What Happens During A Typical Day At A Mobile Bartending Service
If you have spent any time in the service industry, you know that it is unpredictable. For many, this adds another layer of excitement, guaranteeing that no two days are alike.
As the owner of a mobile bartending business, you’ll be tasked with the following activities:
- Field calls and questions from current and prospective clients.
- Speak with customers prior to the event to determine their vision and preferences, check out the venue, and note any guest allergies or sensitivities.
- Shop for any items needed for scheduled events.
- Schedule and/or hire bartenders for upcoming events.
- Plan drink menu and come up with ideas for specialty drinks based on your clients preferences
- Arrive several hours early to set up the bar and get any special instructions.
- Bartend event.
- Routine maintenance and clean up of vehicles used for transporting supplies.
- Follow up with clients to receive feedback and ensure they received satisfactory service.
Many mobile bartending service owners opt to be the face of the business, leaving the actual bartending to their employees.
How To Become A Bartender In Dallas Texas
So whether you already have a bartending job, need a little extra pocket change at the end of the month, or otherwise, consider bartending a few shifts per week. Trinity Event Staffing provides great bar tender experience that can help you gain valuable bartender training while you get your feet wet bartending in Dallas, Texas. And if you are a seasoned veteran to bartending, then you can get top pay being a temp bartender for hire. Feel free to fill out at an application HERE if you wish to join our team of versatile bar staff.
How Much Alcohol Will My Guests Drink
For weddings, we plan on your guests having 2 drinks for the first hour and 1 drink for each additional hour of your event. For example, a 5 hour event would equal an average of 6 drinks per person. Some of your guests will drink very little and some of your guests will drink a lot, but it all seems to even out.
Helpful Tips!
Heres a list of questions to ask your bartending service and things for you to consider, when deciding on who to book for your wedding bartending needs
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What Bartender Insurance Does
Liquor liability insurance, also known as bartender insurance or mobile bar insurance, covers your expenses if you’re sued. Depending on the policy and the circumstances, that may include legal fees, settlements, medical costs and damages. Coverage can run up to several hundred thousand dollars or even over $1 million, if you need and can afford it.
Read over the policy so you know what exemptions in coverage it may have.
- A given policy may not apply if you’re working in some states.
- Some policies exempt drinking games, two-for-one specials, all-you-can-drink specials or anything else that encourages excessive drinking.
- Some insurers are cautious about covering private events. That’s because it may not be as easy to cut off access when a guest’s had too much.
Expert Advice: A Guide To Hiring A Bartender For Your Wedding
Weddings are all about the guest experience, and an important part of that experience often involves alcohol.
If your venue allows you to bring in your own bartender, there are several things to know so that you choose a professional who comes prepared, wont keep your guests waiting for their drinks and most importantly, who will make sure no one is over-served.
Spunky Spirits, our preferred wedding bartending company with over 15 years of experience, provides insight for A Guide to Hiring a Bartender for Your Wedding.
Stills by Hernan | Spunky Spirits
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What Does A Wedding Bartender Do
As a wedding bartender, your primary responsibilities involve mixing drinks for guests throughout the reception of a wedding. Your duties may include selecting beverages for guests, managing a special cocktail hour, and otherwise staffing the bar while enforcing all relevant regulations. Much like regular bartenders, wedding bartenders often check identification, clean equipment, manage supplies, and help direct any assistants. Unlike regular bartending, you may be paid a flat fee plus the cost of supplies, so you may bill one client for the entire amount instead of charging customers individually. Wedding bartenders focus exclusively on weddingsoften in areas that host weddings regularly and allow for steady workand differ from banquet bartenders, who have a similar job but also serve drinks at non-wedding events.
Bartending Events And Being Your Own Boss Aka Mobile Bartending
We wrote about mobile bartending in one of our past newsletters and how it can be a rewarding and profitable career choice. We had a lot of response to that article, so we decided to expand on it a bit and give it a place of its own on our site. Here is a quote from that newsletter from the founder of BarsandBartending.com about event bartending:
Ive worked in so many types of establishments over the years from pubs to clubs no-star to five-star restaurants, as well as many private functions birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries etc., and do you know where I liked working the best? Not the pub, club or 5-star restaurants, but bartending events like weddings and birthday parties. Why? Because the tips are outrageous and the atmosphere is 100 times better.
Now, there are a couple of different ways you can get into mobile bartending depending on your current position and / or previous bartending experience. If youre already an experienced bartender, order yourself one of the many portable bars from our bar store and get started on your mobile bartending business today!
Youve Never Bartended Before You Have NO Bartending Experience
From here, keep practicing and then start advertising your services starting with word-of-mouth through friends and family and moving into free social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc.
Respect. Theres just something about being your own boss that lifts your chin up just a bit higher.
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How To Get A Bartending License
You can enroll in a local bartending school and complete the course. Or you can figure out what your local laws require to tend bar and just get that. In Texas, visit a TABC certification website, pay around $10, spend a few hours, and be allowed to bartend in Texas. Look into your local and state regulations to find out what you need. You may only need an alcohol server certification or nothing at all. This will allow you to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on a document that isn’t required to work in the field or protect the bar from litigation.
Know Your Guest Count
75 guests per bartender is a general rule of thumb, so if you’re having a 200 guest wedding, you’ll probably want to play it safe and have three bartenders. Having too few bartenders can result in long lines, frustrated guests, and even delays in your reception .
Having too many bartenders is, well, a waste of the money you’re trying to save. It could be helpful to check and see if theres hourly fees and whether or not you can change the number of bartenders at different times throughout the event.
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Bartenders Give Their Best Tips For Getting Started
Your restaurant will provide the training for the level of product they want you to provide. Dont get bogged down trying to teach yourself how to make the perfect Rob Roy or whatever, because its so easy with all the crappy cocktail recipes online to learn stuff incorrectly, whether its recipes or technique or product knowledge. If you want to treat bartending like you would making food in a kitchen, seek out a place where you know youll get the best education, and put in the time.
With serving its a little harder to get personal with the guests, but as a bartender, really engage with your customer. Ask lots of questions about things you notice, wedding ring, tattoo, interesting mustache, etc. Is there a game on? Ask them which team theyre rooting for and join them even if you hate the team. People really want a friend out of their bartender.
If someone asks you for a drink youve never heard of, dont be afraid to ask them whats in it or just look it up on your phone. If possible, I never say no. Say, Sure thing! or, Mmm, Ive never made that before but Ill figure it out. Theres no need to panic about it. Its absolutely going to happen there are just so many drinks out there but you can figure it out. Customers dont mind if you dont know everything as long as youre positive and youre trying.
A Restaurant Bartender Is Not The Same As An Event Bartender
There is a huge difference between a restaurant/bar bartender and an event bartender. Both know how to make margaritas, open wine bottles, and be the life of the party, but event bartenders have experience with improvising, troubleshooting, and problem-solving.
A restaurant/bar bartender is in a building with an established bar area, ice machine, unlimited stock and mixers, and most importantly part of a structured system that should be running like a well-oiled machine. An event bartender walks into the unknown.
Most event venues are a shell or open space that can be uniquely designed in regards to the layout for each wedding. An event bartender is comfortable with finding the venue contact for this particular event, getting a tour of the space, and planning out the layout for the bar area as well as discovering important areas such as the dumpster, staging area, ice machine, and getting special instructions from the day-of contact.
An event bartender has a visually appealing portable bar and all of the necessary accessories. It is the bartenders job to create a bar area that will be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Event bartenders come prepared with a Plan B when things like this happen:
Stills by Hernan | Spunky Spirits
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How To Become A Wedding Bartender
To become a wedding bartender, you typically need several years of experience in a bartending role. You may also need to obtain any required licenses. Clients may strongly prefer hiring wedding bartenders with a demonstrated record of success, so wedding bartenders tend to gain experience in other positions as a barkeep or mixologist before applying for this job. Bartenders may also take this as a side job, serving drinks for weddings on the weekends while working at a regular bar the rest of the time. Additional qualifications for this role include knowledge of alcoholic beverages, excellent skills in mixing drinks, and the ability to understand and enforce all relevant regulations that involve consuming alcohol.
Bartending License Vs Bartending Certification
So, youâre looking into how to be a bartender, but youâre not sure whatâs required to start bartending. Youâve written a bartender cover letter and bartender resume, researched bartender interview questions, but youâre not sure if you need a license to bartend to get the job.
To make things even more confusing, some bartending schools offer licenses, and some offer certifications. Whatâs the difference? And, more importantly, do you legally need a license to bartend? What about a certificate?
Letâs look at what bartending certification is, what a bartending license is, and the difference between the two. Then we’ll see whether or not you need them to start bartending.
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How To Get Liquor Liability Insurance For A Private Bartender
Bartending can be profitable, but it can also be risky. If a customer becomes intoxicated, then has an accident, you could end up facing a lawsuit. If you’re an employee at a bar, the bar’s insurance may protect you. If you work as a private bartender, you’ll have to pay for your own bartender insurance.
TL DR
To buy bartender insurance, talk to other private bartenders about their coverage. Your regular insurer may offer a policy, or suggest an insurer that will.
How Much Should The Couples Expect To Pay For These Services
Generally speaking, our cash bar packages start at $500 and our catered open bar package prices for an event up to 100ppl would range from $1000 to $5000 which includes the alcohol.
Generally speaking, our cash bar packages start at $500 and our catered open bar package prices for an event up to 100ppl would range from $1000 to $5000 which includes the alcohol. Price dependent on the quality of alcohol requested Mid-shelf or Top-shelf spirits). We offer several different packages and services that can be scaled to meet your budget!
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Tips For Having An Open Bar
Having an open bar in your dream wedding event seems pretty costly, isnt it? Well, the below tips might help you to keep it within the budget:
- Going for a limited bar can help you to reduce the cost a lot. You can offer around 2 to 3 drinks for each guest. This will help to keep the budget low.
- Not everyone in the wedding drinks. If your venue is costing you a flat rate per head, you can remove the people from the list who dont drink.
- In some venues, you can bring your own drinks. Moreover, you can even pick the preferred bartenders. That means you can make the cost cheaper by purchasing from wholesaler.
- Customize the labels of the bottles with wedding labels. As a result, the guests will never know whether you are offering premium or average liquors.
Do Bartenders For Hire Need To Be Certified In Delaware
Our company also provides certified bartenders for hire in Delaware, as it is one of the many states that encourages certification to sell and serve alcohol. Chesapeake Bartenders frequently provides wedding bartenders in Dover, Wilmington and throughout the state, and all venues we work with require active bartending certifications for weddings, parties, and special events.
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Do Bartenders For Hire In Virginia Need To Be Certified
Virginia is one of the states that does not require a bartender certification to serve and sell alcohol. Chesapeake Bartenders provides event bartending staff in Northern Virginia, and although there are no requirements for official certifications, our staff is TIPS certified in the neighboring state of Maryland, ensuring they understand their responsibilities as a professional bartender.
In sum, while it may not be a legal requirement to hire certified bartenders for a wedding, party or special event, be sure to look into requirements in your state. If you are looking for reputable bartending companies in Maryland, DC, Virginia or Delaware, the Chesapeake Bartending team is not only certified, but is committed to providing an unparalleled experience that goes beyond traditional bartending duties. Call or today to learn more about our services and how we can make your next party or event unforgettable!
Chesapeake Bartenders
1517 Ritchie Highway Ste L3
Arnold, MD
