Saturday night, shaken Not Stirred dispatched two bartenders to Cherry Valley to man the bar at a wedding at the scenic Edward Dean Museum. Cherry Valley is just a little west of the Morongo Casino at the base of the hills. Approximately 130 guests gathered at the museum to celebrate the wedding. The museum has a terrace area and stage where they set up the bar and tables and the weather was perfect for an October wedding.
We were scheduled to arrive at four to set up the bar and start serving at five. Traffic was heavy and we arrived right on time. The ceremony ended earlier than expected and guests started lining up for cocktails at about 4:30 before were done setting up. We handled it and served everyone in the line pretty fast, but that shows how important being on time is. Had we been fifteen or twenty minutes late it would have been a disaster. I never like cutting it that close and that is why when I travel long distances, I like to get into the area two or three hours before the event. I have NEVER been late to an event yet, and don’t intend to start doing so. My son, Willie assisted me and was invaluable as always.
We served Cotton Candy martinis and White Russians (Caucasians) as specialty drinks. Fortunately, we had real martini glasses. The Cotton Candy martini is made with vodka, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and then topped off with a wisp of cotton candy. It sounded a bit sweet for me, but was popular with the ladies. The Caucasian, as the Big Leibowski calls them, is vodka, Kahlua, and cream. That one you have to be careful with if drinking. It has a habit of sneaking up on you and biting you right in the ass. We drained a sixteen gallon keg right about the time the party was over.
The wedding seemed to be a grand success. The bride and groom looked very happy together and I wish them the absolute best. The venue required that the place be cleared by 11pm, and so the wedding party ended abruptly at 10, and everyone helped break the whole thing down. It was amazing, that within minutes all of the tables and everything was cleared.
Next weekend I am driving back out that way again to bartend a birthday party in Palm Springs. I have more event scheduled in Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, and Orange County later in November. Then the busy Christmas party season begins.
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