As a seasoned participant in feasts, I have a few suggestions that might be helpful, if I may. First of all, if you’re cooking make sure to bring food or money to order pizza with you. It’s easy to get too busy to eat, and then nine o’clock rolls around and we’re ready to clean up, but you’re feeling sick and exhausted and not having fun at all. Second, (I believe Laren has already covered this very thoroughly, but it’s worth mentioning again) it’s best to try and finish your garb by Thursday night. Cutting it closer can lead to stress and bad garb, not to mention taking you away from feast preparations. Third, people who have been cooking a lot, especially Amanda, do not do dishes. Everyone else does. Fourth, do we have dishes to transport all the food to the feast, and are those dishes sturdy? I’ll never forget the accident at my first feast that started with chicken and gravy in a large foil turkey roaster and ended with the roaster buckling and sloshing gravy down my garb. If you’re transporting hot food, do you have potholders and towels for it? Do you have lids for things that can spill out? Ladles and tongs to serve with? (Since Amanda’s done a feast before she’s probably thought of all this, but it doesn’t hurt to mention.) The cooks also need to allow themselves time to freshen up and change into garb before the feast. If this means they need more help wrapping things up from the rest of the club, the rest of the club needs to be there to give it. Cooks also need to make sure they have a few cars and extra help to get the food to the feast. There’s always help for afterwards, but sometimes we’re short before.

As for entertainment, well, if you don’t have your lines memorized by now… yeah. Do whatever the Guildmistress tells you to. Also, everyone has worked really hard, so make sure you allow everyone their time onstage. This advice is to audience members as well as fooles and other entertainers. Heckling and being the peanut gallery is fun, but sometimes we just need to shut up and let the players perform so we don’t risk stealing the spotlight or making people too nervous or what have you. Above all–it’s just a dinner. And this time, it’s only for us. Have fun. Relax. If something doesn’t turn out perfect, it’s ok. I hope these comments have been helpful and that I don’t just come off like Polonius or something.