Complete Guide To Mobile Cocktail Bar Hire
Mobile cocktail bar hire is hugely popular for events ranging from weddings to corporate events and private parties. It is also key for delivering drink solutions for brand activations.
And it’s no wonder, a slick drinks offering for an event is often a cornerstone of its success bringing a focal point for guests to gather around as well as delivering great drinks and cocktails to the guests.
In fact, when you hire top mobile cocktail bar companies, you will get a drinks solution that will be a major talking point with guests or consumers. With slick bar set ups, beautiful cocktails and highly professional bartenders, a premium mobile cocktail bar can really elevate your event to the next level.
Although a big industry in the UK, you need to ensure you take time and care when selecting which company to work with. Many mobile cocktail bar companies are a part-time business or a side hustle and with that can come issues. Be wary of doing your due diligence on any companies you get a quote from and ensuring they are able to deliver your event to the level that you require.
This guide will help you understand everything you need to know about hiring a mobile cocktail bar, from what to expect and how to choose the right company to work with, as well as tips on budgeting and ensuring your guests have an unforgettable experience.
Check out our case study – Aynhoe Park
What Is a Mobile Cocktail Bar?
A mobile cocktail bar is a fully equipped, transportable bar that can be set up at almost any venue. These bars often come with trained bartenders, a variety of spirits, mixers, and garnishes, as well as the tools needed to craft delicious cocktails.
Mobile cocktail bar companies can supply a fully stocked drinks solution that includes all staffing, drinks, bars, glassware, ice and equipment or they often can supply just elements of what you may need.
The important thing to remember is that although it may feel straightforward to supply some of your own elements of the drinks solution, for instance, the cocktail ingredients, often these companies use specialist ingredients that you can’t buy at your average supermarket. The advice from us is be careful with what you commit to supplying if you don’t opt for a fully stocked and managed mobile cocktail bar.
Benefits Of Hiring A Mobile Cocktail Bar
1. Convienience
A mobile cocktail bar removes the stress of organising drinks for your event. A mobile bar company will take care of everything from bars, drinks, bartenders, ice, glassware, equipment, set up and clean down. If you are hosting an event – either as a brand, corporate company or individual, leaving the organisation and running the drinks to an external company is the most convenient option so you can focus on the event itself.
2. Beautiful Drinks
Many mobile bar services offer tailored drink menus to suit your event’s theme or your personal preferences. Having professional bartenders come and make beautiful drinks for your event is something you just won’t be able to replicate yourself. Check out our Instagram page to see some examples of beautiful cocktails.
3. WOW factor
A skilled bartender crafting cocktails on a stunning mobile cocktail bar brings a wow factor to events. Flair bartending, where mixologists showcase impressive tricks adds some great theatre to events
Types Of Mobile Cocktail Bars
When hiring a mobile cocktail bar you will have a few options for how you hire a mobile cocktail service.
PrePay Mobile Cocktail Bar
This is often the most popular option. Working with the team from the mobile cocktail bar company, you will work together to discuss all the aspects including guest numbers, service time, drinks menu and mobile bar style. They will then invoice you and at the event you will have a fully stocked mobile cocktail bar that your guests can order drinks from without paying.
Pay Bar
Some events require a mobile cocktail bar where guests or customers pay as they go like a normal bar. While this is increasingly rare for private events, it is a way of keeping the costs down for an event organiser. That said, most mobile cocktail bar companies will request a minimum spend is met so as to ensure they do not lose money if the bar is not used much at your event.
What to Look for in a Mobile Cocktail Bar Service
1. Reputation
As mentioned earlier in this guide, doing your due diligence on any mobile bar service you work with is really important. We think the best way to do this is to have discussions with the company you might work with and get a feel for experience and expertise. It is also important to see who they work with and ask to see a creds deck or case studies so you can get a picture of the type of service they offer.
2. Detailed Planning
Successful events are all about details. When engaging with the mobile cocktail bar company keep an eye out for their approach to the detail. Do they respond to communications quickly? Are the quotes accurate and covering all the basis? Does the bar company take the lead in the planning? These will all give a strong indication of the quality and detail of the bar provider.
3. Varied Options
Having a wide variety of options to make your event fully bespoke is really important. Is there a varied and interesting drinks menu? Can you select your mobile cocktail bar from a number of aesthetic styles? Having plenty of options is important to ensure you get a high-quality bar offering at your event.
4. Pricing Transparency
Make sure the costs are clear, transparent and that you understand any additional costs that you may have to cover. Some companies will offer unlimited packages while others may quote for a certain amount of drinks. Be careful, as you may get charged after the event if you have had more than your pre-paid quota. Another thing to ensure is that you have a detailed breakdown of all the costs including logistics, price per drink, staff costs per hour etc.
Key Questions To Ask
Make sure you have a selection of questions ready to ask as part of your research into which company to use. We have put a selection of questions you could ask below to get you started.
- What Types Of Drinks Do You Offer?
- What’s Included?
- Could I Get Any Additional Invoices After The Event?
- How Much Time Do You Need To Set Up/Breakdown The Bar?
- Who Will Be My Key Contact On The Event Day?
- What Is Your Cancellation Policy?
- Can I see Pictures Of Your Bars?
Planning The Bar For Your Event
There are several things you need to think about when planning your events to make hiring a mobile cocktail bar easier for you. make sure you think about these things before reaching out to any suppliers
Guest Numbers
Always the first step in planning any event is how many guests you expect to be at the event. This is key for any food or drink suppliers as it will allow them to accurately quote based on the size of the event.
Drinks
Have a think about what you want the mobile cocktail bar provider to provide from a drinks perspective. Is it cocktails only or a full bar? Do you want them to serve wine, beer and softs also? Do you have any favourite drinks you would like to include in the menu? This information will really help with the initial planning.
Timings
Have a think about timings carefully. The important aspects are the service times you want drinks available and also when the mobile cocktail bar can set up and breakdown. These elements are needed for accurate quotes.
Venue Restrictions
Checking with the venue that you plan to hold the event of any restrictions is important. These might be access restrictions including stairs or restrictions around timings of getting into the venue. Check on these things before speaking to your bar company.
Theming
Having a clear idea of any theming you may need for the bar, menus, drinks or bartenders is something to consider. Most corporate events want to have some corporate branding on the bars and many private events or weddings now are themed. Have a clear idea of this so your mobile bar provider can best plan your event for you.
How Much Does A Mobile Cocktail Bar Cost?
This is a difficult question to answer due to the fact there are many mobile bar companies charging different prices for their services. What’s important to remember is like any industry, you tend to get what you pay for.
As a rule of thumb, for a mobile cocktail service that is pre-paid, you will be paying approximately £25 to £50 per head for about four hours of unlimited drinks.
As with most things the more guests you have the more cost-effective it will be. this is because mobile bar services have certain fixed costs whether there is 10 guests or 500, so having more guests means this fixed cost is evenly spread.
The key thing here is you are hiring a bar service to come to your event and deliver a premium service, bringing all of the bars, glasses, ingredients etc so it certainly won’t be cheap, no matter who you work with.
