10 answered questions
Staffing, Setup & Logistics FAQs
The operational detail: who arrives when, what the bar needs from your venue, and how Shaker fits alongside your other vendors.
4.7★on GoogleTABCcertified & insured team$15–$35per guestDFWwe come to you
For the full service details, see Bartenders & Add-Ons.
What time does your team arrive?
Staff arrive at least two hours before the ceremony to set up, and leave an hour and a half after the bar closes once clean-up is done. Those hours are in addition to the bar service hours you book.
Do you clean up afterwards?
Yes, and it is the thing reviewers mention most often, including a wedding planner who named the end-of-night clear-down as the reason she books Shaker. The team stays 90 minutes after the bar closes to break down the bar and clear glasses.
What roles can we staff?
Bartenders and bar glassware bussers are the two published hourly roles, both $50 an hour. Barbacks, servers and table bussers are also available, quoted to your event.
Do we need a glassware busser?
Yes, if you rent glassware. Glasses end up on tables, outside and on the dance floor, and someone has to collect, wash and return them. A bartender doing that is a bartender not pouring, so the busser is a separate $50-an-hour role.
How do you work with our planner and caterer?
Alongside them, not around them. Shaker’s bartenders coordinate with the rest of the vendor team from setup through clean-up, which is what planners single out in reviews. One describes the team as efficient and notes they help clear at the end of the night.
How do you keep the bar from backing up?
Staffing to one bartender per 75 guests, and stocking to what guests are actually ordering. Batch cocktails also matter here: a dispenser serves a post-ceremony rush in minutes where the same drink shaken to order would not.
How do you handle a guest who has had too much?
Bartenders manage pace and service through the evening so the bar stays safe and steady. Every Shaker team member is TABC certified, which is the Texas training that specifically covers pacing service, checking ID and refusing service when someone has had enough.
Shaker’s own description of what it hires for is bartenders who know how to keep things cool and safe as well as busy. The certification is the floor under that, not a substitute for it.
How many guests can you serve?
There is no published ceiling. Staffing scales at one bartender per 75 guests and batch cocktails at 75 servings per batch, so a 400-guest event is a staffing and batch-count question rather than a different service.
Do you serve events other than weddings?
Yes: corporate parties, galas, client receptions, open houses, birthdays, anniversaries, showers and graduations, using the same packages and staffing.
How do we book?
Request a quote with your date, venue, guest count and the package you are considering. Reviewers describe the planning communication as the strongest part of working with Shaker, so expect a conversation rather than a form response.
Let’s get your date on the calendar
Tell us your date, venue and guest count and we’ll come back with a real quote. Reviewers say the planning conversation is the best part of working with us.