Couples choose dry hire venues for the freedom: their own caterer, their own styling, their own day. But when it comes to the bar, that freedom often turns into questions for your team. Who holds the licence? Can we bring our own drinks? Who serves them, and who clears up?

We’re 1958 Events, a licensed mobile bar company based in Ayr. We run fully staffed wedding bars at barns, estates, farms, village halls and marquee sites across Ayrshire and Scotland. Here’s how we work with venues, and how we can take the bar off your plate completely.

Don’t let the bar let your venue down

Couples remember the bar. Long queues, warm drinks, a supplier who runs out of stock or serves without the right licence: it all reflects on your venue, even when the bar wasn’t yours. Your reputation deserves a bar partner you can trust.

• A Personal Licence holder on every bar. Licensing is done properly, with an Occasional Licence applied for in good time for each wedding.
• Responsible service, every time. Challenge 25 at every service, calm refusals, and no staff drinking on duty.
• Properly stocked and staffed. We plan stock and staffing around guest numbers, so the bar keeps moving all night.
• Fully insured. A professional operation from set-up to clear-up.
• Proven at scale. From intimate barn weddings to managing the bars at the Bowls Scotland National Championships.

When we’re running the bar, your team can relax, and your couples get a bar that matches the standard of your venue.

What your couples ask you about the bar

If you run a dry hire venue, you’ll recognise these:

• Do we need an alcohol licence, and who applies for it?
• Can we bring our own drinks, and who would serve them?
• Where do we get glassware, ice and fridges?
• How do guests pay at the bar?
• Who clears everything away at the end of the night?

Every one of those becomes a conversation, an email or a worry for your team. A good bar partner answers them all for you.

What we take off your hands

• The alcohol licence. A Personal Licence holder runs every bar, and we apply for the Occasional Licence for each wedding.
• Our own bar staff. Experienced, uniformed staff who run Challenge 25 at every service.
• Stock, ice and drinkware. Everything arrives with us, so there’s nothing for your team to order or store.
• Card payments. Our own card machines for cash bars and tabs.
• Power and waste, if needed. We can bring our own power and take our waste away when the site can’t provide it.
• Fully insured. A properly run, insured bar operation from start to finish.

How we work with your venue

Your venue, your rules. We fit in around the way you already run your weddings.

1. You pass on our guide. Share our Wedding Bar Guide with any couple who asks about drinks.
2. The couple gets in touch. They contact us directly, and we ask which venue they’re marrying at.
3. We check with you first. Before we confirm anything, we agree timings, access and house rules with your team.

Already work with a bar supplier you’re happy with? We’re glad to cover dates they can’t, or add a second bar for larger weddings.

What your couples can choose

So you can answer the question when it comes up, here’s what we offer couples:

• Five bar styles, including our Rustic, Round, Lawn, Signature and Horsebox bars, to suit a barn, a marquee or a garden.
• Cash bar, open tab or drink tokens, with a £500 bar booking fee and a minimum spend that can go towards welcome drinks.
• Drinks packages through the day: welcome drinks from £7 per guest, reception drinks from £8.50 and a dinner wine package from £17.50.
• A Prosecco Wall for the welcome drinks, from £125.

Add us to your recommended suppliers

Our Wedding Bar Guide for Venues is a short, ready-to-share PDF with everything your couples need to know about bringing a bar to your venue. Send it on to anyone who asks about drinks, and we’ll take it from there.

Download the Wedding Bar Guide for Venues · Get in touch

Venue team questions? Speak to us on 01563 606996 or email [email protected].