Carouse Mobile Bars is a family run business which has over 15 years combined bar experience specialising in the provision of temporary indoor and outdoor pop-up bar hire. They supply some really great advice here for anyone looking to book a mobile bar for an event.

What do you need to know from an organiser in order to provide a comprehensive quote?

For Carouse Bars to be able to provide a comprehensive quote to a customer, we only require the event date, duration of the event, the estimated number of guests, the location and if a temporary event notice (TEN) is required or not.

Follow on discussions after initial contact include colour schemes, special request beverages etc. as Carouse Bars understand that no two events are ever the same.

From this information, we can use our experience and expertise to put together a bespoke and individual event package.

What advice would you give to a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

The first thing that we would advise is to look at the provider’s feedback and reputation. You are putting a great deal of trust into the provider to ensure that the guests are kept happy and that everything runs smoothly. You will also get a feel from the website to the person who picks up the phone about the professionalism of the bar company.

You don't find many mobile bar companies that bolt catering onto their package and there is a reason for that, it is not something they specialise in. Be careful when saving hassle going through a caterer for the whole package - it will cost more and the service quality will be far worse. We will not tarnish every food caterer with the same brush, as there are some that do bars very well. On the flip side, however, there is a great number more that do bars badly. For a caterer, doing the bar is a high value upsell. However, 99% of the time it will cost you more (through their requirement to hire in the bars, glassware and event staff!) and the quality of the product is almost certain to be poorer.

Please tell us a little bit about how and why you started the business.

My wife and I used to regularly run bars on behalf of someone else for a number of years, and following a conversation with my parents (who were nearing retirement age a couple of years ago and looking for something to keep them out of trouble) decided to take a leap of faith and go into business together as a family.

For us being selected to part of a wedding or any event is a great responsibility and privilege, and an enormous amount of trust is put in any event supplier to deliver on the day to ensure it runs smoothly and that the guests have a great time. We wanted to put a real emphasis on building trust with potential clients by providing effective communication and great customer service.

We also did not believe in exploiting captive audiences by charging over-inflated prices, which is why you will struggle to find a cheaper bar tariff locally – but rest assured, our low prices do not reflect on our service. You can be safe in the knowledge that your guests will be well looked after, enabling you to relax and enjoy your event.

Please tell us about a booking you've had through Add to Event, how did it go? Would you recommend us to others?

We have been fortunate enough to have had a number of bookings through Add to Event. If we had to pick one, it would be the most recent one that we provided for a wedding in the beautiful village of Newton Valence. The bar was based in a huge double teepee in a picturesque meadow. We served over 150 guests and the feedback we got on the night and after the event regards the look of our bar, our drink variety, the bar prices and the professionalism of the staff was absolutely incredible. The wedding had a really relaxed and festival feel about it and the guests were a really good crowd – friendly and chatty. For us it is a really big deal to be selected with supplying the bar at a wedding given the enormous amount of trust being put in us being part of someone’s special day and ensuring the guests are happy and have a great time.

I have recommended Add to Event on a number of times to all my catering friends as it is a great platform for potential clients to get in touch with trusted suppliers.