Tag: house warming party

Wedding Bartender

Palm Springs Wedding Canadian Style

shakennotstirredinla
Father walks bride down the aisle
Father walks bride down the aisle

Friday, Shaken Not Stirred was the chosen bartending service in Palm Springs at a wedding reception where the bride and groom were from Canada, as were all of their guests.  The wedding participants and guests were all happy to have a brief reprieve of the brutal cold of Calgary, Alberta. I know what that is like, growing up in Wyoming. Especially, in March, when you live up north, any escape from the cold weather is certainly something to look forward to.

I learned something new as I bartended this wedding. Virtually every person who ordered a drink, ordered it as a “press”.  A press, in bar terminology means with water added. I was serving Canadian Club, and people would say, “I’ll have a rye and coke press,” In American English, that means a whiskey and coke with water. The Canadians want more water than coke added. The same goes for vodka drinks – a screwdriver, for instance, is also ordered as a press.

I told some of the guests that Americans would never go for this. They would send their drinks back as “watered down.” The Canadian wedding guests told me it is a sure fire way to avoid hangovers. I don’t know about that, but it can’t hurt. It was a hot March day in Palm springs, so I think the Canadians got their money’s worth of warm weather by coming to Southern California.

Make that a "press"
Make that a “press”

There was a photographer, Alan Gough at the party who is also originally from Canada. I wasn’t to mention him, because I think his service was outstanding. He shot pictures the entire day at the wedding, then quickly edited the pictures and put on a slide show, complete with music at the end of the event. No waiting around for weeks with this guy for edited photos. The guests loved his presentation, and the photos were great. His company is called and here is a link to his website.

After I post this, I will start getting ready for a James Bond themed house warming party in Brentwood this evening. I am bringing glassware rentals to the party and will be serving real martinis. I always like real glassware for that reason. I can get all kinds of glassware for your party for roughly $1 a glass. On Monday, I am traveling back to Palm Springs to complete a special corporate project I was contracted to do.  I will be delivering 300 premade drinks to a conference at the Palm Springs Marriott.

Hurry sundown!
Hurry sundown!
Baby Shower bartenders, House warming bartenders, Party Bartenders, Special Event Bartenders

Bartending All Over Southern California

shakennotstirredinla

August is winding down and the summer parties and weddings will continue through the Labor Day weekend. Fall is coming and hopefully cooler weather as people have Indian Summer weddings, birthday parties, and other events before the holiday season kicks off. The past two weekends have kept me busy traveling to events in Camarillo (VenturaCounty), Los Alamitos (OrangeCounty), and Pasadena in Los Angeles County.

I did a housewarming party in Camarillo where the hosts invited fifty people to show off their new house and pool. My clients set up a bar for me in the kitchen, which worked perfectly fine, as the guests mingled on the patio and around the pool. A taco bar was set up outside provided by Frankie’s Catering of Oxnard,  (805) 512-1919.  Many kids where in attendance, and I made a bunch of Shirley Temples. As far as the adults were concerned – the Mai Tai was the drink of the night. I like making Mai Tais because they are a layered drink. I use white rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and a splash of grenadine, then top it off with a Myers Rum floater.

Last weekend, I worked a baby shower in Los Alamitos, and that was definitely a first for me. The host invited thirty ladies for the shower and they served sandwiches, salads, and Champagne. When the host originally hired me we came up with a drink menu, but at the last minute they decided on Champagne only. The host purchased Hibiscus flowers that are soaked in maraschino syrup. I put the flowers with a bit of syrup in the bottom of each champagne flute, and the effect is quite dramatic. It really makes the champagne look classy and it doesn’t affect the taste much. The hibiscus flowers are edible as well. You can purchase the hibiscus flowers in syrup here.

The baby shower was a success and wrapped up around four p.m. and I was on my way home from OrangeCounty when I received a text from another staffing company that I help out from time to time. They wanted to know if I could help them out with a wedding party in Pasadena at six p.m. I told them yes, thinking it would be another great bartending shift. Well, I was quite wrong about that. When I got there on time I was told that I would be doing “scullery” and the captain of the party led me straight to the dish rack where dirty dishes were already piling up.

I though about bailing out right then, but I didn’t because it was plain to see they were up the creek without a paddle. For the next several hours I probably washed 600 dishes. I certainly gave me an appreciation of what dishwashers do. I wasn’t too happy that I had been tricked into dish washing, but I survived. That staffing company does owe me one though. I won’t be so easily tricked the next time.  

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I am currently working on getting a couple of big weddings in October, but so far the schedule for September is pretty open. I usually get a couple of last minute calls and am glad to take them. I do also have a couple of great female bartenders and servers available. Shaken Not Stirred services the entire Southern California area, including, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, and San BernardinoCounties.