Episode 42 Building Teams, Trust, And The Perfect Wedding Bar: Drinks By Design

Planning a wedding bar should feel exciting, not overwhelming. We sat down with Melissa from Drinks by Design to share a practical, stress-cutting path to great drinks, smooth service, and safe celebrations. From her first friend’s wedding to running bars at Penn State tailgates and arena concerts, Melissa maps out how clear policies, strong vendor relationships, and a caring team turn a good party into a great one.

We unpack the essentials couples actually need: a focused, guest-friendly menu, smart quantities, and a plan that matches season, venue, and crowd. You’ll hear why sessionable beers beat heavy styles in summer, how to handle IPA lovers without overbuying, and simple ways to curate wine and spirits so nothing goes to waste. We dig into signature cocktail strategy too—batchable picks like mules, mojitos, or margaritas become versatile “bars” with two or three syrups, giving guests options without slowing the line.

Behind the scenes, Melissa explains the process her team follows: arriving 90 minutes before ceremony, bringing tools and signage, coordinating deliveries, and making sure every pour runs through trained staff. We talk openly about liability, champagne service, and VIP items, and how venues can help with ice, storage, and bar placement. Most of all, we highlight the human side—remembering repeat orders, keeping early lines moving, and partnering with DJs, caterers, and coordinators so the night flows.

If you want a bar that’s polished, affordable, and safe, this conversation is your blueprint. Follow Drinks by Design on Facebook and Instagram, then hit play to learn how to stock smarter, serve faster, and celebrate better. Like what you hear? Subscribe, share with a friend who’s planning, and leave a review to help others find the show.

https://www.instagram.com/drinksbydesignbartending/

Transcript

Welcome And Venue Spotlight

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Preferred List, a podcast about the people behind the best wedding days. I'm James, a wedding filmmaker. I've spent years in the industry working alongside incredible vendors, and this show is all about real conversations with the ones who make it happen. Whether you're a vendor or a couple, you'll get honest insight, good stories, and maybe a little inspiration along the way. Let's meet today's wedding vendor. Melissa, how's it going?

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Good, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Good. I'm so glad to have you on. Melissa runs Drinks by Design bartending service here in State College, Pennsylvania. And I'm super excited uh to dive into all things drinks, bartending, what couples can do to help, and just have the best party. Right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

A party.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

A party. I

Melissa’s Origin Story

SPEAKER_01 0:48

love it. Um before we jump into all things bartending though, we're here at Harmony Forge Inn. Harmony Forge is nestled into the rolling hills of Belfont, just 15 minutes away from Penn State. It features a historic house built in 1795, a new lever model creekside lodge, and a rustic barn with some modern touches. And if you haven't met Billy and Casey, you need to do it because they're just good people. Absolutely. Like when you know that people are good people, they're just good people, you can tell that right away. And to be honest, I've spent two days here, and I feel like I have a new set of best friends with the two of them. All that to say, we're here at Harmony Forge, but we're here with Melissa, Drinks by Design.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Hello, hello. How's it going? Good, good.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

You know, I had a bartender on, um, and I have no idea when this is gonna go out compared to that one. But I was kind of like, I was a little like, I don't know how this is gonna go. But I feel like uh I learned so much from that first one, and I'm so excited to see how things are different for your business and the way that you do things. Because uh after all these episodes, I could ask the same question to the same vendor type 10 different times, 10 different people, and they all have a sort of different take on things. Um, it's so fun. But at one point, I say this a lot, at one point you were not a bartender, right? You didn't have drinks by design.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

No, I did not.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

And at one point you started a thing. So take me back to the beginning and and just fill us in, fill the listener in on how this all started for you.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

I wish I could say it was a lot easier to remember because it's been 10 years now since we just celebrated 10 years in June.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Um, so basically, for a very long time, I've always held two jobs. I've had a full-time job and gone to school or a full-time job and worked a part-time job. Um, so I've always been somewhat in the industry of people. So I kind of always have had that face-to-face interaction. Um, and 10 years ago, I was working at Kildare's in State College, which a lot of people don't even remember because it's been closed for so long now. And um one of my friends was like, she texted me. She was my old roommate in college. She texted me and she said, Hey, I'm getting married. I know that you're in the industry in terms of having ramp certification. Do you just do you want to bartend my wedding? And I was like, I mean, sure, why not? Like, do I need to do anything? And she was like, Nope, you just need your ramp certification, which I already had. So I was like, sure, let's do it. So I did it basically as a gift for them for their wedding. Um and kind of loved it. And then actually, my second wedding I ever bartended was here at Harmony Forge, LA. So later in August, there was another um friend of mine that had her mother I had actually student taught with when I was in college going to school to be a teacher, which that did not happen. Not a teacher.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

I went to school to be a teacher as well, and I'm also not a teacher.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

So um her mom had put a post out that was like, hey, we're looking for somebody. And I want to say, probably 10 years ago, it was more focused on being RAM certified than it is what it is now, um, which is license, which is coverage, which is like all the liability. So I did my second wedding and it was here at Harmony. And I was like, okay, this is kind of fun, you know? So from there I kind of did got on some wedding pages, posted some things. I actually

Insurance, Liability, And Going Legit

SPEAKER_00 4:45

had um somebody reach out to me that was like, hey, just so you know, what you're doing is awesome, but you might want to make sure you have some liability insurance because there's a lot of things that could go wrong. And so they were like, hey, you know, there's a lot of liability to this. You might, you know, we could take you on as basically like a third party. Like you could just pay us, we'll put you under our insurance. And I was like, okay, sounds good. Well, I did a couple of that way. And basically she had messaged me and said, Hey, we're gonna, we're kind of ceasing our business. You might just want to kind of figure this out though, because you don't really want to do this without it.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

So for a little while, I was doing buy wedding purchasing of liability insurance, which if you've been in the industry and you know it's it's really not the way to go. It's better to be it's just like any other insurance, it's better just to have the policy and be done with it, less work to deal with. And then we had actually done a wedding, I can't even can't even tell you, 2017, 2018, where the mother of the bride was like, We just love you, and I work for Penn State, and I would love for you to be like on the preferred list for Penn State. And I was like, Well, what does that mean? Yeah. And she was like, Well, basically, there's like this list that everybody is allowed to pick from, but you have to be on that list to be able to do stuff for Penn State. So with that, it was actually physically getting a policy and doing the research. I'll tell you, my insurance company is amazing. They are, they go to bat for me every time. They are always there to answer questions, things like that. Um, Deedson blew it out of Harrisburg. Love them dearly. Um, so they've been wonderful uh through the whole process. Um, but yeah, basically that's kind of how where it went. Got on the preferred vendor list for Penn State, and not so many words, it kind of blew up from there. Like we got a couple Penn State department events. And right after I had posted on social media about us being approved for the Penn State,

Penn State Gigs And Big-Event Growth

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I got a message from one of my coworkers at the Stater at the time that I worked at at Penn Stater, and she was like, Hey, so Brad is kind of looking for a bartender for Tailgate for the BJC. And I was like, Oh, well, shoot him my way. So we ended up doing the corporate sponsor tailgate for Penn State. Oh, nice. Um, and after a couple, he was like, Hey, like we're gonna third party contract you. So basically what that means is if we can't take it on and handle it ourselves, we'll reach out to you to like contract it, which spiraled into the Justin Timberlake concert and getting to bartend that, Metallica, um, Jonas Brothers, things like that. Um then after COVID, I think it was after COVID, um, they reached out and was like, hey, do you would you have enough staffing for you to do the suites at the stadium? Because we got that. And I was like, um, what does that mean? And he was like, Well, it's five every home game. We still need you at the corporate sponsor tailgate, so that's two. And I was like, It's like July. And I already know like how many weddings we have coming up. And I was just like, okay, well, I'm gonna try it. Like, what's the worst that can happen? Right. And so I basically reached out to all my bartenders and I was like, here's our opportunity. Do you think that you can say absolutely yes to seven games a season? And everybody was on board, so we took it. We did that for a couple years. We've since not been doing that just because they switched hospitality groups, but in that we've grown a lot. We learned um there was some good and bad to everything. Yeah. Um, but ultimately we've grown a lot of gotten a lot of relationships from that. Um, we now have a great relationship with Mountain Itney Health Foundation, so we're doing a lot of their stuff. Um, so we've built a lot of friendships and partnerships along the way, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Yeah, I mean, it it's probably a testament to your character and your personality and all those things that you're bringing to the table, I'm sure. But it goes a long way for a business as a business owner. Like, if you have the connections, like your business is bound to be on the upward, you're going to be growing. And if you show up and do a great job, those people are gonna recommend you more and more. And that carries over in the wedding side of things completely. It's the same business mindset that you could have vendor to vendor, venue to vendor. Um, if you're showing up and doing a great job at every wedding that you're at, you know, you're

Relationships That Fuel Referrals

SPEAKER_01 10:05

bound to get recommendations kind of similar to the corporate-y side of things that you've experienced.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

And that's what I, you know, I say to every single person that works with me. I say, you know, if there's a problem, come to me with it and I will go direct. I don't want you having a hard time, whether it's a vendor or a venue. I would much rather myself and them have a conversation as to what the difficulties were. Um, and I'll tell you, like the biggest thing is walking into a venue the first day that I met Casey was back in May. We had done a wedding here already, and it wasn't me on site at the time. But I walked in in May to Casey, and basically she was like open arms, wonderful. Her and Billy are all hands on deck to do everything. She's like, What can we do? How can we help? And the next step was at the end of the night, she was like, What can we do differently? What did where did we fall? And I looked at her and I said, You're here. You didn't fall. That's that's the point.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Like, but that's the mindset that they have.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Well, and to be a new owner to it, that's basically that's a good step. And there are a lot of venue owners that are like that. They step up and they say, What can we do differently? What did we do wrong? Where did we fall? And building that relationship, and honestly, beyond relationship, friendship is so important in this industry. Um, you shouldn't just be showing up to make money, you shouldn't be just showing up to get a paycheck. You you need to build those things because beyond that, that's what's gonna continue to grow our business. And that's what I tell every single person that works with me. Like, I get that some days are bad and they're not always great, and tips aren't always the best. But show up, put a smile on your face, put everything behind you, and remember that the one thing about weddings versus any other situation you may have bartended in is 99.9% of the people are here in a great mood. They're not here in a bad mood. They're not here, you know, you might work at a bar and somebody's come in and they're fighting with their spouse or had a bad day at work, or something that's not typically happening at a wedding. So what is going to change that mindset or how the outcome of the night typically goes is how you present yourself and the things that you do. Um, and that's the one big thing.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

It's it's so it's such an interesting take, too, because it's something that I don't think I've put much thought into on that side of things, is like you kind of have a little leg up because generally people are just excited to be there. Correct. Um, so I'm what I'm hearing from you is like feed off of that, continue that kind of vibe with the service and the attitude that your bartenders have. Correct, correct.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

And I always I really preach them like, hey, get through

Guest Experience And Service Mindset

SPEAKER_00 13:25

that first initial rush of people, then start making the conversations. You know, if somebody that's my big thing, like you don't need to be having that like big long correct like there's a line of 50 people staring at you and you're having a conversation.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

How did you how did you get here? Did you drive or like no, not not right now?

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Exactly, exactly. Or you know somebody, like, hey, tap out on it for about five minutes, let's get through this rush, and then sure, go have them come back up and talk to you. Um, so that's a big thing. Um, a lot of people are super excited that when you like remember their order, which is so funny because they're like they're like, so like you have it ready when they're coming up, and they're like, How did you know? I'm like, Well, you've been drinking it all night. Am I crazy? Aren't I supposed to remember these things?

SPEAKER_01 14:16

It seems like a simple thing, but I think as a guest experience, like it goes a long way. Like, it's almost like remembering their name. I know they're not giving you their name, but in that scenario, it's like, oh, they're paying attention. Like, there's that little nod of like, hey, I see you. I got you.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah, it's funny too, because we all obviously wear our name tags in my one bar tenor this past weekend. Somebody was like, Melanie, you're doing wonderful. And she's like, How do you know my name? Oh, I'm wearing a name tag.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

She's like, What? No, she didn't say that.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

No, no, but she's just like, uh, should I be creeped out? Am I supposed to know you? Yeah. And she's like, Oh, yeah. Yeah. Name tag.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

No, that's so fun. Speaking of kind of like the setup, I'm curious, like, do you have kind of a typical setup at at most weddings?

SPEAKER_00 15:04

So, not a typical, I wouldn't say typical setup. I would say there's a common ground. So look at my house on a Tuesday, it's not great because I prep everybody. So everybody gets, I so start to finish, a client books. Um, we go through the process of a contract, an invoice, a down payment. That down payment, then with that basically ensures that we are gonna be on site, right? And then from there, they get a meeting three to four months out with me, and then constant communication from there. Um, we go over what they're thinking they want to serve, um, how many guests, how long, all that stuff is kind of confirmed. Then as we're leading up, we really confirm details, nail everything down. Um, a bar sign gets made for them. So we typically do all of that for them. Then I take that and I send basically that recap to all of my staff who are going to be on site for a wedding. Gotcha. So they know arrival time, ceremony time, ending time, any stipulations that are happening in the

Process, Prep, And Bar Setup

SPEAKER_00 16:15

contract, whether there's a dollar dance, whether there's a champagne toast, uh, and then basically how things that we're looking to set up. So then from there, I get them all prepped and I have all of the stuff ready for them. Um, whether that means they need certain galvanized bins for soda, water, dispensers for drinks, um, decor, the bar sign, cocktail napkins, all those, all the tools that they need. So basically, my bartend, and then everything gets delivered to them, or they meet me or whatever, they get all that, they head into the venue, they set up, or if it's me on site, obviously I set up. So, our common thing is we always arrive an hour and a half before the ceremony start. And that is to ensure a lot of like different stipulations. Say, for example, it ends up raining on your wedding day. While we all know that that's good luck, you don't want it raining during your ceremony. So if something has to shift and you are now getting married right near the bar, the last thing that we want to do is be banging things around to while you're trying to get married. Um, so we arrive that just to cover a lot of basis. Um, and then we just we go until you're ready to end for the night. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

So uh man, I'm thinking of a couple things. Is there that kind of one package idea where you're showing up that hour and a half before ceremony and you're staying till the end of the party, and that's kind of like what they're paying for that time?

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Yeah, that's that's we basically have that. Um so currently, right now, just because of my space availability, we don't really provide a whole lot excess beyond like with mixers and things like that. I know that there is companies out there that do. I just don't want my staff having to haul all of that in or making a Sam's Club trip or things like that. So basically that's kind of where we stand. There's a couple things like a couple events a year that we do that I, you know, provide a few things to it, or if it's a specialty thing, like we can get ginger beer, we can get syrups and things like that if they're doing some type of specialty cocktail, um, just to help them out. But otherwise, the thought is they all have availability into their venue more than the morning of. Gotcha. So to for us to unload all that stuff, that's a lot. And that's kind of why I've stuck to some of that. Um, just because I help them, I help all my clients figure out how much they need of things. So it's not like I'm kind of putting them in the dark. So I do try to help

What Couples Supply Vs What Bartenders Bring

SPEAKER_00 19:00

as much as I can since we aren't providing that service of providing everything. I also feel as if it's important that you should be able to utilize what you bought, right? It shouldn't be coming back to me or I'm not saying overcharging, but you know, charging for people's time. Like if I'm running to Sam's Club, I feel that there is a a need to charge for, you know, a little extra in terms of the time. So I don't want I don't like to do that. I don't like to, I like to make it as reasonable as possible.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

So so just to clarify, if someone's listening, you're bringing the utensils and the things, tools of the trade to make sure that you have everything you need you need to make sure that you can make the drinks and serve do it efficiently. Correct. The couple or someone related to the couple is in charge of getting all of the liquid things, mixers, the sodas, garnish, ice, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Um, now there is a venue, like we work at some venues that have ice machines on site or ice chests, so that helps. That eliminates that process for them. Um, but overall, like for example, we work with uh Jenna beer distributor a lot out of Phillipsburg. They will deliver to a lot of venues in the area, which is wonderful. So they'll deliver ice and beer to a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

And is that something that like you're kind of uh bridging the gap for couples to place an order with them? Or are you placing the order with them?

SPEAKER_00 20:35

So they're placing the order, but I'm going over the quantities with them. And basically when they reach out to them and they say, Hey, we're working with drinks by design, I think they like make the schedule work a little bit more just because we've had built such a relationship with them. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

I'd imagine there's some couples that are sitting here listening to our bartender talk here, and like, gosh, there's just

Choosing Beer, Wine, And Liquor

SPEAKER_01 21:00

so many different types of people that are gonna be there. They they probably all drink different stuff. What's your best advice for couples when they're trying to figure out like what kind of beer do we get? What kind of wine do we get? Do we have like all of the hard liquor as an option? Or is there like how do we decide on on what to have and even just like how much of each thing?

SPEAKER_00 21:23

So basically, what I really tell a lot of my couples are is focus on what's what the number one most important thing is what are the two of you going to consume if you keep stuff after the fact? Your immediate family, the people you're going to be around. Um, that's number one. Number two is say your one friend is a gin and tonic drinker. Are you gonna buy three handles of gin because of that one friend? When you probably know the consumption level of like a gin and tonic in your friend group. Family group. The other big thing is like liquor stores in PA do take returns within 14 days of anything unopened. So that's a great um resource for all of my couples. So any wine unopened, any liquor unopened, I always tell them wait to the week of your wedding. The reason I say that is one, you can always build your whole order online and kind of know what your budget is going to be. Number two is I would hate for any of my couples to think that, utilize it, and then they buy two weeks out. But guess what? Then on Sunday, they're cleaning up a venue and having to blow out of there to make sure a return is done, and they're trying to go somewhere for a honeymoon.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

So I always give that that way there's some leeway time, or somebody else can always make the return on their behalf. Um, so that's one of the big things that I I kind of go through with them. We also talk about how, you know, is there a middle ground on a light beer that somebody everybody will drink? McGlobe Ultra is always like a middle ground that a lot of people will drink. Uh, or are you looking for more local options? Do you want to do something local like Axeman or Otto's or Elk Creek or something?

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Because you could literally you could go so many different directions. And I mean, you could have some people there that like IPAs or some people that are like pilsners. Like, like you are you saying kind of like try to get the the majority covered with one or two things, and then if there's some smaller pockets of people, like you were saying, there might be one handle of gin drinkers there. They have their drink, they're enjoying themselves, maybe a smidge more because you're like, hey, I thought of you, I got that for you. Um, is that kind of what you're so we have a couple options.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Basically, what I do is one thing that I always like to reiterate to people is like an

Managing IPAs, Weather, And VIP Picks

SPEAKER_00 24:00

IPA drinker. My dad's a big IPA drinker, so I know, but my dad also is not drinking IPAs for five or six hours. So the other thing to think about is the longevity of the time. Are you doing an IPA that is a higher ABV? Because if you're doing a higher ABV, they're probably only gonna have them through dinner. Yeah. So maybe that's something you buy less on. Or do you find something like a founders, which is an all-day, which is closer to a Miller Light. Right. But still the flavor that they would like. Correct. Um and then a big thing is weather. It's so weird to say that, but like in the summertime, heavy beers do not go. It's not something people want to be drinking for a long time. It makes them full, it makes them tired, it may, it's just not as refreshing as a light or a seltzer would be in that case. Um, or we say, you know, go a smaller size on the bottles. Or it, like you said, you know, do we provide something for a guest that's very important to us, but maybe we don't tell everybody that we have it, which means like, hey, Melissa, we bought this for XYZ. They know it's behind the bar, but we don't really are not providing a lot. So we don't even want it listed. So then we know it's back there, we know who it's going to, they know that it's back there.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

It's like a little VIP gas. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

It's the same concept.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Give me the special stuff, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

And then honestly, it's the same concept. Like, we'll have a groom that'll be like, I really like that. I'm like, okay, I'm perfectly fine with that. But do you want to be spending $50 a bottle on a really nice bourbon that you like for everybody?

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Yeah, because they're all gonna come for it.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Yeah, and and then they're like, oh, good point. And so maybe I just bought it for my the groom and my groomsmen, that kind of thing. Yeah. Um, the big push is making sure everything is coming through us. So uh we had a wedding a couple weeks ago that they told their guests that hey, we're not having wine or we're not having this. If you want to bring it, that's fine, but it has to go through our bartender for service. The same explanation went to that customer that came in, the guest that came in. We said, Hey, we have it here. We know it's yours. You are ultimately the person that tells us who is getting it. So we're not gonna, if somebody comes up and says, Hey, I see you have da-da-da-da, we're gonna say, I'm sorry, that's for so and so.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Yeah. But so you're making a very, very clear distinction of like if there is

Safety, Champagne Pours, And Policies

SPEAKER_01 26:40

alcohol of any kind, correct. You know, you know, other people can do whatever they want, but for drinks by design, your team, it needs to pass through the actual service part of it.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Correct. And we and we try to have those conversations very calmly and respectfully with guests, and I get it. It it doesn't make a lot of sense sometimes because you're like, oh, well, I'm just I'm at a venue. What does it matter? And it's just the reiteration of the liability. Like, I cannot be serving, I can't have you serving yourself. That's just not same goes with champagne pours. Um, we are very strict, and I wouldn't say strict, we just follow a policy that states we have to go around and pour all the champagne. So whether that's us prepping it before, whether that means your DJ is announcing, hey, go up to the bar if you'd like a glass of champagne, yeah, whatever that may be, we're fine with doing it. It just needs to make sure that we it's it's making sure that we're keeping your guests safe. That's all that it is about.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Well, because if you don't do that, people are gonna make bad decisions and it's gonna fall back on you, even if you did everything you could to correct try to prevent something.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Correct. And it it's the one wrong move. Like they always say, you know, one person ruins it all for everybody. That's we're trying to prevent that. We're trying to prevent that one bad move.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

Yeah. And if anything, you're you're not saying don't have it.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

It's just put it through the proper channels if you will.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Yeah, absolutely. I'm fine with whatever you want to do, it just needs to come through us, and that's that's all that's in that's all that I stress to everybody.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Yeah. So I'm seeing a lot more, maybe not recently, but I'm just seeing a lot more of like some sort of um signature cocktail, like it's a very like his and her kind of thing. Like, here's a fun thing that the bride likes, here's a fun thing that the groom likes. Um, are you like loving that trend? Like I do.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

It actually it's really funny. It's not so much his and hers, it's all about their pets.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

It's named after their dogs or named after their cats. So it is a fun, it is fun, and it actually, I just make sure that they, whether they want modifications to it or not. Like if somebody and a the big trend right now that I'm loving, and it's is a lot of

Signature Cocktails And Smart Menus

SPEAKER_00 29:00

fun, is they'll pick a drink, a Moscow mule, a mojito, a margarita, and we'll turn it into like a bar, which means that we'll pick a couple flavors. Oh so guess what? You have four drinks out of one drink because you picked two or three syrups for us to get, and then we've made it into a couple different drinks. So now your guests that might not some like something so sweet still have the option, but those that like something super sweet have that option as well. So that's a lot of fun to do that.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

And it is like a good way to like extend a simple thing into more options. And when people have more options, they're like, ooh, this is so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Well, and I always say, like, the one big thing that I've always thought about is think about a restaurant that you go to that has a menu that is massive. It's very overwhelming. For sure. So then that is the reason a lot of times you'll see like a line at a wedding or a line, you know, anywhere is because people are doing the hmm, what do I want? I'm not saying limit it completely and make it so basic that you feel like you aren't giving options, but if you limit it a little bit, your guests tend to be like, oh, I know exactly what I want. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

You're not, you're probably just picking the thing that you like the most, not correct or options of things that you like the most.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Correct, correct.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Um, is that really kind of how you feel uh the line is kept from being a line at the bar?

SPEAKER_00 30:33

That and again, what I said earlier, the conversations are kept for a little bit later. So we love to have conversations with our guests. We love to get to know them and talk to them. It's just we use that time at the very beginning to just say, what can we get you? What what would you like tonight? Sometimes I feel like there are weddings um that that just never

Preventing Lines And Keeping Pace

SPEAKER_00 31:00

happens. It is insanely busy the whole time. Yeah. And you're having those small communications, but you never get to really know the guests, and it's like, okay, well, it's 11 o'clock.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

That's all. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Show's done.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

Yeah. Um it seems like you know, you've positioned yourself in a very like people forward-facing sort of business. Is that like is that life-giving for you? Like, do you enjoy like just being in front of people all the time, or do you kind of have to hype yourself up sometimes?

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Sometimes I have to hype myself up. Uh, and and most of the time I'm all right. It's come Sunday that I'm like, don't touch me, don't talk to me, go away.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Just give me a give me a second.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

Yeah. Um, and if anybody will tell you anything, the vendor hangover is a real deal. Like on Sundays, you roll yourself out of bed and you're like, my whole body aches. Yeah. I'm exhausted. There was never enough sleep that was happening. And it's Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

I don't know about you too. Like, I just never think about drinking water and hydrating myself. And then my body's like, yo, you're dehydrated. Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

See, I for the most part am pretty good about water until I'm too busy to remember. Yeah. Too busy to remember food and water. Like, we'll have people that'll be like, Did you eat? And I'm like, Oh yeah, that's that.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

What is that thing? Uh it I think it's so fun to see couples like

People Energy And Vendor Hangover

SPEAKER_01 32:30

kind of do their own thing, create their own, you know, kind of create their own adventure and allow their guests to like have fun with that too. Yeah, for sure. Uh it seems like, you know, there's so many different ways that couples can kind of make things new and try different things. Um, I'm curious if are are there things that venues could do to make your bartending experience just like smoother, easier, more fun?

SPEAKER_00 33:00

So the only thing that we ever say as a group is like, is there a place for a deep freezer for ice? Because ice is one thing that we go through constantly. So obviously the last thing you want to see is somewhere lined with coolers, like that's just not aesthetically pleasing. Who also has 15 coolers laying around, right? Like, no, they're like borrowing it from every friend and family member they can. Um, so that's a big one for us. Um second is sometimes when the bar is separated from where things are stored, it can cause a little chaos because you always have, unfortunately, somebody that feels they like to self-serve always. So having those conversations, especially later in the evening,

What Venues Can Do To Help

SPEAKER_00 34:00

is it does become a difficult conversation. And when we don't want to call anybody out, that's the hardest part. You don't want to be that person that's like, okay, you're cut off, or okay, you're done. Um, but it, you know, we've had that conversation before, uh, where it's just like if you can't, you're an adult, so if you can't follow the rules, just like a child, you have consequences for those. So that's unfortunate. But honestly, I will say that doesn't happen very often. We do have a lot of guests that are very, very respectful because they obviously respect the couple, and that's the most important part. Like it's about the couple's day, and that is what I reiterate over and over and over and over again. You can try to please everybody under the sun, but at the end of the day, it's about briding groom. Yeah. At the end of the aisle, getting married. Yeah. It it's about nobody else.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

And I mean, it's a it's a nice take, even um, some vendors might be thinking, like, oh, a bartender is just like the party juice, like you're just kind of there later, you're just making drinks, but like it sounds like for you you're taking it past that. You're concerned with the couple, their day, the actual, like, they are getting married. I know they're having a party and they're having a good time, but they are like they're married at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Correct. And we do have like a lot of DJs will be like, we, you know, we wouldn't do this with, we wouldn't be able to be as successful at the end of the night without you as well. And I think realizing that if one party fails, another party can fail, meaning one vendor versus another. Yeah, you're a team. So to walk in ever as a vendor and think it's just about me is ridiculous. Like you should never ever think it is a one person show, ever. Um, because it is all about everybody that's there. And at the end, we all have the same result, and it is about our couple that has asked us to be a part of

Teamwork Across Vendors

SPEAKER_00 36:10

the day, and we're each a small part of the biggest day of their life currently.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Yeah, definitely. So it really is like a team effort. I mean, I mean, it has to be. And if you're not like a team player from any category of vendor, I like again, why are you doing this? Absolutely. Um, I understand there's a business side of things, um, there's kind of that just client communication side of things. Um, but day of, like, let's all just come together and try to put on the best party for the couple that we're working with that day. I'm curious, like, you've talked about your team, you've kind of mentioned some here and there. I'd have to imagine that there are some vendors out there, maybe they're bartender, maybe they own a bartending service, or or maybe they're even just a photographer, videographer, or a planner, coordinator, and there's all these people behind the scenes that um, you know, second shooters, they're all there helping the main person, the business owner, if you will, do the thing that they set out to do and do it really well. I'm curious, like, how do you find good people to surround yourself and that really do care about your business and the success of your business?

SPEAKER_00 37:32

So the craziest part is most of my bartending staff were clients. Alicia, Gary,

Hiring, Loyalty, And Staff Culture

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Melanie, Brooke, Nick, they're all they were all clients. Um, Megan and I went to school together. Um, we worked together before. Danica was a client of mine. Um, also so sorry if I'm forgetting anybody because there are so many amazing people of you.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

She loves you all.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

Um, Shannon, she rocks it too. I I just like I said, there's been so many that have just done amazing stuff.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

Um They come to you at the end of the night and you're like, you've been great. Uh are you hiring?

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Yeah, exactly. Um, and a lot of them, they all love it. They all have the best time. Um, and it's it is really, really, really good to have everybody. But the biggest thing is knowing that they I have their back to anything. Um, if somebody approaches me and says, Hey, so and so did this at our wedding, I go to them, but I also say, I have your back, so tell me what happened. Yeah, talk to me. Why did it, uh why did it come down to this? There is no blame. There is no pointing fingers, because we're all learning together. Yeah, you know? And so to like point fingers at somebody when you know that they're you know their character better than somebody that met them for five hours, it's a little different. So I think that's a big thing. Um, when we've had accolades, so we've won best of bartender for state college a couple years in a row, whether we've placed gold, silver, bronze, whatever, it's always about all of us. It's not just me. That magazine might say drinks by design, Melissa Mangan, but it it's it's about every single one of them and how they show up every single week and ensuring that they know that they always have my support. And if something falls flat, I'm taking the blame for it. It's not on them, it's my fault. And it's either because I lacked communication with them, whether that means I had too much on my plate, or it just it should have been a red flag and it wasn't. But I rarely, rarely rarely feel like I blame them for something just because as the business owner, that is the point of it. Like if they're showing up for you, you have to give them grace to anything. Um, now there's been bartenders in the past that don't work for me anymore, and it's not because they were a bad person, it's just they didn't maybe necessarily show up the way we all show up every week. There are ones that you know show up and they are my right hand person. Um, and I have grace with things Marissa just had her second child, so she's taking a step back. Do I miss her? Heck yeah. But and I know she'd be there when push comes to shove. Right. Brooke's actively pregnant right now. She bartended a wedding with me two weeks ago, and she is very pregnant, but she she pushed through, and I looked at her at the end and I said, I think it's time for you to go home. She's like, No, no, no, I'm okay. I hope it helps. Brooke, I don't need you going into labor. Yeah. Go home, put your feet up. So they're all very good. They all they all show up and do their best. And so that's I do have people reach out there, they're like, hey, are you hiring? My big thing is, is I would always be willing to take somebody on. I just don't want to put my current people in the back corner without them knowing. Like if they want to step back from it, that's fine. I'm perfectly fine with somebody taking a step back and doing a little less.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

Yeah.

Where To Find Drinks By Design

SPEAKER_00 41:40

As long as they communicate that with me. But I'm not gonna put somebody on the back burner just because somebody else wants to step in.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

Yeah. If you're listening and you're a vendor, I mean, I'm hearing a crap ton of loyalty and it's top-down loyalty, which I mean, it's only gonna breed a more close-knit team. And I would imagine just as much as you're saying you go to bat for all of your team, I would assume from the top down, like they're gonna go to bat for you as well.

SPEAKER_00 42:11

I mean, some of them had pretty rough weddings, and they've just put a smile on their face and they said, you know, we're here and we're here to do a job. Like it wasn't great. Did we make great money? Probably not, but that that's not what it's about. It's about we represented you and we did exactly that.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

So well, Melissa, I've just enjoyed our conversation so much. Me too. You have so much uh so much insight and experience, and it's so cool to even hear all of the kind of corporate stuff that you have um under your belt, too. Uh, where can people find and follow the work that you're doing?

SPEAKER_00 42:48

Um, we are on Facebook and Instagram. I think Gary started us a TikTok a while ago. Not sure that that's been kept up. Good to go, Gary. Not sure that that's been kept up. Uh, because I'm just not a big know how to make a TikTok.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

And is it all just drinks by design everywhere?

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Yep, it's drinks by design bartending or bartender, I think, in most places, or drinks by design LLC in most places. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

Yeah, and we'll have all that linked down below. Is there

Upcoming Events And Closing

SPEAKER_01 43:20

like a preferred like reach out to us on this channel?

SPEAKER_00 43:24

We love so I get a lot of messages between Facebook and Instagram. Facebook Messenger for Business, I don't know how anybody else feels, but I absolutely hate it because it's not it's not good. No, it literally buries stuff beyond belief. Email's great, texting's great. I unfortunately also have a full time job, so phone calls are not always a way to go for me. As much as I'd love to talk to all of you, um, they're very hard to do during the day just because I'm actively on the phone with my work all day long. So texting, emailing, all I can do. Um I Do try to respond pretty quickly with everybody. So those are the best.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

What's what do you have coming up that you're excited about?

SPEAKER_00 44:08

So we have Marzano Tailgate, which is one of the big corporate um donors for Penn State. We have Penn State Lacrosse, which is always an alumni weekend, which is always one of our faves. And then in February, we actually are doing the Mount Nittany charity ball at brass 16823 this year. So that'll be a lot of fun. Good 500 people. We'll be serving drinks like crazy all night, and it'll be lots of fun.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

That's so fun. Um, I I've enjoyed our conversation, and I hope everyone who's listened in maybe you've learned more about bartending or what it is or what it's not or what it is when it's good. Um, I know that I have, um, and I appreciate everyone tuning in. And that is all for this episode. We'll catch you guys next time on the preferred list.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Thank you.