Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.
How do I find a good bartender?
Put some time on your calendar to research and compare top-rated bartenders near you online. Start by looking at their ratings and services. For example, some bartending services will provide a waitstaff, glassware, ice, coolers, food and more.
Next, look at their photos of past events and read the customer reviews. Find feedback on the bartenders’ services. Did they offer fair pricing? Did they show up on time to set up? Did they bring all of the appropriate drinks, cups, supplies and decorations? Did they interact politely with the party guests and provide a pleasant overall experience? And did they do the agreed-upon cleanup afterward?
Narrow down your top choices, and start contacting the bartenders. Ask for cost estimates for your event, and tell them how many people will be attending, what type of event it is and what services you require. You should also ask them questions about their experience.
Bartenders may need a license in your state, county or city to work at a private party. Make sure they’re properly certified before you hire anyone.
How much does it cost to hire a bartender for a private party?
Hiring a bartender for a private party typically costs between $270 and $390 in total. On an hourly basis, expect to pay at least $40 to $60 per hour, as well as a flat fee. How much you’ll pay, however, depends on the time of year or day, the size of the party and other factors. Get in touch with a few bartenders near you and request a free estimate — it’s the only way to get an accurate idea of how much private bartending services will cost you.
Certain counties, cities and states may require licensing. Check your local government’s regulations before starting your search.
In many cases, you might want to choose a bartender who has a license and/or certification. If you’re considering hiring a bartender for an upcoming event or a special occasional, check their online profiles to find out what credentials they have. If you can’t find the information online, don’t hesitate to ask them directly when requesting to receive free estimates.
How much should you tip wedding bartenders?
Sometimes, a gratuity is included in your final bill. If not, consider tipping your wedding bartenders between 10% and 15%. However, this is not a set-in-stone rule. You can always tip more, perhaps 20%-25%, for great service.
What do bartenders cost for a wedding?
It costs roughly between $270 and $390 to hire a bartender. However, if you need a wedding bartender, you should request cost estimates from bartenders near you. Depending on the drinks you plan to serve, the number of guests and other factors, your total cost will vary.
Reviews for Bend bartenders
James S.
Imbrahim showed up on time and setup a great bar display in an odd space that we had give hime to work in. Pior to the evening he was very easy to chat with and promptly responded, letting both of us establish expectations and needs. The evening went off smooth, drinks were fast and excellent and I had guests complimenting the quality of work provided by the bartender all evening.
Prior to this event I had never hired a bartender before, but I would hire these folks again for my next event. They could not have made the experience smoother or easier for me.
BAR-HOMIES
Jennifer w.
We reached out to Platinum Premier Events for our June 2022 wedding (through thumbtack). After a few messages back and forth and a swift phone call, we were impressed with how honest and friendly Marcus was and decided to move forward with his services. He was able to help us decide on how much alcohol we needed to purchase for our party along with if an open bar or full bar was best.
We held our wedding at a venue that hosts many parties any day of the week. Ours was on a Monday (a weekday) so Marcus applied a week day discount. We were so pleased with him so far, we decided to refer him to the party the day after ours. They didn't have a bartender yet and were excited to take our referral. Marcus then offered us a referral discount which he mentioned would be applied to both parties. Sweet!
A few weeks before the wedding, we're looking to settle the bill and make any adjustments where needed. I notice the referral discount wasn't applied. When asking about it, Marcus tried multiple times to tell me that he already gave us a discount, and the discount applied was better than the referral one (the week day event discount). I was confused, because I had the week day discount applied way before referring another party to him, and he did say he would be giving that referral discount to both of us (and the exact dollar amount the referral discount would be). After much back and forth, he gives us the referral discount apologizing for the confusion, but not before trying to give us a less dollar amount referral discount than he had promised. This was a red flag, but we had already paid the deposit. We settle the bill and wait for the wedding day to arrive.
Wedding day arrives. As the bride of the wedding, I'm busy getting ready with bridesmaids and mothers when one of the mothers tells me there is a slight problem. See now Marcus (the owner) had recommended we hire 2 bartenders and 1 event staff worker for our event. However, he only showed up with one (himself, alone). 1 person is not enough. We had hired him to help as not only our bartender, but our server, busser, etc. This is a part of their package with the company. So to help Marcus and save our wedding from having absolutely no bussers, servers or cleaning help, we quickly hired a cleaning company that agreed to come the same day and help fill in. This was last minute help and we are so very grateful they were available because they were desperately needed.
Marcus focuses on bartending. He's working alone so he's working hard. Our specialty cocktails consisted of two drinks that had pre-made mixers crafted by our best man. Everything drink he needed to make was just mix booze with mixer, fairly simple. Our best man showed Marcus how much liquor to mixer you use for these cocktails prior to the ceremony. Unfortunately, Marcus did not follow instructions well and over poured our mixers, making the drinks very weak, overly sugary, and running out on the menu. I find a moment to talk to Marcus, mentioning I notice the missing people. They just didn't show up, or quit he said. I mention we need to talk about it later (being the bride and all I don't have time to talk business) because the majority of the fees for his business is the hourly of the workers (and I had to hire new people to replace his missing ones).
The wedding was going well, until it slowed down a bit (less drinks being served). A few guests hed out early, and I guess this signals Marcus to start packing up chairs early, even at tables with guest still seated. This prompts a mad panic. Everyone gets the signal it's closing time and it's time to leave and break down the entire wedding. We had rented the venue for the entire night. By the time the tornado of stress and cleaning resolves, we lose an entire hour and a half of our wedding day.
I reach out to Marcus a couple days later about a partial refund for the missing people. I reach out on Thursday, he responds on Monday saying he will not take a phone call and prefers to talk about it over messages. He offers me a dollar amount, it is much less than I had expected. I do the math, I share the math with him, reminding him I had to pay the last minute cleaning crew to jump in to save us. I explain to him some issues this whole fiasco had caused, along with feedback on his bartending. He responds with a number less than what I am asking for and refuses to budge, giving me excuses like "I busted my ass... short staffed" and "I still showed up..." (what a horrible response! I STILL SHOWED UP...). If he didn't show up, he wouldve had to pay the entire amount back to us. We literally paid two extra people to come and help him do all of the "extra" work outside of bartending. He wasn't doing all of the work of three people, he had so much help! We hired additional help, to help him! We simply wanted to use the hourly that we were supposed to pay his staff to the people who actually showed up to save us. He even had a party the next day, (the one we referred him to), so he didn't even have break down his bar setting. I message the party the next day letting then know he only showed up with himself, and I guess he only showed up with himself to their party too (and their party was a larger guest count). I asked the party if he had offered a partial refund, and they said he never reached out or offered anything.
Bad business practice.
This was my wedding day. It was definitely effected by his business dropping the ball. He could only say "I'm sorry you feel that way" and refused to refund the cost of two missing staff members. In the end, he gave me part of what I had requested. That's something, I guess.
I would not recommend Platinum Premier Events to anyone until he gets more experience with better business practice, and bartending for that matter. He messed up, we helped, we made it as easy on him as possible. Our advice to Marcus is to adjust your contract so you get paid at what hourly you want, rather than an hourly per person. Oh, and find more reliable people. Two parties in a row, not cool. I am leaving two stars because he did the job, but he did not take care of business.
Platinum Premier Events
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