It happens once in a lifetime for graduating Jayhawks. Black graduation gowns cover the emerald green hill extending from the Campanile. About 5,000 seniors take the traditional walk down the hill to Memorial Stadium each year to celebrate their years of hard work and good memories at the University.
Commencement weekend is just as significant for Lawrence businesses. Every May hotels fill rooms, bakeries decorate cakes and restaurants serve impressive feasts. Businesses have prepared a year in advance for their busiest, most profitable weekend.
“It is no doubt our biggest weekend,” said Nancy Longhurst, general manager of The Eldridge hotel. “We benefit because it covers every aspect; food, drink and lodging.”
Families and friends travel across the nation and the world to attend graduation. Waiting until the last-minute to make reservations can place visitors out of town. Lawrence hotels advise families to reserve a room as early as they can.
“My mom made a reservation last year at this time and we were lucky she did,” said Lexy Sigg, Iola senior. “A friend of mine waited too long, and his family is staying in DeSoto which was the closest.”
The Eldridge has had guests call two years ahead of their graduation, but the hotel takes reservations only one year in advance. Springhill Suites by Marriott also uses a one-year in advance plan. To control the chaos, the hotel designates a specific date for graduation guests to call in on one of six phone lines set up for the day.
“Last year we told people to call on June 30,” said Rosa Perez, associate manager of Springhill Suites. “Within one hour on that day all 105 rooms were sold out.”
During graduation weekend, hotels become stricter on cancellations, payment and how many reservations guests can make. Springhill Suites allows cancellations a few months before graduation, because it can depend on the waiting list or last-minute callers. The Eldridge requires guests to prepay and doesn’t allow any cancellations.
“If you cancel, you’re still going to have to pay,” Longhurst said. “We’re always full on regular weekends, but there is such a high demand for rooms at this time.”
Time and room limits also apply. The Eldridge allows guests to stay a maximum of three days. Springhill Suites doesn’t allow families to reserve more than five rooms.
“We have a special $159 graduation rate for all rooms,” Perez said. “But we can’t just block out the whole hotel for one family.”
Businesses depend on large family gatherings for a profitable weekend. During the weekend, families enjoy dining, going to parties and shopping in downtown Lawrence.
Maceli’s catering is booked solid during April and May. The business caters to large groups and is involved with University events. Maceli’s has served for the Student Alumni Association, scholarship halls, department and school ceremonies, and athletic banquets in the week leading up to commencement.
“This time of year is great for us. Weddings are spaced out, but this is all at once,” said Suzanne Cotrel Doyle of Maceli’s. “It’s the one time the University grants us special permission to cater on campus.”
KU Dining Services has exclusive rights for all University events, but during the busy graduation season Maceli’s helps cater on campus. Maceli’s also caters for family parties of more than 25 people. Because of its diverse customers, Maceli’s is event specific; meaning the customer decides on the food, price and location of the event.
“We serve different types of groups, especially this time of year,” Doyle said. “They pick what’s most important to them, but most importantly what’s in their budget.”
Doyle has five family parties lined up for graduation weekend, all with different price ranges.
“I can tell you each party is unique,” Doyle said. “One customer is spending $42 per guest. Another is spending $17 per guest.”
Doyle believes families are willing to spend the money on a catered party. The expense is worth the time to visit with family and friends and enjoy while someone else cooks.
Vermont Street BBQ, also a catering business, sees an increase by 150 percent during May. A typical week has three catered events, but on graduation weekend the restaurant caters about 18 parties a day.
“Catering is huge for us,” Jordan Shelton, owner of Vermont Street BBQ said. “We bring in a lot of money because of the size of the parties, but they’re easy to do. We just drop off the food and leave.”
Bakeries have a huge increase in orders for graduation. Customers call months in advance at local Dillons and Hy-Vee stores to order a personalized cake.
“Graduation week alone brings in $ 2,000-3,000,” said Kerry Chalmers a cake decorator at Hy-Vee.
To keep the week running smoothly, bakeries follow an organized process. Two weeks in advance, ingredients for graduation are ordered to complete about 150 cakes. On a normal week, one or two cake decorators are in the bakery. Because of the number of cakes and the time frame, Hy-Vee brings in five or six extra workers during graduation week. Most of the customers call months or a few weeks early, but some customers call within a few days or the night before.
“We don’t turn people down even if it is the night before,” said Jacqulyn Padilla, a cake decorator at Dillons. “We did have to come up with a way to deal with late orders though.”
During the week of graduation, cakes are made all day and picked up from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. To guarantee last-minute orders, Dillons started an overnight shift. A cake decorator comes in and works from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. right before graduation.
“You are guaranteed a cake,” Padilla said. “If it is just too close we have about 100 pre-iced cakes ready to go.”
Both hotels and food service employees realize the importance of accommodating their guests at such an exciting time. They profit by making the weekend more enjoyable and less stressful for their customers.
“My whole family is coming into town for my party,” Lexy Sigg said. “We are going to spend as much time as possible together.”
