Hotel Room Blocks for Your Special Event: What You Need to Know!
October 1, 2026When you’re thinking about your wedding or special event, you’re going to be considering what drinks to serve at the bar. Maybe you’ll be doing beer and wine only. Maybe you’ll be including liquor. If you’re including liquor, you’re going to be maybe thinking about serving signature cocktails. Signature cocktails have been more and more popular over recent years as more restaurants and bars that we visit in our social lives are able to serve delicious and amazing craft cocktails. But when you’re planning on including signature cocktails in your event bar, there are some things you need to know and some common misconceptions that I hear from clients all the time.
Signature Cocktails Typically Cost Extra
You might be using a catering company who is providing you with just bar mixers and you’re bringing in your own alcohol from a liquor store or you’re at a venue that has a liquor license and so you have a bar package. That is going to include bar mixers, but understand what those bar mixers include. They include juices, sodas, club soda, tonic water, and bar fruit. That’s it. It does not include simple syrup, grenadine, amaretto, bitters, anything like that that you would normally see at a bar. Anything that is like a more specific type of mixer is not going to be included in your bar package or in your bar mixer package. So, if you are wanting to include any of those ingredients, there’s going to be an additional charge. Because of this, cocktails, even Signature Cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, which is a very common signature cocktail, involve buying more high-end ingredients. Because of that, those drinks are going to be billed as Signature Cocktails, not as part of your package. Cocktails are typically billed anywhere from $10 to $20 per cocktail on consumption at your event. A lot of times you have to decide ahead of time how many of these you are going to serve. Thus, if you’re already feeling like you’re spending a lot on your bar and now you want to add a Signature Cocktail, just know you’re going to face a consumption charge for each of those individual drinks. This is true even for something that seems as simple as like an Old Fashioned or like an Espresso Martini, which is not a super complicated drink, but does involve higher-end ingredients.
Batching Cocktails
You’re going to pre-order the number of Signature Cocktails you’re going to serve. Most of the time your venue is going to want to batch these cocktails ahead of time. That means they’re going to put together all the ingredients, except for the alcohol, and put them in a pitcher or a carafe to pour from that they then mix the alcohol in. You want this, trust me. Think about how long it takes to make a craft cocktail. When you’re at a bar, you order one, and maybe you get it 10 minutes later. Do you want your guests waiting even 3, 4, or 5 minutes for every single cocktail? You don’t. When you have hundreds of guests coming to the bar, clamoring for these Signature Cocktails, you want them served quickly. In order to do that, so we’re not getting complaints, your bar staff is going to batch the cocktails ahead of time. If you don’t like that and if you want the guests watching these cocktails being built, I really recommend not doing Signature Cocktails because what you’re going to see is the batch of everything but the alcohol poured into the glass and the alcohol mixed in, and that’s how service is done quickly. It’s really effective. It still tastes great, but it’s a different kind of experience than you’re used to seeing at a bar you visit in your social life.
Basic Cocktails Can Still Be “Signature”
Now, you can always go with ingredients that are already part of your bar mixer package and give the drink a fun name. A Crown & Coke can be named after your dog or named after the bride or groom. A Ranch Water is a pretty simple drink to make that is made with ingredients that are typically already included in your bar package. Even something like a Vodka Cranberry is fine. I know they’re basic drinks, but a lot of times a basic drink with a fun name with a cute sign goes a long way and can feel like a Signature Cocktail but doesn’t have a Signature Cocktail extra price attached to it.
Glassware
Lastly, glassware is something else to be aware of. When you go to a bar with your friends and you order a martini, it’s served in a martini glass. A Moscow Mule is served in a copper mug. You have all kinds of little coupe glasses at restaurants that you see all the time, adorable glasses that these drinks are served in. Not the case for an event. An event will have water goblets, wine glasses, champagne flutes, low ball glasses, and high ball glasses. That’s it. Can they get you extra glasses? Can they get you martini glasses and copper mugs? Of course, but there’s an additional cost for this. Don’t assume that that espresso martini that you want is going to be served in a martini glass unless you add martini glasses to your rental or your bar order, and these things cost extra.
Signature cocktails are super fun. We love having them and they can add a lot of personality to your event, but make sure you know these things about them before you commit to them and then are surprised by the price. Cheers!