Entertaining Basics: Setting Up the Bar

Why You Need a Pretty Bar Area:

When we have friends over, I have to confess that I’m not the best at walking around the party, refilling drinks and bringing people food. I always intend to do that, but then I get distracted talking to people or greeting new arrivals or trying to keep Mr. Trucks from creating a ruckus-like the time that he snagged a whole plate of bacon-wrapped dates off a table and ate them in two seconds. (Maybe I should be putting him down for a doggy nap during parties, haha!) That makes it very important to me to create an easy bar set up, where people can access the drinks and all of the ice, napkins and garnishes that they might need, so that if I get chatting away, my guests can refill their drinks and aren’t stuck waiting for me!

Setting up the Bar:

If the weather is nice and we’re outside, I’ll set up a bar on a table, or if it’s cooler weather, I’ll set up on the peninsula in the kitchen. People will congregate at the bar, so you should set it up wherever you want people to hang out. Often we’ll set it up at the opposite end of the room from the entrance to ensure that people make it all the way across the party. If you’re throwing a party with games or an auction table or something that you really want people to see, it usually helps to put the bar close by!

We recently got a very cute blue and white rattan bar cart for outside, but before that I would use a folding table covered in a tablecloth. I’ve found that if you have a cute tray and group the bottle and glasses together on that, you can stick it almost anywhere and it will look organized and attractive.

Bar Supplies:

I always have a wine bucket, a separate ice bucket, tongs, a wine/beer opener, napkins. If I’ve made festive cocktails, like watermelon margaritas or Aperol spritzes, I’ll do my best to pour those for people as they come in to the party and also have the ingredients or pitchers of those sitting out so that everyone can find them if they want a refill. I don’t think that you need a lot of exciting mixers, but I always have seltzers and some fruit garnishes (lemon. lime, or orange) set out so that people can add those. Leaving everything out where people can easily access them makes it easy for people to make drinks just the way they like them.

The Caterer’s Box:

The other supply that I swear by is having inexpensive caterer’s boxes of wine glasses ready to go. One of our friends gave us a box of white wine glasses a few years ago and it was so genius that I’ve added red wine and champagne glasses to the mix. I keep them in our basement, and when we’re having a party, we can carry them up early in the day and put them out, then wash them and return them to the basement after the party. It keeps people from having to look around your (potentially) messy cabinets to find a glass and if one of them breaks, it’s not a big deal. They stack neatly in your basement or a closet or under the bed, so if you’re limited for kitchen cabinet space, it can be a great solution!