What a Dry Hire Bar Means for Your Event

Almost every first conversation we have starts with the same question, usually asked a little nervously: so do you bring the alcohol?

The answer is no, and that surprises people until they hear why. We are a dry hire bar. You buy the alcohol. We bring everything else — the bar, the bartenders, the ice, the tools, the fresh citrus, the syrups, the garnishes, and the plan that makes it all work.

Once people understand how it works, most of them like it better than the alternative.

What dry hire actually means

A dry hire bar service supplies the bar and the staff. The host supplies the alcohol.

In practice that means you walk into a liquor store with a shopping list we have built for you, buy what is on it, and whatever is left at the end of the night goes home with you. We handle the rest: delivery, setup, service, breakdown.

The alternative is a bar that sells you drinks by the head or by the glass. That model carries the liquor licence, and the cost of that licence, the insurance behind it and the markup on every pour are all inside the price you pay.

Why it works in your favour

You buy alcohol at retail. Not at event markup, not at a per-guest rate calculated on the assumption that everyone drinks the same amount.

You keep what you do not open. A case of wine that nobody touches is still a case of wine on Monday morning.

You control the quality. If there is a tequila you love, we pour your tequila. If your family drinks one particular whiskey, it is behind the bar. Nobody substitutes the well brand when the bottle runs low.

And you are not guessing on your own. Alcohol planning is included with every package we offer. We help build the shopping list, with recommended quantities and suggestions, once your menu is settled.

What we bring

Professional bartenders. Bar tools. Ice. Garnishes. A bar menu built for your event. Every one of those is included with every package.

The bar itself is yours to choose. A restored seventeen-foot vintage horse trailer for a wedding that wants a centrepiece. A custom seven-foot bar, or a pair of five-foot bars pushed together when the room calls for a longer service line. A compact four-foot bar for a tighter space.

Our cocktails and mocktails are built on fresh-pressed citrus juice and housemade syrups. That is the part guests notice without being able to name it. A margarita made with juice squeezed that morning does not taste like one made from a bottle, and people can tell, even when they cannot say why.

Every rental includes General and Liquor Liability Insurance, and bookings start with three hours of service.

How the menu shapes the shopping list

We plan the drinks first, then the list follows from the drinks.

A beer and wine event is the simplest: buckets, ice, delivery and storage, and tumblers. An open bar means choosing three spirits, which keeps the list short and the service fast. A signature cocktail menu is the one that takes the most thought, because fresh citrus, housemade syrups and garnishes all have to line up behind two or three drinks that belong to your event.

The narrower the menu, the better the bar runs. Two signature cocktails poured well beat eight poured slowly, and your guests remember the drink in their hand, not the length of the list it came from.

Zero-proof is not an afterthought

Some of your guests are not drinking. They are driving, or expecting, or sober, or simply do not feel like it tonight, and they should not be handed a soda in a plastic cup while everyone else gets something beautiful.

Mocktails get the same fresh juice, the same syrups, the same garnish and the same glass. It is the same bar either way.

Planning your own bar

If you are weighing this up for a wedding or a party in Colorado, the questions worth settling early are simple: how many guests, how long you want the bar open, and what you want people drinking. Everything else, including the shopping list, follows from there.

When you are ready, send us the date and the details through the inquiry form on our site, and we will start with the menu.