University of Northern Iowa Special Event

What a day! The Night at the Movies special event was a definite success. I am so happy with how smoothly everything went. Even though our numbers changed early in the week (we dropped from 450 to 225 due to a group not coming), we were able to adjust the food order so we didn't have excess. Also, it made for a more relaxed atmosphere during service as we didn't get slammed.

I am very thankful to the management team for their input and feedback as this was my first large foodservice event to plan and Piazza is a large place to fill. Also, my fellow student workers were awesome in helping set up in the morning and tear down after all was said and done.

Main entrance - wrapped in metallic film reel 

Main greeter station

Front entrance - hanging cameras/hollywood signs

Back Entrance- with stars, tickets, director's action/take, movie poster

Back greeter station

Velociraptor - in front of Southwestern layered salad that was tossed to order

Bushels was decorated to look like Jurassic Park. Here are a couple of pics of two of the sides of the 5 sided venue. The whole venue was draped in ivy and vines and had dinosaurs and park logos. This was one of people's favorites. 

The menu was T Rex Tex Mex salad (a layered southwest chicken salad) and Branchiosaurus Munchies (full build your own salad bar). 

Venue theme menu sign and Hogwart's letter decorations

Ron' chess set

Harry Potter Symbol garland 

Super yummy shephard's pie

Savories was decorated like Harry Potter. This was a hit too. While people were in line, some kids were playing with the chess set. It was very cute. The menu was Shephards Pie, Dinner Rolls, and Peas. The menu went over so well! We hadn't ordered as much Shepard's pie as some of the other entrees because the kitchen staff said that in the past the students haven't liked it. This was not the case today. Unfortunately, we ran out and switched to roast pork loin. The dinner rolls were a big hit. The bakery makes them fresh the morning of. Super soft and yeasty. 

Tigress

Po the panda

      

Wok was the movie Kung Fu Panda. My fellow student workers had fun imitating the panda and tiger's kung fu moves! The menu was teriyaki beef, vegetable fried rice, and steamed rice. This went over very well; we went through 3 large pans of the teriyaki beef. 

Linguini

Remy

Stackables was the movie Ratatouille; one of my personal favorite animated movies. The menu was made to order sandwiches and wraps.This was pretty simple to decorate. I really liked the red and white stripes that we added for a french bistro awning effect. Remy the mouse and Linguini the chef were very cute too. After the event was over, an RA asked for some of the printed paper decorations to use in her room. I'm glad were were able to get some more use out of some of the cute characters. 

Gru, Minion, and Bananas in front go the grill/hood

What good sports!

minion hats on serving line

That's some good window paint art - I didn't do it :)

Sizzles was Despicable Me and this was a very popular venue; both with the workers and the customers. The bananas in the windows were probably my favorite touch the student workers were fighting over who got to wear the minion hats. They originally were just a decoration, but those crazy guys wanted to wear them (they were pretty small hard hats) so we added some more streamers and window paint decorations in that area instead. The menu was hot dogs, grilled chicken sandwich, and sweet potato fries. This food was very popular especially due to the sweet potato fries. 

Front bar with popcorn buckets, avengers symbols, and hanging decorations

Pizza prep counter

Pizza oven hood

First half of the taco/nacho bar

Pizza with comic book art

Serranos followed the theme of the Avengers. This was fun because the kids were going around talking about which avenger was their favorite (Upward Bound is a group that comes every summer and has different kid groups each week). They didn't show up well in the first picture, but we had some really cool hanging swirl decorations with all the different avengers above the bar. The menu was Hawaiian pizza, pepperoni pizza, mushroom and sausage pizza, and a taco/nacho bar. 

Bread/cereal area

Ice cream counter - topped with garland and pinecones

This is where the dulce de leche cake went  

Dessert area for brownies and red velvet cake

Fruit table edged with Christmas wrapping bows

Mugs and Sweet talk (ice cream/fruit/dessert area) were the movie Elf. I loved having some of Buddy's quotes from the movie scattered around. It did feel a little weird pitting up Christmas decorations in July though. The red velvet cake went over well and my tested recipe of the movie candy coated brownies were a HUGE hit. People loved all the different kinds; reese, heath, and mini M&Ms. We ending up running out of them just at the end. 

Popcorn machine with director's chair and spotlight

Beverage station

One of the Popcorn centerpieces

 Teepeed trees 

These are just some shots from the main dining area. The popcorn was awesome! It really smelled like a movie theater thanks to that. I'm really happy with how my popcorn center pieces turned out. THey were scattered around on the main section's tables and bars. There were also a lot of stars hung around the main dining area for a little movie glam. 

And these pics above are just a closer look at some of my crafting endeavors. I'm pleased with how this ending up turning out. 

A lot of the above decoration pictures were taken before the venues had their food set out, but they looked even better once all the food was set out! 

This was a wonderful experience for me as I have never had the opportunity to plan, implement, execute, and evaluate my own event of this size. I will be thankful to have this experience in case I ever have to do something like it again.