Tag: Bermuda Dunes

Mobile Bartenders, Uncategorized

Five Events in Two Weeks: From the Mountains to the Sea

shakennotstirredinla

I have been so busy doing the actual work or running a bartending service, I have neglected doing my blog posts. Shaken Not Stirred has provided bartending services at events in Fillmore, San Diego, Bermuda Dunes, Valley Village, and Studio City over the past two weeks. The events included a wedding, a corporate event, a bachelorette party, and two birthday parties. I did some traveling and two of the events were within 10 minutes of my house.

Fillmore Wedding

I have done a couple of events in the town of Fillmore in Ventura County. It is always nice going out there and it is a small town of 14,000 people that is not on any major freeway. The wedding was held at the City Hall, just next to the old train station in the center of town. It was a perfect day for a wedding, and the they had the city hall decorated real nice.

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Fillmore City Hall

I set up my portable bar on the side of the courtyard and served drinks for approximately 150 people. The host rented a margarita machine, which I had never used before. It seemed easy enough, but it presented many problems. First of all, it kept causing the breaker to switch off, because it pulled so much power. Then it started leaking and leaked out half of its contents before I could get it to stop. It takes at least two hours for the liquid to get slushy, and then the drinks don’t taste very good. I wouldn’t recommend. Other than that, it was a very nice wedding in an idyllic setting.

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Margarita Machine – I don’t recommend

San Diego Corporate Event

I don’t try to get a lot of work in San Diego, because it can be an odyssey getting there and back from the SFV. One of my corporate clients asked me to go down there, and of course I couldn’t refuse. I have done several events for this company in orange county. They are usually product launch events, as was this one. I served drinks for about 100 people. Another successful corporate event.

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San Diego Product Launch

Bermuda Dunes Bachelorette Party

On Friday I drove to Bermuda Dunes to bartend a bachelorette party. Have you ever tried to spell the word “bachelorette”? The host wanted specialty cocktails that required a bit of preparation.  One of the drinks was a watermelon/cucumber margarita. I premade the mix for that using fresh ingredients.  We discovered at the party that the drink benefitted from fresh jalapenos. The ladies had six bottles of booze and wondered if that would be enough for nine people. “If you drink all of that booze, you will be in the hospital. Well, they went through 90 percent of it, and they all were still alive when I left. They loved the drinks.septem4

Valley Village Birthday Party

I only had to drive five minutes from my house to do this party. The hosts have a really nice house in Valley Village with a very smartly landscaped yard that is perfect for entertaining. I made my special jalapeno margarita mix, but unfortunately did not bring enough. There were 70 guests and everybody wanted that for their first round. I was out of that in one hour. So the host had to run and get more supplies. I made the French 75, classic champagne cocktail and was surprised how many of those I served. I want to give a shout out to Salinas Churros that were there. They had an incredible churro cart that they built themselves and their churros were delicious. The churro cart was a big hit.  I served drinks until 2 am and until almost all of the booze was gone. Went through at least 10 bottles of tequila.

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Rager in Valley Village

Studio City Surprise Birthday Party

On Sunday I ended the week by bartending a surprise birthday party in the hills of Studio City. This was a referral from another job I did, which I always appreciate. This was a very mellow family event and kids were there swimming. They had a life guard,  which is always a good idea. I served margaritas, Moscow mules, and beer. It was a very mellow event, which I was grateful for after the two ragers I did before.

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Hills of Studio City

This coming week I have two weekday corporate events in Woodland Hills and West Hollywood. I have three events on Saturday and am sending multiple bartenders out to Mission Viejo, Villa Park, and Silverlake. Shaken Not Stirred has booked 17 events in September and the month is just flying by. I have events in Culver City, Burbank, and La Verne before I close out the month of September 2017. Follow us on Instagram.

 

Mobile Bartenders, Wedding Bartender

Cathedral City Wedding and Bermuda Dunes Oscar Night Party

shakennotstirredinla

I was fortunate to book two back to back parties in the Coachella Valley this weekend. I like visiting the Palm Springs area and usually stay at a hotel there when I do jobs in the area. It is always nice getting a Saturday night job and a Sunday job the next day in the same area. Rain threatened the Saturday wedding and even though we desperately need the rain in California, I was glad we were given a reprieve Saturday night. Heavy rain would have seriously ruined the wedding.

The wedding was held at the historic Cree Estate in Cathedral

Ominous clouds threaten wedding...
Ominous clouds threaten wedding…
Cree Estate Pool
Cree Estate Pool
Mingling at the Cree Estate
Mingling at the Cree Estate
The Red Carpet
The Red Carpet
Great bar for Academy Awards party
Great bar for Academy Awards party

City. It was a very nice spot for a wedding and they did this one up right. They had tents set up to cover the 150 guests as they were dining and over the bar areas, but those would not have hampered a heavy downpour, as we sometimes get. They hired a bartender from another company, and I supplied two servers. We had to set up quickly for a cocktail hour after the ceremony, and the move to another bar for the reception. We pulled that off no problem. It was a busy bar night and we were slinging drinks from 4:00 pm until midnight.

The server situation ended up kind of funny. I normally only get people to help me that I know and have used before, but this time I had a problem getting my regulars in the Palm Springs area because they were all working a tennis tournament. I brought Mia, who has worked with me several times and is incredible.  One girl recommended a friend and I talked to her and she sounded good and so I hired her. That girl called me last minute and said she couldn’t make it, and she recommended one of her friends. I talked to that person and she said she would definitely be there. The morning of I called her and she said she was getting ready to work that afternoon. Well, she was supposed to arrive at 5:30, but a forth woman arrived in her place who I had never heard of before. It all worked out, and as far as I could tell, and it seemed the forth woman did a good job. In the future, I will only use people I know. The wedding party was a rager and we went through countless bottles of tequila and Jameson whiskey. The DJ was very good, though I didn’t have time to get her name. The married couple looked nice together, and I’m sure they will have a great future ahead of them.

The next day I did an Oscar party at the Bermuda Dunes home of Dan and Sharie Bolhmann.  Sharie Hatchett Bohlmann is a fantastic artist and sells her paintings all over the world, and even has pieces hanging in the White House. She works with all kinds of mediums and artistic styles and her home is covered with her artwork, which you can also see on her website. The Oscar party is an annual event that they hold, and I was honored to be a part of it this year. They have a very nice home bar and I served around 80 guests. We went through a couple cases of wine and lots of whisky and vodka. I would say that scotch was the drink of choice.  The party was a great success and everyone went away happy.

I have many more parties and weddings scheduled throughout the summer all over Southern California. Book your party now, and remember, put up the deposit right away if you want to hire me. I have had situations recently where people have hesitated to put up the deposit, and then someone else swoops in and hires me, and then the first people come back wanting to put up their deposit. I have to book the first person who puts up a deposit for a specific date. I will honor that deposit no matter what. I have other bartenders I can send out, but I always book myself first.