Metropolitan Weddings Podcast
Metropolitan Weddings Podcast
Meet The Wedding Pro - Amy with Shakers Bartending
What happens when a passion for true crime, a love for Reese's, and a servant's heart converge in the world of weddings? Meet Amy, the vibrant driving force behind Shakers Bartending Service. Over the past 12 years, Amy has not only perfected the art of the mobile bar but has also turned her business into a beacon of community service. From offering complimentary bar services to veteran and first responder couples to fostering genuine relationships with clients and peers, Amy's journey is a lesson in combining business acumen with heartfelt empathy.
Discover the secrets behind Amy's thriving business as we explore how she scaled from a modest 11 events in her first year to over 100 by her third. It's more than just serving drinks; it's about creating unforgettable experiences with meticulous attention to detail and emotional investment. Amy's team goes above and beyond, even crafting signature drinks named after clients' beloved pets and much more. It's this level of personalization and compassion that sets her apart, ensuring each client feels valued far beyond the financial transaction.
Our conversation also touches on the challenges of sourcing rare requests and the moral dilemmas faced during unforeseen cancellations. Amy's story is a testament to the power of community support and genuine connections in fostering both personal and professional growth. And for those planning their own special day, we shed light on Metropolitan Weddings, a hub of resources ready to make your wedding dreams a reality. Whether you're a bride, a wedding enthusiast, or simply love a good entrepreneurial success story, there's something here for everyone.
Welcome to Metropolitan Weddings. I'm Meg, I'm Dawn, and we are here to educate couples with information from wedding professionals in the industry.
Speaker 2:Our goal is to make the wedding planning process as seamless as possible by providing you with insight from industry professionals.
Speaker 1:Okay, couples, let's get this party started. All right, listeners, we are in luck today because we have on the phone with us one of the people from the industry that I think everyone would agree is like the most joyous to be around. Every she just like brings joy to all of the merchants. I know they would say that about her. Amy, please introduce yourself.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm Amy Rebecca Shakers bartending service, and the fact that you said that makes my day, thank you. I personally think I'm a giant pain in the butt, but either way, when somebody says something like that, that really is. It feeds my soul. So thank you.
Speaker 1:No, absolutely not Everyone in the industry. Well listen, let's put it this way I'm trying to put together the award ceremony banquet and everyone wants to sit at Amy's table. Everyone wants to sit at Amy's table, Can?
Speaker 2:I be at.
Speaker 1:Amy's table. I'm like Amy's table's for you guys that's awesome.
Speaker 3:Here's the thing. Like I'm well, and that's that it is. It's so encouraging because I feel like there are days that you know, when every one of us knows or know this. It's like fighting an uphill battle, you know what I mean. Like it's just, there are days you're like, oh, and there are days that you get discouraged and there are days that you get encouraged, and so when I hear that that's the day, I get encouraged, so that's pretty awesome. So thank you for that. So you just tell whoever is saying nice things that I love them very much.
Speaker 1:Will do. All right, Amy, we like to start with a quick say, the first thing that comes to your head. I'm going to give you some choices and you just fire them off.
Speaker 3:This is dangerous. It is dangerous and this is live.
Speaker 1:You're our first live episode, so I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:That's not true. It's not.
Speaker 3:Oh God, you guys. I was like, oh, this is really dangerous. Okay, get ready to curb the way that my mind tends to think. And if you know, you know that's so funny. Okay, all right, not live, not live you can breathe again. Yeah, that's good. Breathing is positive, all right.
Speaker 1:Question one Do you drink the milk at the end of the cereal?
Speaker 3:Oh, 100% yes.
Speaker 1:All right Rom-com, true crime or horror.
Speaker 3:True crime.
Speaker 1:Atomic fireball Snickers or Starburst.
Speaker 3:Ooh, can I say none of the above.
Speaker 1:Okay, but you have to fill in the blank. Then Reese's, reese's. All right, you win. She's correct, yep, absolutely.
Speaker 3:I don't like the others, I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan.
Speaker 1:But I'll dig Reese's All right, Margarita, martini or Michelob Ultra.
Speaker 3:Straight tequila. Always, she's a fan of the slow-mo Well okay. So I don't really do sugar at all. So if I drink anything, it's always straight tequila, never variation. Wow, yeah, I'm weird. Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:And last one, three words that describe your business.
Speaker 3:Compassion, empathy, drive.
Speaker 2:Wow, nice, yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3:Can I add a fourth Sure Emotional investment. That is two words. Yeah, can I add two words? Amy, give me five words. That wasn't the assignment. That was not the assignment.
Speaker 1:I failed you have gone rogue on almost every question. I love it All right.
Speaker 3:I know I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:Here's rule number one you have to know about Amy. She's definitely willing to think outside the box, and here's proof. So let's talk about what about shakers is. Let's talk about the drive first. Let's talk about shapers and what does it offer?
Speaker 3:and how is it?
Speaker 1:driven.
Speaker 3:You know, okay, so I think there's been a natural evolution over the course of almost well, this is, I mean, december 13th will be the start of our 12th year and there's very much been an evolution. So in the very beginning I entered, entered the market not knowing anybody, really, just kind of blindly doing this research and trying to build a business. And you know I've been a single mom for years, and so at that point my vision was how do I support my children, how do I build something from the ground up, support my children? How do I build something from the ground up, how do I create a position or an entity that I can be proud of? And so that was my original vision. And even though that's carried through the years, I think the natural evolution to that has become, because I've always kind of operated with the servant's heart, and anybody who knows me knows that that's 100% the truth. So the natural evolution is, you know, we've kind of, you know, I mean we've given away, like veteran couples or first responder couples, bars for their weddings. We've done that five times.
Speaker 3:There's been investments made, you know, in different avenues or through different avenues into the community, especially during COVID we started pay it forward rail. I wouldn't be able to do that if I couldn't operate from a place of a business that I'm not only proud of but had experienced growth, and that growth came directly from the vendors in the industry that respect us, care about us and believe in us. So there's a natural evolution to the way the business is operated Now, shakers, obviously being a mobile bar service, um, we can't operate everywhere, we know that. Um, we can't operate where there's, you know, a liquor license unless somebody gives us the permission. So there's been kind of a weird evolution to that as well.
Speaker 3:But I think, that being said, um, it gives us an opportunity to grow as a business in different directions. So it kind of started from okay, I've got children to support, I have this vision. Okay, I've got children to support, I have this vision, let's grow it. Two, it grew. How do I invest in the community? And then how do I naturally evolve in the coming years? I hope that's a solid answer because that's kind of where my head space is.
Speaker 1:Well, good for you. I think it's a great insight into who you are, what drives you and why your business has been successful, because these are like the keystones of what you think about your business when you wake up in the morning. So let's talk about from where you started to where you are today. What is the business? What have you grown it into? From where you started to where you are today, what is the business?
Speaker 3:What have you grown it into? Oh goodness. I think our first year we did about 11. Well, I don't even think I know. We did 11 events our first year. Our second year we did something like 37. And then our third year we were well over 100.
Speaker 3:Wow, talk about growing. Yeah, year we were well over a hundred. So currently, yeah it, it really was, and it was a matter of just kind of caring about clients. I think that's where that emotional investment comes into play. It's a matter of, like that emotional investment in the clients, because I want everyone to walk away from their experience with us feeling like well, one, one, it was money well spent.
Speaker 3:But two, I never want any of my clients to feel like they're a paycheck, and I mean that and I've carried that same philosophy for years. I never want someone's experience with us to feel as though they were a commodity, right, like their money was just, you know, great Thanks. I appreciate it. I cashed a check and I walked away. So I think that that emotional investment into clients, the ability to say you know what I do truly appreciate the fact that you trusted us enough to make us a small facet of the most important and pivotal day of your life, yeah, yeah, as a matter of fact, I put that in a lot of my emails because I mean it, you know.
Speaker 1:I love that, amy, so tell me, like, what couples should hire you? Who who is like? What services are you bringing to the table for couples? Like you're a mobile bar? But let's talk about what that means.
Speaker 3:Sure, um. So I think there's kind of a misconception in the market that you can just, you know, bring in some alcohol and somebody can serve it and that's about it. It really does go down to not only you know, the way from which we serve, from that first call to the emails, to the text messages, to the actual drink menu planning and the implementation of the actually been itself. But there's the insurance aspect. There's, you know, the permits aspect. So, legalities, insurance, we cover all the bases.
Speaker 3:So, as a matter of fact, when it really plays out, I wish and I've said this for a while I wish I could have a GoPro and I would just wear it so people could understand, you know, from the legality issues and the calls that we have to make to the sourcing of products and the way in which we design our drink menus and the ratios that I have to set up and the calls that I have to, you know that I need to make in an effort to, you know, connect with the brides, grooms, you know, whoever our client is at that point, because obviously we do more than just, you know, wedding receptions, but we do private parties, corporate events, fundraisers, things of that nature.
Speaker 3:But there's a lot of detail that goes into the actual planning process, down to the time of the toast. You know who's the DJ going to be or who's your entertainment tonight, so we can coordinate with them and have them make an announcement about 20 to 30 minutes prior to the toast, you know, so we can make sure that all guests have actually visited the bar and then we implement the toast. They're just details that I think that people don't necessarily always see or consider, because it's not every day that they plan a wedding. They don't do this as a profession, as a rule, um.
Speaker 3:So there are details that are very much behind the scenes that aren't always seen I mean, I'll admit I didn't ever think about the bartender making sure everyone had a drink before a toast, so that makes sense, that's huge for me, because if we go into a toast and we have guests who are like oh my god, I didn't even, so all of a sudden we have a rush at a bar while they're trying to give speeches. We want to make sure that doesn't happen. Hyper focus on the couple. So how do we do that?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nice, that was a good one, amy. All right, so let's talk about signature drinks. Is that something that's still pretty common? Do that something that's still pretty common? Do people just have like a large menu full bar? What's what's most popular right now?
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, all of it, all of it, all of it, yeah. So here's the cool thing. So I've had a lot of couples who you know, obviously they're just kind of getting started and so they're starting their lives together and maybe they both have dogs. Well, they want to his and hers drink, but then they also want to name you know, two other drinks after their puppies, you know. So we end up with four different signatures and then we may fill in the gap. So, for example, maybe we'll have a, you know, a Tito's and a Bacardi and a Malibu and a Crown, but all of a sudden they want to do an Amaretto Sour to kind of fill in the gap. Well, we've already got those four signatures, you know, using those primary alcohols, but we want to offer an amaretto. Here's my thing, the only contingency that I have, and I try to tell all of my clients this from the word go I will never push a package in front of my clients and tell them what they have to choose from.
Speaker 3:I just won't. I want them to have specifically what they prefer. So, for example, I have a bride currently and she's so cool, she's so cool, but she has very specific beers that she's requested from Arkansas. Well, we don't have a lot of micro brews from Arkansas that distribute into the state of Missouri, but what she did is she gave me a list and so I've been calling and messaging all of these different distributorships to see if they carry those specific brands. And we've been lucky and we found one of those brands out of probably five Nice. But at the end of the day, I do my best to just source products that my clients prefer. I only have to be able to order it in the Springfield market. That's one contingency that I have, okay.
Speaker 1:I mean, above all, you're professional and like follow the laws of insurance and make sure everybody is like covered in that way. That's one of the things that sets you apart. Is you knowing all of the legalities and handling them professionally, as well as handling yourself professionally during the wedding. What is something else you would say sets you apart from like just kind of other bartending services, or I don't even know how to word that. You guys have a better word for what I'm trying to say. No, no.
Speaker 3:All kinds of words.
Speaker 1:They're full of all kinds of words. Sets her apart from other like bartending services. We'll say that We'll let Amy answer.
Speaker 3:Well, okay, I feel like you kind of set a foundation with the first question. So that empathy and compassion aspect, yeah, um, we've had situations where so, for example, um, you know one, one of our grooms was getting ready to be deployed and they've had to cancel the wedding. Well, in my contract, because we were so close to the actual date, technically, I didn't have to give any money back. I did, um, so I reimbursed, you know, obviously, the retainers they had paid towards service. You know, that's that empathy and compassion aspect.
Speaker 3:So, a lot, of, a lot of places may or may not have been, I guess, that gracious, I suppose you know.
Speaker 3:But then there are other situations where, look, life happens, you know, and whatever that looks like, whatever that means for a specific couple dealing with, whether it be a loss in their family or just whatever major situation they have to navigate, I think being able to really just kind of adjust appropriately as a business owner and have that empathy and compassion towards them is the best way to operate, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Amen, because, yeah, well, it's not, and I appreciate that it's not always about the paycheck. I mean, yes, we'd like to be able to pay our bills and you know, right now it's tight for everybody. It just is because inflation is a very real thing and we're all navigating that. But at the end of the day, I think that we have to keep an eye on moral compass. Where does our moral compass actually point? How do you operate from a place of empathy and compassion as a business owner when, yes, you're trying to pay those bills and you're trying to get ahead and you're trying to feed your family and you're trying to make sure that all of your commitments financially are made? At the same time, you can't lose sight of what it is to be human.
Speaker 2:Right, she's so deep, so I think that I know I'm weird. I always feel like when I talk I always feel like when I talk to amy, I walk away a better person or knowing that you need to be a better person.
Speaker 3:The thing I oh go ahead.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry you go.
Speaker 3:I think, um, I feel the same way about you guys and that's. It's not me trying to be like oh, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna up the ante here or try to blow smoke up anybody's rear. That's not what I'm trying to do. I genuinely love you all and I admire everything that you do and the way that you support a community full of people.
Speaker 3:Um, it's kind of like it takes it moments that not everybody is capable of. So when I speak to you and typically like, would we have conversations behind the scenes and look anybody who I've got a little bit of a sailor mouth, at the end of the day, that will never surpass operating from heart. So anything that I ever say, whether it be laced in a little bit of colorful terminology or not, it will always be from the heart and I will mean every word that I say, and so I can say like 100% that I feel the same way about you guys. It's never a matter of like competition. It literally is just lifting one another up, right, and I don't know how that's lost on some people. Just in general in life, Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Because if you operate from that place, you're not going to lose.
Speaker 2:Right in general in life, because if you operate from the place, you're not going to lose right. So if you want a new, best friend and a bartender oh gosh, um, you know it's I.
Speaker 3:I tell everybody, yeah, you can email me, that's fine, whatever, um, but just call me directly, just give me a call directly at four. I do, yeah, because there's a lot of information from from the very start. You know somebody, may we have a website and, by the way, that website is, uh, shakers mobile bartendingcom. But, um, there's a lot of information that I prefer to be fluid. So if people just want to give me a call, like put in the little vip form online on my website, that's great because it'll come through and I'll be able to follow up with the phone call. But that phone call is so vital because information can be lost, I feel like personality can be lost. So the way that you connect with clients is lost. Via email or text, those are just words on a paper, you know Right. So if you can actually connect with somebody, figure out what their vision is, things of that nature, a phone call is always best, in my opinion, and if we need that number, that number is going to be 417-718-7277.
Speaker 1:Nice, just ask for Amy.
Speaker 2:She'll probably answer.
Speaker 1:She will.
Speaker 2:She said just ask for Amy and I said she'll probably answer.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she'll probably answer. Just ask for Amy and I said she'll probably answer. Yeah, she'll probably answer. I've had, I've I've literally had like text messages come through at like three something in the morning and sometimes I'm up because of what I do, um, and I'll be like hey, exhausted, is there any way that I can follow up in the morning or something? But oh yeah, yeah, no problem, I was just hoping for information, but I don't think that when they send those through, they realize it's actually my private phone, right, yeah, business and private, whatever, but I have it with me, you know. But I will, I'll follow up with people as soon as I see it or as soon as I have an opportunity.
Speaker 1:I think, Amy, it's okay if you let the 3 am text go until the morning.
Speaker 3:I don't think it does. It doesn't happen often. Fine, you can wait.
Speaker 2:You can wait.
Speaker 3:You can wait until three, you know, or I guess, three hours later, until six, to answer my text that I sent at three in the morning, when I was wide awake, but it's fine, I was, so I get the kids typically between like 5 and and five 30 in the morning, because I'd like to have a little like peace, you know, before I actually, you know, wake the beast and I say that jokingly, I love them, but still it's a lot. So, but I'll, I will, I'll just go through and I'll start, like, checking emails and I'll start checking text messages, because on a rare occasion I get that in the middle of the night I get a text, you know, and that's fine, it is what it is, but still I'm like I don't know. Well, obviously they didn't sleep last night, yeah, so yeah, anybody who wants to, exactly, exactly, absolutely, you are speaking to my soul. But yeah, anybody that wants to, just you know, get online, send through a VIP form, call me directly.
Speaker 1:Perfect. I don't have any more questions for Amy today, do you?
Speaker 2:guys. No, I don't Do you, Adam. I feel like I need to go meditate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you've realized you need to be a better person.
Speaker 3:We'll work on that. Oh my goodness amy, I'm sorry that I was so rogue call with you where you speak to our souls as well.
Speaker 1:Thank you for spending your day with us oh, sorry, what?
Speaker 3:yeah, absolutely no, I was gonna say I feel like you know what I got. I've got room for improvement in my life too, so we'll just make it a group effort. We'll hang out together one time a week. We could probably all use it anyway. So, but no, and I'm sorry that I I tend to go rogue, but I appreciate you dealing with my rogueness.
Speaker 1:No, you did good.
Speaker 2:Never apologize.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:Amy, it's been a pleasure. Okay, awesome, awesome, yeah, same always. I love you all so much and thank you, you're welcome.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, I'll talk with you soon.
Speaker 1:You bet, you too bye thank you for joining us for metropolitan weddings engaged podcast be sure to click subscribe so you are notified when our new episodes drop. For more information and to get connected with merchants for your wedding, visit metropolitanweddingscom. You'll find information on upcoming wedding shows, access to our blog, facebook and IG.
Speaker 2:Also look for the latest issue of Metropolitan Weddings on newsstands near you.
Speaker 1:Email any questions or suggestions for topics to hello at metropolitanweddingscom.