needed follow up the day of the celebration should have been written out a few days ahead and reviewed with the designated helper prior to the day of the event. This would have allowed the helper to check out the delivery of the cake, and make sure there were not any other no-shows or other problems that needed to be taken care of. The helper would have had all the necessary contact information in order to follow up as needed.
4. The event check off list should include all details for every item with notations needed for follow up at the event, including who is responsible for each task to be completed. Using this method allows the Quinceaneras family to be the host and hostess of the party and the Quinceanera to be the Princess at her own ball.
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