Twist Bartending

om my wedding). So far all of my guests without prompting have said “your wedding was amazing, except for your bartender. he was awful”. A few even asked if he has ever bartended before. They are all shocked to find out he was the owner of the franchise. I am a huge cocktail nerd and after spending months testing cocktails that I thought were event safe (not too many ingredients or hard to make) and creating what I thought was a fool proof instruction set for the bartender, I was left extremely disappointed and embarrassed. My guests know how much I love cocktails and were all so shocked that our bar was lacking. Main points of issue (sent from my coordinator to Terry): - It is to my understanding that the couple had sent you cocktail prep instructions months prior to their event and it most likely was never reviewed thoroughly. - Many guests had mentioned that they requested for basic drinks to be made and you were unable to provide that even with the recipes provided to you. The couple made it super straightforward and provided you recipes that you can make with ingredients they had. added note: we had 4 specialty cocktails with detailed instructions and even images of what it should look like. I also provided a list of basic cocktails that could be made with supplies we had (e.g. Cosmo, Gin and Tonic, Rum and Coke, Dirty Shirley/Shirley temple). - Guests were frustrated with your ability to make certain cocktails and noted that you mentioned you did not have ingredients for some of the specialty cocktails they were asking for when all the ingredients were provided on the shelves behind you. - The bride had mentioned to you prior to the event that shots are to be served in plastic/disposable shot cups that were provided. However, we are learning that shots were served in the glass shot cups on the shelves which were party favors for their guests. - Garnishes were not put on the drinks added note: He disputed this, but I asked multiple people and they ALL said there were NO garnishes ever. There were also supposed to be swizzle sticks in one of the drinks and I still have all of them so clearly not used. He also never even opened the rimming sugar or toothpicks. - Bar area was a mess; black storage bucket was on the bar all night. Added note: I had sent him MONTHs a head of time not only a list of what would be supplied for the bar set up, but images of the bar and shelving and glasses. I had also asked what else he would need and he said that set up sounds perfect and nothing else was needed. Clearly he needed an extra table behind the bar, but instead decided to just spread out on top of the bar. There was also plenty of space in front of the bar to shift the bar out more if he needed more space. Additional one’s I have heard since sending the above to him. - About an hour or two into set up My step-father found one of the staff hanging out drinking a beer. Taking a break is obviously ok, but staff should not be drinking on the job. - He didn’t know what a double was or what a dirty shirley was and every time he poured shots they ranged from ~1/2 a shot to overflowing. (just very odd for a "seasoned bartender") - He used the flavored bubbly water in cocktails instead of the plain bubbly water that was located right next to it. A guest asked for a Rum and Diet coke. We had coke, but no diet and he just handed her a cup of rum and said that is what he had - A few guests asked for Margarita’s (not on the menu) and instead of saying we didn’t have that on the menu, he gave her a tequila and lemon juice. -He didn’t use a strainer for muddled drinks. People (including the groom) were picking cucumber seeds out of their drinks. -The bartender and staff were extremely slow. I understand things take time, but they would be asked to do something and just never do it or take 3 times as long as one of my family members doing the same thing somewhere else. (at least this is what was reported back to me from my relatives helping set up the wedding) - My guests started grabbing beers as a “wait in line drink” while waiting for cocktails. One even noted she drank 2 beers while just waiting to order. Eventually most guests started just drinking the self-serve beer, wine and champagne to avoid the bartender. Obviously I would not recommend With a Twist. By far the most disappointing part of my wedding.