Notes from behind the bar
Practical advice for anyone planning the drinks at a wedding, party or corporate event: how much alcohol to buy, what a mobile bar actually changes on the night, and how to choose a package that fits. Written by the team behind 250+ events across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
A drinks menu is not a list of everything you like. It is a short set of choices that suits the shape of the day, serves quickly when a hundred people want a drink at once, and does not leave you with eleven unopened bottles of gin. How to build one: the three moments a wedding bar has to cover, the beer, wine and spirits split that holds up, and how much to actually buy.
At a cocktail party the drinks are the event. Nobody sits down, nobody waits for a course to finish, and the bar is the part of the room people keep coming back to. Why that means roughly ten per cent more drinks a head than a seated event, why the split moves toward spirits, and why ice and glassware are the two things people always under-buy.
Nobody books a bartender because they want someone to open bottles. What the hour before service decides, how many bartenders a guest count actually needs, why cocktails change that number every time, and what RSA and RMLV training looks like at eleven o'clock rather than on a certificate.
Related services
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Ask the bar
Our frequently asked questions cover bookings, drinks, equipment and staffing. For anything specific to your event, talk to us directly.
