DIY Reception- the bar

The bar was another important part of the reception, we knew this is where people would be congregating at the beginning of the night for sure. Just like everything else we wanted the bar to feel like it belonged on the beach. We started with something that is already part of the location, a swing, we removed the swing, keeping the frame and turned it into the bar. And looking around the cabin we found several other parts of the bar- some old wooden skies, an old piece of drift wood that became the bar sign...

Then we added a few other things we had been collecting. More jars for a tip jar, old drawers to hold lemons and limes, straws for cocktails and of course the spicy beans.

The other unique part of the bar was the cocktail glasses. We didn't want to rent glasses, we wanted something that fit the whole orchard/winery theme, so we settled on more mason jars. We collected them from garage sales, thrift stores, value village and a great find on craigslist. And part of doing everything yourself means you don't have a lot of staff, so to save on dish washing we wanted people to hang onto their glasses as long as possible. So we came up with the idea of people decorating their jars.

 I think overall the bar was a hit. Oh, did I mention the bath tubs, who needs coolers when you have bath tubs? I don't think I have a picture of them filled with ice and beer but here they are.

We also wanted our guests to have a place to put down their drinks while they mingled, maybe played a little croquet, bocce ball or just chatted. We debated renting bar tables but I was worried they would look out of place. We decided our ideal would be to get wine barrels as cocktail tables, considering we spend a lot of time in wine country we figured this would be easy but the prices were not so agreeable. In the end we just decided to ask sweetly at one of our favorite wineries if they would mind lending us some for a day or two. And they did! Thanks Road 13! (they also provided the the dinner white and red, a definite favorite!)