venue – Shaken Not Stirred in LA

Mobile Bartenders, Uncategorized, Wedding Bartender

La Chureya Estate Wedding

April 11, 2019April 11, 2019 shakennotstirredinla

Last Saturday Shaken Not Stirred provided bartending service for the first time at the beautiful and historic La Chureya Estate close to downtown Palm Springs. Palm Springs is becoming one of the hottest places for destination weddings. For this particular wedding most of the guests traveled thousands of miles from Australia to be there.

I have worked at many fabulous venues throughout Southern California, and I must say La Chureya Estate is one of the most beautiful. The buildings are classic Spanish architecture and the grounds are immaculately groomed and landscaped. The bar area is next to the olympic sized pool, and that is where we pored drinks all night.

The wedding ceremony took place out on the lawn, which is was a perfect backdrop for great photography. We set up a champagne and water stand for the guests as they were arriving. We finished serving all of the arrivals and then moved back to the bar, when the ceremony ended quickly and we were hit with a big line. We served spicy jalapeno margaritas, Moscow Mules, and a variety of other drinks.

La Chureya Estate Venue

Beautiful historic buildings and landscaping
Private location
Close to downtown Palm Springs
Ample space for vendors
Views of the mountains from grounds

Most of the guests at this wedding traveled all of the way from Australia and it was fun serving them. They were all dressed to the nines and I’m sure the photographer (also from Australia got some great pictures. There were 75 guests in attendance, and they kept my other bartender and I pretty busy. We completely served out of tequila and most of the vodka.

I will return to Palm Springs tomorrow to do a 200 guest corporate event. The Coachella Music Festival is going on this weekend and next and we have a few events going connected to that. I also have a “Leaving California,” party to do Saturday night in Corona on Saturday night. You may no how I feel about that – “You can check out, but you can never leave…” Please follow us on Instagram.

Uncategorized, Wedding Bartender

Diamond Bar Center Wedding, 2018

August 14, 2018 shakennotstirredinla

august11 — Notice Groomsmen in the Background

Saturday Night, Shaken Not Stirred traveled to the Diamond Bar Center to provide bartending service for the fifth time at the venue. Diamond Bar Center is maintained by the City of Diamond Bar and is an excellent venue with scenic views and smart landscaping. I am always happy to go back there and like working with the system they have there for vendors.

The bride and I had done much planning for this wedding, as we went back and forth on the drink menu and shopping list in the months prior to the wedding. It is always nice that after much planning, everything comes together and is over with in a few hours, just as planned. For this particular wedding, the lighting and color coordination in the ballroom looked especially nice. I credit the wedding planner, DreamsComeTrueWedding.

august11b — Storybook Wedding at Diamond Bar Center

For this wedding we had a two bar setup, with one bar outside the dining room for the cocktail hour, and then we moved inside to another bar for the main reception. The Diamond Bar Center has two very nice portable bars, and the staff and security there helped us move everything. Within 15 minutes we were able to break down the first bar and move it into the second dining room bar.

Diamond Bar Center Venue

Dining Room can accommodate over 300 people
Bar service is limited from 6pm until 10pm
Scenic views of San Gabriel Valley
Large outdoor patio area
Two portable bars available

We made several different easy cocktails for the guests, including Jameson and Ginger, Cactus Coolers, and Cosmos. Many of the guests were not drinking alcohol, and we had plenty of options for them, including Mango juice, orange juice and sodas. Part of bartending wedding is making Shirley Temples for the kids, and we made plenty of those at this wedding. Another successful wedding for Shaken Not Stirred at the Diamond Bar Center.

august11c — Large Dining Room at Diamond Bar Center

The next three weekends in a row I will be going to the Palm Springs area to bartend a couple of birthday parties, and a wedding. I also have a baby shower and a corporate event to do in Los Angeles, and a going away party in Lake Forest. There was a slight chill in the air this morning, which signals fall is coming. My favorite time a year for doing events. Please follow us on Instagram.

Party Bartenders, Special Event Bartenders, Wedding Bartender

Santa Barbara Wedding Reception

July 13, 2014 shakennotstirredinla

Saturday Shaken Not Stirred was at the Santa Barbara Art Foundry to bartend a wedding reception. The Santa Barbara Art Foundry is an art gallery with an actual foundry on the premises, which also doubles as a very cool event venue. I took my son with me to help and we served a nice crowd of 150 people right up until one AM. We were slammed most of that time and we ran out of several things – but we always had options, including Bulleit

"Are they related?" — “Are they related?”

Rye Whiskey, Bulleit Bourbon, Knob Creek Bourbon, Stoli Vodka, and several different brands of top shelf tequila.

The Art Foundry is on Santa Barbara Street just a few blocks from the pier. It’s been years since I’ve been down to that area and it has transformed into a really cool area populated by hip restaurants, wine bars, and art galleries. I wish I would have taken some pictures because it really is picturesque. It was unusually hot for a beach community and must have been in the high eighties with no breeze at all when we arrived. It was sweltering inside the art gallery for most of the time we were bartending and we barely came up for air from the time we arrived until the last call.

There were some nice people helping us when we arrived, bringing us supplies, etc. I wondered where the bride and groom were and assumed that they were getting married at another location and would arrive later in full wedding regalia with the rest of the wedding procession. Well, it turns out the people helping us set up were the bride and groom. They had gotten married at a small ceremony at an earlier date and were having the reception for friends. I felt like fool – “Yeah, just put those boxes over there, I told them dismissively,”….

My son did a great job and I definitely needed him. He makes up in personality where I am lacking., and I admit I can get grouchy when the heat is on. He made some martinis and jumped right in there making Cadillac Margaritas, Manhattans, Vodka Tonics, and Dirty Shirleys. We had to keep stocking beer and white wine and finally ran completely out of white wine and almost out of red. We had just enough ice to make through the night, and when it is hot ice goes fast, as does beer. The days will likely get hotter and hotter in Southern California all the way until October. Next weekend I am traveling to Palm Springs for a birthday party, and then the following weekend I will stay close to home doing an anniversary party in Encino.

Party Bartenders, Wedding Bartender

La Quinta Costume Party and Eagle Rock Wedding

November 3, 2013 shakennotstirredinla

Friday night I worked a small costume party at a private residence in La Quinta. As I do more and more jobs I am starting to know neighborhoods – this place was just across the street from where I did another job. The house had a very nice granite bar, as most of the homes in La Quinta do. The bar was stocked with just about everything. There were probably thirty guests and most were dressed in costume. I dressed as Lloyd the bartender from “The Shining.” I don’t know if everybody from the party got that. I told one lady who I was supposed to be, and she recoiled immediately – “Get away from me! Not THAT creepy bartender!”

It was nice serving drinks in real glassware for a change. Most of the guests drank wine, but I made a few classic martinis and some mixed drinks. The guests had a short cocktail hour and then dined by the pool. It was a very nice and low key party, and I was happy to do it. I like going to the Palm Springs/Indian Wells/La Quinta area and the season is just gearing up out there. Somebody called me Saturday morning and wanted me to do a last minute day time gig in Palm Springs, but I had to decline because I had to get to the wedding in Eagle Rock that was booked months in advance. Somebody else called me to do a gig in Orange County and I had to decline that one too.

Saturday night I bartended the wedding in Eagle Rock. It was held at the 20^th Century Women’s Club

"I've always been the bartender" — “I’ve always been the bartender”

The 20th Century Women's Club back yard — The 20th Century Women’s Club back yard

of Eagle Rock. This was the first time I had ever worked that venue. It is a very cool old building with a nice back yard where the ceremony was held. It seemed like a very nice place to hold a wedding and was a very relaxed atmosphere compared to some of the venues I have worked.

The specialty drinks of the night were the bride’s special, which was El Presidente brandy and Horchata, and the groom’s special which was strawberry lemonade and Tangueray gin. I served a lot of wine and beer also. This party was booked months in advance, which I suppose is the right way to do it. They hired four servers from another company and rented glassware. I can also provide servers and glassware –ask me for a quote. In the end, many of the guests helped break down and clean up the party, which I have never seen before. If you are thinking about having a holiday or birthday party or any other kind of event in November or December book it now!