Wedding Triumphs and Disasters

Wedding Planning

Several years ago, a young restaurant manager I worked with, had a horrible cough. For months. After much persuasion she went to a doctor who told her she had allergies, possibly asthma, and gave her a prescription for Advair. Another few weeks go by, still no relief. After more persuasion from friends and co-workers, she asks for a chest x-ray. And is immediately rushed to the hospital, due to a large tumor found wrapped around her lungs.

This young lady was engaged to be married to a local police officer in October. It was only spring when she received the diagnosis. With the upcoming chemo treatsments, hair falling out, radiation burns and such, it seemed improbable to her that she would make the beautiful bride she always imagined she would be, come October.

So what's a girl to do?

Let her restaurant co-workers plan a wedding for her at the NC beach, of course!

The management and staff of our restaurant made phone calls, organized, planned and schemed for 2 weeks. The wait staff donated their tips for a week so we could pay for a beach side bed and breakfast for the honeymoon. A phone call to a local natural grocery store for a small wedding cake. Another call to a florist who would help us out with a discount for the bouquet and flowers for the cake. The father of one of our waitresses, volunteering to perform the ceremony, as he was a preacher. A bartender volunteering to be the photographer. The staff all driving a couple hours to the beach to be the couple's attendants and witnesses. And more donations for the film to be developed, albums made, and photos for the couple's family, some of whom were not able to attend.

Overall, a lovely affair, made with the love and friendship of a lot of people.

But not all weddings go like that. Some in fact are quite hilarious or even disasterous. We've all seen them on the internet and tv. Brides sitting on the cake, the champagne tower falling over, a bird flocking at the best man's head, wedding guests falling on the dance floor.

As if wedding mishaps didn't happen enough if real life, PlayFirst has come out with Wedding Dash 2, a sequel to it's original spin off from the Diner Dash series. In this game, an assortment of wedding planners have been asked to participate and compete in a reality contest to see which is the most professional, who can plan the best weddings, and keep the strange disasters at bay. We help seat and feed a myraid of guests while our wedding planner Quinn does her best to make sure nothing ruins the bride and groom's big day. Mr. Wright is available to capture those wedding memories on film, and the band, well, they are like most wedding singers.... unpredictable and sometimes out of control. And oh, the food! Where'd they hire that chef? I'd love to try the Chili Rubbed Lobster, Crab Bisque, Steak Au Poirve, and Baked Ham with Pineapple. Let's hope we don't have to throw any out!

My favorite wedding guest is Uncle Charles. He's an extremely suave gentleman, and popular with the ladies. A very dapper dresser also, might I add. But don't let him get distracted while he's chewing or Quinn may need to run over and help him to stop choking! Or don't send her over, cuz that's funny too! Especially when his face turns red.

And poor ol' Norbert. He's deaf. And he keeps forgetting that he needs to order his food if he wants to finish dinner on time and get out on the dance floor with his version of Kylie Minogue's 'Locomotion'.

Let's not forget Chloe, the beautiful and popular blond from the original Wedding Dash. She's back this time with her cry baby, Kathleen. But don't stare at Kathleen too long because that child really got hit with a whole lot of ugly when she was born!

For another wedding disaster story, check out: http://www.playfirst.com/blog/192

Virtual Shift Management

I love what I do for a living. I never question my choice to work in the restaurant industry. But like everyone else, I need some down time. Used to read. Garden. Work on art projects. Watch sports. Then last spring, I got hooked on casual games for your PC. It amazed me how many were food related!!! ...Yes, it may seem strange to play a virtual version of your actual job, as a way to unwind. But hey, whatever works, right?

In the past several months I've played almost all of the food service games currently on the market. Here's the basic game concept along with a screen shot of the game. There are plenty more games like these ones here. Previously I had the majority of food service games from the past year described here, but I removed most of them, because honestly, some of them were crap, boring, had limited replay value, poor sound or artwork, or just weren't worth the money. I didn't want my blog to be an advertisement for games that, in my opinion, weren't worth the $19.99. These are the games of this genre that I recommend and own:


Burger Island -This is an assembly game where the game play involves making beef and veggie burger combos with all the toppings, fries, and milkshakes. Game story is that a girl has taken over ownership of a beach burger shack on an island and needs to earn money to expand her burger franchise. Patty can win burger recipes and ingredients from the local island tribal chief to enhance her menu. She is also paired with a hysterical French Maitre'd, Pierre, who keeps her in line. The story line never reveals why a French Maitre'd is needed at a beach burger shack, but just listening to that character really cracked me up. 'Zut alors!' 'Z burger is burnt!' I can't wait for Burger Island 2. It's currently in production from eGames, and I get to beta test it! YAY!! Find Burger Island at eGames!

Ciao Bella- I actually liked this time management game, but for some reason, the trial wouldn't run properly on my computer, and I had heard others with the same complaint, so I didn't purchase the game. But I would have if I didnt have those issues. The characters and story line seem real to life. Get out of bed, make breakfast, put on makeup, go to work, eat lunch, work some more, fool around on computer, talk on cell phone, get yelled at by your boss, go to the mall, church, gym, dinner, movies, and perhaps if you've managed your time, health, money, and spirituality well, you might even get a date! While not specifically restaurant related, the characters own and live above a restaurant, are constantly eating, or visiting another friend's restaurant. So I think it counts.

Sweetopia -a marble shooter game inside a candy factory. Help them get the candy back under control before the big grand opening of the factory to the public. I had fun with this one, colorful graphics, amusing sound, fun game play.

Cake Mania 1 & 2 - Help Jill revive her grandparent's bakery business and save it from a big box developer; and then help Jill's friends manage their strange and otherworldly bakeries. These are combination assembly and time management games, from Sandlot.

Diner Dash -The original Dash finds Flo managing 5 diners, using her business skills to make sure that quick cooking, free appetizers, seating her customers quickly, and keeping the libations flowing keep her customers happy, all in an effort to take her diner business all the way to Nirvana, the bonus restaurant you win if you've scored Expert on all previous levels, created by GameLab and available at PlayFirst.

Diner Dash Hometown Hero-Gourmet - The fourth and best Dash has Flo reviving her hometown with 10 restaurants, plus add ons restaurants, multiplayer capabilities, design your own diner and waiter features, and Flo's Closet to pick and choose Flo's outfit. This game is really exceptional. Although costly, if you get hooked and want to keep buying upgrades. But hey, can you place a price on relaxation and fun? I think not. The Gourmet version with online multiplayer challenges and chat room, as well as all the upgrades is only available at PlayFirst. Buying it anywhere else, will not allow you to have these game options, virtual store, additional restaurants, etc. as you won't be linked to the PlayFirst server.

Wedding Dash 1- Help Flo's friend Quinn start her wedding catering business thru 5 different venues, put out dogfights between bridemaids, fix the record player for the DJ, keep that cake from tipping over, watch that Uncle Ernie doesn't get drunk, and for god's sake, don't let the bride turn into Bridezilla! This one was really fun and different from the other Dash games, and was the first official game spin-off from the Diner Dash games. See my post elsewhere in my blog regarding the newest version, Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around The World.

Chocolatier and Chocolatier 2 - This is a combination time management and tycoon style game. The graphics are truly unique and game play is really original. See my 2 posts regarding this game for more info on the Chocolatier series.

These are but a few of the games involving food service. There are so many more to try. So little time to play them all.

To read reviews of the above games, play trial versions, purchase full versions, or ask game related questions, please visit the game developers websites:

www.Playfirst.com

www.Sandlotgames.com

HAPPY GAMING!!