"Bartender" for the Washington County Historic Courthouse

hordol

Hello. What did you other courthouse brides do for a bartender at your wedding? I had a couple of people in mind when I booked the venue that I didn't think would mind doing it, but after talking to them they seemed less than thrilled about it. I don't want to hire a bartender since the courthouse doesn't require a licensed one and all they have to do is hand out bottles of beer and pour wine, so I think the cost of a bartender would be way too high for what they actually have to do, you know? I am willing to hire and pay someone, though, I just want it to be reasonable for what the job is. Did anyone have this problem when planning their wedding?

JillianO4

I am kind of in the same boat. I was thinking of looking on craigslist

MrsBassPlaya

I hired Brasa to cater my event there, and I kept a catering member on the whole night as our bartender.  Originally I was thinking just a friend, but having a hired professional there was great.  I had nothing to worry about, and I didn't hurt anyone's feelings by having them behind the bar the whole night.  I think the staff member cost $20/hr, and it was worth it IMO.

hordol

Thanks so much for the suggestion! Brasa is catering us, too--I didn't think they would do that because of alcohol liability or something. Great to know that they do!

MrsBassPlaya

If you're working with Ash, she is the one who actually ran the bar most of the night (if not all night, I'm not 100% sure cause I didn't spend a lot of time there).  Also, since the bartender was there all evening, she also checked on and refilled the coffee as needed since we purchased that as well.

BTW, we had SO many people complimenting us on our wedding food.  Many of them said they were so happy it wasn't the over cooked, dry piece of chicken, and some said it was the best food they'd had at a wedding.  I don't understand girls that say they barely ate anything at their reception, cause I devoured an entire plate of food, and it was awesome!  But I highly recommend spending the little extra money to have their staff set up and run the buffet.  I barely noticed they were there, and they had everything running very smoothly.  Catering wasn't even on the radar as something I worried about that day.

hordol

That's great to hear, thanks! I emailed Ash a couple days ago asking about the bartending thing but I haven't heard back yet. We did decide to spend the little bit extra to have them run the buffet--I agree, it's worth it for the couple hundred bucks (or whatever it was, I don't even remember) to not have to worry about the food at all.