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Banquet run of show template
Written by a hotel banquet operations manager ·
A banquet run of show is one event's timeline, minute by minute, from the first crew call to the end of strike, with who acts on each cue. The BEO gives you four times (setup, start, end, strike); the run of show fills in everything between them. Below is a blank template and a filled-in example, free to print.
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Counts
Contacts
| Cue | Time | Who acts | What happens | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew call | ||||
| Room ready / walk-through | ||||
| Line-up | ||||
| Doors | ||||
| First service | ||||
| Program item | ||||
| Next course / buffet refresh | ||||
| Program item | ||||
| Dessert and coffee | ||||
| Last call / bars close | ||||
| Event end | ||||
| Strike complete | ||||
Practice sheet, adjust to your hotel. From hotelwright.com.
Run of show, BEO and function sheet
Three documents, three jobs:
- The BEO says what was sold for one function: counts, menu, room, times. See how to read a BEO.
- The function sheet shows every function of the day together. See the Daily Event Sheet.
- The run of show shows one event in order of time, cue by cue: when the doors open, when the salad lands, when the toast happens and when the floor holds the clear.
Events with speeches, awards, a first dance or a tight room flip need a run of show most. A coffee break usually doesn't.
The blank template
Add blank rows for your program. Keep one row per cue, so nobody has to read a paragraph mid-service.
A filled-in example
Fictional event at a fictional hotel. No real client, venue or guest.
| Time | Cue | Who acts | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:00 pm | Setup | Housemen | Rounds of 10, head table, podium, screen |
| 4:00 pm | AV check | AV vendor, captain | Podium mic and screen tested |
| 4:30 pm | Server call | Servers, bussers | Set tables, water, bread, side stands |
| 5:45 pm | Line-up | Captain | Sections, special meals by table, timeline below |
| 6:30 pm | Doors, cocktail hour | Bartenders (2 bars) | Both bars open |
| 7:20 pm | Guests seated | Captain | Salad pre-set confirmed, wine poured |
| 7:30 pm | Welcome and toast | Client, captain | Hold the salad clear until the toast is over |
| 7:45 pm | Main course | Servers on cue | Special meals first, by table |
| 8:30 pm | Awards | Client, AV | Floor quiet: no clearing during speeches |
| 9:00 pm | Dessert and coffee | Servers | Coffee with dessert |
| 10:00 pm | Bars close | Bartenders | Last call at 9:45 pm |
| 10:30 pm | Event end | Captain | Lost property check |
| 11:30 pm | Strike complete | Housemen, servers | Room clear for the morning set |
All names and the event are invented.
How to write one
- Start from the BEO's four times. Setup, start, end and strike are the frame. Everything else sits between them.
- Add every crew call. Housemen work from setup and strike; servers, bussers and bartenders from the start. The calls belong on the run of show so the captain can see who should already be in the room.
- Get the program from the client contact, not from memory: speeches, awards, dances, a cake cutting.
- Mark the quiet moments. "No clearing during speeches" is the cue most often missed, and it is easier to write down than to shout across a ballroom.
- One owner per cue. If two people own a cue, nobody does.
- Version it. When the client moves the awards, reprint with a new version and collect the old copies.
Running it on the night
- Read the timeline out at line-up. Five minutes is enough.
- The captain keeps the run of show; the servers need only the cues that move them.
- When something slips, tell the kitchen first, then the client contact. A late toast moves the main course.
- Tick each cue as it happens. The ticked sheet is a good start for the hand-off note after the event; see the post-event report template.
The banquet captain checklist covers the captain's side of the night step by step.
In Hotelwright
Hotelwright doesn't write a free-form run of show. On the Team plan, each event can print a line-up card with a timeline of the event times and each role's call time, the crew, the event's task list, special meals, VIP tables, bars and notes, and it can print with a second language. Staff see their event's tasks in time order on their phone. The default task list includes a pre-shift line-up for captains, 45 minutes before the start. Program items such as speeches stay in your own run of show, or in the event notes.
FAQ
What banquet managers ask.
What is a run of show for a banquet?
A minute-by-minute timeline of one event, from the first crew call to the end of strike, with who acts on each cue.
Who writes the run of show?
It varies by hotel. Often the banquet manager or captain builds it from the BEO and the client's program. Whoever writes it, the captain should hold the final copy.
Is a run of show the same as a BEO?
No. The BEO says what was sold and the four main times. The run of show fills in the cues between them.
Do I need one for every event?
No. A coffee break or a simple buffet lunch runs from the BEO. Events with a program (speeches, awards, dances) or a tight flip benefit most.
Can I use this template for a wedding reception?
Yes. Replace the program rows with the wedding's own: entrance, first dance, toasts, cake cutting.