With everything feeling so expensive today, everyone is looking for ways to stay on budget. For many events, the bar is both a major attraction and a significant expense. You may be wondering why, or if it’s even worth it, to hire a professional bartender for your wedding or event.
We all have a friend or relative who likes making drinks – why not just put them behind the bar?
Or even better, just set up a self-serve bar – what could go wrong?
Read on to learn why hiring a pro instead is almost always the right move.
- 1. Insurance – Professional bartending companies carry general and liquor liability insurance. Many venues actually stipulate in their rental agreement that if alcohol is being served, the bartender or bartending service must be insured. While it is possible to purchase an event insurance policy separately, a single day policy will generally cost hundreds of dollars on its own and is all too easy to forget to do if you’re leaving it up to a friend or relative. When you hire a professional bartender or bartending service, you get peace of mind knowing that if something does go wrong, they are insured.
- 2. Equipment – Even if your venue has a built-in bar, you still need to make sure that the person behind the bar has the right equipment to actually prepare and serve drinks. And what if your venue doesn’t have a bar? Professional bartenders can bring a portable bar station if needed in addition to all of the standard bartending equipment like shakers, stirring glasses, strainers, measuring jiggers, garnish tongs, bar mats, and coolers. Your professional bartender is generally bringing several hundred dollars worth (or more) of just equipment to your event. While your friend or relative might have some of this, you’ll be on the hook for paying for whatever they don’t have. Even worse, an amateur may show up thinking they have everything necessary only to realize they’re missing a critical piece of equipment. Between insurance coverage and equipment alone, the value you get by hiring a professional bartender basically pays for itself.
- 3. Delicious and consistent drinks – When you want the drinks at your event to actually be consistently tasty, hiring a professional bartender is the way to go. While an amateur may be inclined to pour “strong” drinks thinking they’ll be better, a pro knows that using the proper measurements means that the drinks they’re serving are actually delicious. Plus, using consistent pours will help to ensure that you don’t run out of anything prematurely during the event.
- 4. Not overserving guests – Professional bartenders go through training to specifically pick up on signs that someone is getting close to their limit, or notice when they’ve had a little too much. A professional bartender is aware of how much they’ve served each guest and can perform subtle interventions to help keep guests from getting overly intoxicated, such as offering non-alcoholic options, all the way up to politely cutting someone off if necessary. The bartender is critical part of the team when it comes to ensuring that all of your guests are able to have fun safely and responsibly.
- 5. Specialty ingredients – Ever come across a drink recipe that calls for a fancy sounding syrup, shrub, or bitters and wondered “where am I going to find this”? While some can be purchased at the store, those that aren’t commercially available can often be made at home. However, this additional step requires planning, time, and the right equipment to make and transport it to the event. Most professional bartenders are happy to take care of preparing specialty ingredients to make your signature beverages.
- 6. Efficiency – Just because someone can make pretty good drinks at their house doesn’t mean that they’re prepared to efficiently serve hundreds of drinks all night. Hiring a pro means that you get their experience and skills behind the bar, and your guests get shorter bar lines and better drinks.
- 7. Enjoy the event – When you hire a professional bartender, you effectively are buying peace of mind. You can relax and focus on enjoying your event, because you can trust that they’ll have the bar under control. Your professional bartender or bartending team will handle everything from bar set-up before the event to a clean breakdown at the end of the night. Counting on a friend or family member to properly clean up at the end of the night when everyone’s tired and ready to go home dramatically increases the chances you’ll end up having to do it yourself.
- 8. Menu planning – Trying to figure out what to serve at the bar, let alone how much of everything you’ll need to purchase, can sound daunting. When you hire a professional bartender, they’ll work with you to plan a bar menu that fits your event’s vibe, budget, and guest list. Whether you want to keep it simple with just beer and wine, step up the drama with some signature cocktails, or go all out with a full bar, your bartender will be a fantastic resource to make sure it’s stocked properly.
- 9. Professionalism – When you’re hosting an event, you want everything to be just right. Professional bartenders know that everything from their bar setup to their demeanor and outfit matters. A professional bartender will maintain a clean and organized bar during service. A pro will also usually have a standard uniform of black dress pants and a black blouse or button-up to maintain a tidy appearance even if a spill happens.
When you’re ready to hire a professional bartender for your north Georgia wedding or other event, our small team at North Georgia Bartending is here for you. Put us behind the bar, and we’ll take great care of you and your guests!
call or text: 470-641-2581