Client
The client hosts a large annual company picnic designed to serve thousands of on-site and off-site employees over the course of several days.
The event had grown into a major employee appreciation experience, requiring food service, concessions, vendor coordination, staffing support, and guest flow management across multiple locations.
Challenge
As attendance increased year after year, the company picnic eventually outgrew the capabilities of its previous local caterer.
The biggest issue was catering capacity. Food lines had become extremely long, wait times were increasing, and the overall event flow was becoming difficult to manage. In previous years, the line had stretched so far that cones were placed in the parking lot to mark how far guests had waited for food.
With 7,300 guests to serve across eight locations over three days, the client needed a catering partner that could do more than provide food. They needed a team that could rethink the layout, manage volume, coordinate vendors, and keep the guest experience running smoothly.
RH Events & Catering’s Role
RH Events & Catering was brought in to improve the catering experience and solve the capacity challenges that had affected previous years.
The team focused on the full event operation, with the biggest priority placed on catering flow and guest service efficiency. RH Events & Catering also coordinated vendors, served concessions, and managed staffing support for setup, food service, and take-down.
To support the scale of the event, RH Events & Catering used a staffing model that included 13 RH event managers, along with a local high school football team and parents who assisted with setup, take-down, food service, and concessions.
Solution
RH Events & Catering created an alternative event layout designed to move guests through food service more efficiently.
Instead of relying on the previous setup, the team added more food lines, increased staffing support, and improved the overall service flow. This allowed the event to accommodate thousands of attendees without creating the long bottlenecks guests had experienced in past years.
The solution included:
- Redesigning the catering layout to improve traffic flow
- Adding additional food service lines to reduce wait times
- Coordinating vendors across eight locations
- Serving concessions throughout the event
- Managing setup and take-down support
- Supervising food service through 13 RH event managers
- Partnering with a local high school football team and parents for additional event staffing
This approach helped create a more organized, efficient, and enjoyable company picnic experience while allowing RH Events & Catering to maintain service quality at a large scale.
Outcome
RH Events & Catering successfully served 7,300 guests across eight locations over three days while significantly improving event flow and catering efficiency.
The result was a smoother guest experience, shorter wait times, and a more efficient event from start to finish.
Key outcomes included:
- 7,300 guests served across three days
- Eight event locations successfully managed
- Food lines were kept from extending past the sidewalk
- Significantly improved event flow and service efficiency
- Reduced guest wait times compared to previous years
- Successful coordination of catering, concessions, vendors, staffing, setup, and take-down
Client Feedback
“I highly recommend RH Events & Catering! They are a professional company with a ‘family feel’. I have been working with them for years now to plan and execute our yearly company picnic that serves over 6,500+ on-site employees and another 1,500+ offsite employees in just a matter of a few days. They are so easy and friendly to work with and the quality is just unmatched! They truly make my theme dreams a reality each year, and it is always a pleasure working with their staff. You do not have to worry about a thing with this crew! They leave no stone unturned.” — Katie, Manager of Special Events, Healthcare Industry
Beyond Catering
While this event centered heavily on catering, RH Events & Catering’s role extended far beyond food service.
The team helped the client solve a recurring event challenge by improving layout strategy, staffing, vendor coordination, concessions, and overall guest movement. For large company picnics and employee appreciation events, this type of operational planning enables thousands of guests to be served efficiently without sacrificing quality or experience.
RH Events & Catering brings professional planning, large-scale catering experience, and a friendly, hands-on approach to corporate events that need to run smoothly from the first setup detail to the final take-down.
Planning a large company picnic or employee event?
RH Events & Catering helps companies create organized, enjoyable, and efficient events for groups of all sizes. From catering and concessions to staffing and vendor coordination, the team makes large-scale event execution feel seamless.
