Have you been wondering about what your event will look like now that restrictions are loosening and the hospitality industry has been able to get back to business with hosting in-person celebrations again? Curious to know what the aftermath of the pandemic looks like for the event industry and how that relates to your upcoming celebration?
As state mandates and COVID-19 restrictions continue to lift in the area, we thought you might be wondering what your event will look like in an almost post-pandemic world.
To help provide more insight into these topics, we’ve developed a list of questions we feel might be popping into your head during this time if you are in the process of planning an upcoming event.
If you have additional questions outside of the ones presented below, please feel free to contact your Event Specialist directly or email our team at info@thejdkgroup.com.
COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
Q: Will staff be wearing masks at my event?
A: The health and safety of all people we serve – our clients, guests and team members – has always been and continues to be our top priority. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve closely followed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Pa Department of Health’s recommendations and guidelines. On June 28th, the local mask mandate was lifted for all fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people in the state of Pennsylvania. Given this updated news and guidance from the CDC, beginning June 28th, The JDK Group no longer requires team members to wear face coverings. However, face coverings are still strongly recommended for team members who are not fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or do not feel comfortable without a face covering.
Despite the state loosening restrictions and this updated mask policy, we understand that you may still desire all staff to be masked at your event. Our team understands this choice and is able to fulfill this request. Please communicate this directly to your Event Specialist so proper communication and action can take place to ensure all staff is masked on your event, otherwise most of our team members will not be wearing face coverings.
Q: Will my event date be available?
A: Our event calendar still has available dates for this year, however we are finding that late summer and fall dates are beginning to book quite quickly – especially prime weekend days!
Due to the amount of postponed events that moved their date from 2020 to 2021 or 2022 plus new event bookings, many weekend dates have reached our team’s max capacity. We’ve had to close several weekend dates this spring and summer. We are committed to providing your celebration the highest quality service so we are careful and calculated to ensure that we only take on what we know we can produce flawlessly for you and your guests without stretching any teams too thin.
If you are looking to plan an upcoming celebration, we suggest giving our team a call or email to just get your event date marked on the calendar. Your Event Specialist will be able to work out all the details with you as you get closer to your celebration date!
Q: What other adjustments should I expect to see in the post-pandemic era pertaining to my event?
REGARDING FOOD PRICE ADJUSTMENTS:
A: Similar to almost every industry worldwide, our team has also been negatively impacted by the effects of the pandemic when it comes to food and product costs. You may have witnessed firsthand different cost increases in other industries with lumber prices climbing to an all-time high or even with some of your everyday needs at local department or grocery stores. In the catering industry, we have seen food costs continue to increase with certain protein items reaching almost double their cost from just 6+ months ago.
When it comes to the menu development planning for your event, our team of Event Specialists is trained to help guide you on menu options and selections that align best with your vision and your budget. If a certain menu item increases dramatically over the course of your planning time period, your Event Specialist will be able to provide alternate options as a substitution if necessary.
Additionally, as an aftermath of the pandemic, food and product shortages have become a constant challenge for our team. If there is a menu item that presents this challenge on your upcoming event, your Event Specialist along with our Executive Chef will provide an innovative and flavorful solution to substitute.
REGARDING PROFESSIONAL LABOR PRICE ADJUSTMENTS:
A: Much like the rest of the world, we have adjusted our wages to ensure our team members are properly trained, engaged, and can maintain their quality of life. We recognize that our people are one of the main ingredients to making your event vision a reality and better than you could expect. That is why we are committed to continuing our 34+ year reputation of sustaining and retaining our professional and personable core team members through increased investments in continuous training programs, recruitment initiatives, and retention plans. All of these investments have been put into place so that we can continue to be available to better serve you and your guests.