One thing we love to help our clients with, is creating the perfect bar menu! In our opinion, what makes a great bar menu are some great signature cocktails! Not only are they a way to offer up a tasty beverage, but you can also take this opportunity to add a personal element to your event. Whether it means creating “his” and “her” cocktails or simply coming up with a fun cocktail to name after your pet, your imagination is the limit! Continue reading this blog post to learn about what we consider when we help design bespoke wedding bar menus.

Variety of liquor

The first and most important question to ask yourself when you start considering signature cocktail options is, “what type of liquor do you like to drink?” and “what will your guests like to drink?” The typical choices would be vodka, rum, gin, tequila, whiskey, and bourbon. Choosing 2-3 liquors that offer a broad appeal is ideal.

Theme + Presentation

Photo Credit Gabriella Katalin Photography

Next, consider how you will tie your cocktails in with the rest of your event's design. Of course this is not necessary, but can be very cool when it does. For example, if you are having a vintage Hawaiiana style wedding with all the cool retro touches, than doing a classic, like a Mai Tai, is an awesome and fitting choice. However if you are doing a romantic and classic wedding with soft pinks and lots of roses, than maybe a Bellini is a better fit.
Another big consideration is the glassware. There are so many fun shapes and sizes of glasses to choose from. Having something special to set your signature drinks apart will really help to pull the look together!
Next up would be considering the garnishes and final touches! We love when drinks are garnished with fresh fruit, herbs, flowers, paper straws, drink umbrellas, etc..
Thinking about how to tie your cocktails in with the rest of the wedding will certainly leave your guests thinking you've thought of every detail.

Personalize It

Aside from creating a cocktail that matches your wedding, you want to create a cocktail that matches your personalities! The “his” and “her” trend has been around a long time, but it's certainly not going out of style any time soon. This is a great opportunity for both the bride and the groom to choose something that is a reflection of their tastes! All of the guests will love learning about what you enjoy drinking and will likely want to try them both.

Another option is to honor a part of your life that is important to you. We've had so many clients name drinks after their pets, favorite places to travel, and even what their parents served at their weddings.

Ease of ingredient sourcing

This next step is often overlooked! Many of our clients want to stick with a reasonable budget for liquor, but still want to have a generous variety and quantity. When this is the case, we suggest choosing liquors and mixers that are easy to obtain at Costco (since that is the most cost effective option here in Hawaii). When sourcing things like mixers and garnishes from Costco, they can be considerably less expensive than purchasing them from a local grocer. Being strategic in this area will certainly help you to get a lot more bang for your buck.

Ease of preparation

This step is also sometimes forgotten … especially when our destination clients start dreaming of Pina Coladas and lava flows. It is easy to gravitate towards tropical blended cocktails when you are planning a Hawaii destination wedding, but what you may not be considering is how time consuming they are to make. If you want your bartender to be able to mix drinks quickly, we suggest cocktails with 2-4 ingredients that don't require any special blending or muddling. However, if you can't let that idea go, you should consider adding on additional bar staff.

We've really loved helping our clients come up with awesome bar menus over the years. We hope that this guide will assist you in making your wedding bar extra special. If you are looking for some visual inspiration, we encourage you to check out our Signature Cocktail Pinterest board here.

If you need some guidance in determining liquor quantities, read our blog post from last year here.