Reunions – Shaken Not Stirred in LA

Hollywood Screening Event

June 27, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

Last night Shaken Not Stirred did another week night event in Hollywood. I’ve been doing a weeknight corporate event almost every week for the past few weeks and I hope the trend continues – I love these gigs. Last night it was the premier of the second season of the Comedy Central series, Nathan For You. The event was held at the funky little theatre on Fairfax, Cinefamily

. The Theatre has a cool little outdoor space in the back for events like this with a bar.

I took a new bartender I have met with me, Terrance, who recently moved here from Rochester New York. We served around 180 people wine, beer, and sodas for about an hour before the screening, and then after the screening was over for a couple of hours. Stella Artois was the most popular beer of the night, followed by Ranger IPA. We served two highly rated wines for under $10 a bottle, Round Hill Chardonnay, and Gen 5 Cabernet.

I had made a shopping list for the event planner and he increased the beer order from what I had given him, which turned out to be a good thing – we went through almost all the beer. We served most of two cases of wine. Another successful event for Shaken Not Stirred. Another night in Hollywood where the television industry promotes its wares, and I hope to do many more events like this.

Tonight I am doing a cocktail party in Beverly Hills where we will be serving Manhattans, Whisky Sours, and Pomegranate martinis. I have twelve martini glasses I am bringing to the party, which makes it fun for everybody – including me. I love making martinis and pouring them into real martini glasses. I will do it again tomorrow night at a birthday party in San Clemente.

Shaken Not Stirred serves corporate events, screening, fundraisers, reunions, and openings. We also do birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, pool parties, barbecues, and holiday parties. I have booked a Fourth of July party in Newport Beach, which could be challenging, considering the traffic and parking situation. I will keep you posted.

Engagement Parties, Mobile Bartenders, Party Bartenders

Hollywood Engagement Party and Stevenson Ranch Cocktail Party

April 6, 2014April 7, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

April 5^th was a busy day for Shaken Not Stirred. We had an engagement party in Hollywood, which was the second in a two part series, as we did the first one in Chatsworth awhile back. Two twins are going to be married and I was a glad to be a part of both of their engagement parties, and hopefully will be present at their weddings. Both of the girls, their finances, and their parents couldn’t be nicer people.

I brought two servers and a barback with me to the engagement party. The servers were there to just make sure plates and cups and bottles were kept cleaned up. They had a pizza truck come with a portable woodfired oven and make pizzas. I didn’t get the company’s name, but will try to get it and ad it later. There were about 85 people at the party and it went on until 2:00 am. I served pink grapefruit martinis, cosmos, and margaritas. Coronas and St. Archer were the beers of choice.

Meanwhile, at Stevenson Ranch, I had another bartender, Jessica on the scene to do a cocktail party. I double booked that date but everything turned out great. I don’t know a lot of the details, but I guess there were a lot of kids at the party, and Jessica made a selection of virgin drinks for them. She is a very dependable and competent bartender. Dependability is 90 percent in this business. I have never cancelled or been late to an event, and in fact it is my policy to arrive ½ hour early to set up at no extra charge.

Next weekend I am doing a birthday party in El Monte, then another birthday party on Thursday in Woodland hills. I have a big wedding in Valencia later this month and am taking extra staff with me on that one. I have some dates booked in May and am doing a wedding in Fillmore, where I have never gone before. I have other dates booked in June, and as far out as September, but so far July is wide open and I hope to start filling that month up. I would like to do some reunions and pool parties and a Forth of July party

. It’s going to be a hot summer! You can now follow me on Twitter.

Mexican Wedding

Mira Loma Wedding

March 16, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

Last night I bartended a backyard wedding at a home in Mira Loma in the Inland Empire. I do all kinds of weddings from very fancy affairs to small backyard weddings. This one had about 75 people in attendance and was very nice. They had a a DJ, a live band, a caricature artist, and me, the bartender. I think the family put the food together, which was very good. The large backyard was perfect for hosting a wedding of this size. The important thing is that the people in attendance seemed to have a great time.

It is already getting hotter, so I want to remind everybody to get plenty of ice for their parties, because it melts fast. I think we had seven twenty pound bags for this party and we used every bit of it. I had tubs of Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Bud Light, and Coors. I served Tequila, Malibu, Jack Daniels, and Seagram’s Seven. I had made a shopping list for the host and I think we used up most of the booze.

One of the guests brought two kegs and people were pouring that beer for themselves. When he left the keg was still three quarters full. A lot of people were drinking bottled beer, so that was part of it. I usually tell people not to get keg beer for this reason – most of it goes to waste, and it is very problematic. Kegs are hard to keep cold and difficult to pour. This beer was donated, so free beer is good beer.

This was a traditional Mexican wedding, and they had a live band, Conjunto Norteno (714) 979-9369, which played all of the traditional favorites. I do many Mexican weddings and am right at home there. I speak some Spanish, and even though I am a gringo, I love the music and the culture, so don’t be afraid of hiring me. Many of the Mexican weddings remind me of country weddings I attended when I was younger in Wyoming.

Next weekend I am doing a birthday party in the city of Los Angeles. I get to stay close to home for a change. I have several dates already filled in April and May. I am looking forward to doing many weddings this summer and hope to pick up some graduation parties and reunions, and of course, pool parties. I would like to fill some Sunday dates in.