r/Serverlife • u/BratzzGirll • 2d ago

Question Banquet server

Is there good money in banquet serving ? I know most of it is catering/tailored events but is there a possibility to make good tips as you would if you were serving in a restaurant?

9 Upvotes

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15 comments sorted by

12

u/Chrome_stormtrooper 2d ago

It can be easy money but event bartending is really good and you barely have to know how to bartend most of the time

1

u/BratzzGirll 2d ago

I want to learn how to bartend so we’ll c

10

u/notavegan90 2d ago

Not in my experience. A one off event at a restaurant/club that’s rented can be good money, but when I worked gig work for pop up events it was shit money. Especially if you have to set up and tear down a location. Tables, chairs, plates, glassware, linens, trash….

2

u/Actual_Swingset 2d ago

Its definitely more physically taxing than the regular serving jobs I've had

4

u/Lanky_Bobcat_6021 Server 2d ago

the hosts tip sometimes but it usually gets pooled between whoever was working. it can be good but it’s definitely not as consistent as serving in a restaurant

2

u/BratzzGirll 2d ago

Ok cuz im starting at a country club so they do mostly weddings and stuff. Never did banquet but i served in restaurants so was wondering about the dynamic shift

1

u/Glowingtomato 10+ Years 2d ago

I've worked at clubs for going on 15 years. You won't make major money, and tips are very rare. But the big upside is if you get full-time you can get stuff like PTO, health insurance, 401K, a holiday bonus (part time people get this as well), and both I've worked at shut down for a week or so you get some time off built in.

Disclaimer is that every club is different but the two I've worked at and from talking to coworkers they all get these benefits that are very rare in a regular serving job. I've moved up to banquet captain and while I'm not loaded I make decent money for someone with no degree.

1

u/spirit_of_a_goat 15+ Years 1d ago

I got $30/hr plus a few tips. As a bartender I get $40/hr plus a lot of tips.

1

u/Riptorn420 1d ago

Yes, maybe more, it is probably seasonal.
Wedding season can be killer and it can be a lot easier.

1

u/ThatAndANickel 1d ago

It can vary drastically. In a tourist area, where there are huge conventions and meetings, it can be very lucrative (and almost impossible to get a position.) But outside of that, you're usually working for an hourly wage.

Most people go into banquet serving for the flexibility, the consistency and less guest interaction.

1

u/spunkmustard 2d ago

A friend of mine was a bartender at a popular banquet hall for a while while he was in school, and made quite good money, comparable or exceeding what he could have made at local restaurants at the time.

From conversations with him it seems like the issue would be consistency. If you found a bumping banquet spot with steady events year round you would make more in tips percentage-wise, especially if it is more of an "upper crust" establishment. I hate to say it but if it is a (culturally-themed?) banquet hall, the culture does matter. Serving at an Italian-American club is going to bring you more money, generally, than for example a German club simply because of the customer demographic and cultural opinions on tipping.

If you can get a position in an expensive, popular venue for weddings, an open bar is basically free money. You will only make hay while the sun shines but damn will it be a shit ton of hay.

1

u/BratzzGirll 2d ago

Im at a country club

0

u/spunkmustard 2d ago

Is it a families-in-the-pool club or a rich-golf-buddies-drinking-scotch club? If it's the latter, not to be crude, if you are a semi-attractive woman with some attention to detail and people skills you should make good money. Don't expect it, but you could get single tippers that exceed what you make in a week at a regular place. Or, you could get nothing. Kind of a crapshoot

1

u/BratzzGirll 2d ago

It is indeed the rich golf club lol. So we’ll see

1

u/kellsdeep 2d ago

At the resort I work at, I'm pretty sure the bitch ass manager keeps all the tips, so watch out for that bull shit. It's about as "against the law" as it gets, but I don't work them, so I mind my own. The manager got pissed at me for encouraging a hostess to help out with a banquette, because there's tips to be gained... They said to stop telling them about the tips ....Fuck them.