Weddings
Signature serves named for the two of you, pours brought to the table, and a bar that keeps pace with the dance floor. It will be ready for the moment it sinks in that you’re married now.
The Art of the Party
Private bartending by Aaron · Atlanta
I’ll tend the bar. You attend your party.
About a minute · Complimentary consultation
No. 01 The Moment
The moment I live for is when the host realizes they’re at the party too.
They stop checking the door. They stop checking on the staff. The room is so full of their guests having a wonderful time that they’re pulled out of hosting and relaxed into their own party, and you can feel it. A new ease settles over everyone.
At a wedding, it comes after the dances and the speeches, when the couple realizes they’re married now.
No. 02 Meet Aaron
Take in the room. Respond to it.
I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University’s conservatory-style acting program. It was a curriculum less concerned with performance than with the citizen artist: someone who takes in the world and responds to it, in a way other people can feel. Once that’s in you, it doesn’t come off at the stage door. Pour Me is how I practice that art now, in my own community, in people’s real lives.
A new cast has a few weeks to go from strangers to siblings, lovers and enemies, and to play it honestly. You learn to get close quickly, and to mean it. Your guests are strangers to me for about one round.
Onstage, the cure for nerves is to put your attention on your partner. Behind the bar, my partner is you. People don’t always know what they want, so I listen until we find it. Sometimes that settles a first drink. Sometimes you love gin, citrus and anything foamy and pretty, and together we make a cocktail that didn’t exist until you asked for it.
The people who know me will tell you I laugh loud and I’m first to the dance floor, because we should all be dancing. At your party, that warmth faces your guests. I’m at ease in any room, with anyone in it, and no one is left out of the cheers. All the while, I’m watching every corner: the empty glass, the host who still hasn’t sat down. You won’t find me on my phone.
I’m serious about the craft and never about myself. I’m a perfectionist about what goes in the glass and a generous collaborator about everything else. The best idea in the room doesn’t have to be mine.
I’ve signed NDAs and poured for household names. I’ll tell you plenty of stories. None of them come with names.
No. 04 The Night, Step by Step
The run of show
A favorite director of mine always said, “Transitions can make or break a show. That’s why we rehearse them.” I plan every evening the same way.
The assessment. A few questions, about a minute, match your event to a Pour Me program, from The Gathering to The Guest List.
The conversation. I reach out personally to learn the taste, style and tone of your evening, along with the do’s, the don’ts and any allergies.
The count. We set the guest count together. With dry hire, you buy the spirits, so the count becomes your shopping list, and it shapes what the menu can do.
The agreement. You receive an invoice, an agreement and a waiver, with protections on both sides. The 30% deposit, sent with the signed pages, reserves your date.
The menu. I’ll ask how you want to feel with the glass in your hand, then design it behind the scenes from your taste profile, your signature style, even your colors. Everything is considered.
Before the doors open. We arrive as early as we can without intruding, so the setup is ironclad, with everything we need and backup besides. Setup is never on your clock. The clock starts when the party starts. The balance is settled once the bar is set, before your first guest arrives.
The night. We bring every bit of ourselves to making it the evening you imagined, and more. Our professionalism is paramount, and stubborn.
After last call. The breakdown is quick and quiet. We leave the space as we found it, if not better.
The next day. I check in, to hear how the night landed.
Two things I ask of every host
Only two, and both work in your favor.
- An honest guest count. Lowballing the count only lowballs the supplies, and no one wants a bar that can’t keep up with its party.
- An understanding that we’re always at work. We are never guests, and that is exactly what frees you to be one. If we’re lucky, we share in a few of the memories, from our side of the bar.
No. 05 The Rooms
Where I get to say yes
A restaurant bar runs on strict parameters. A private evening opens a whole new layer of yes, and room to go further. I’ve poured in homes and venues, in warehouses dressed for the night, on soundstages and studio lots, and every one was entirely different.
Milestone Birthdays
A menu written around the guest of honor, down to their spirit, and their colors if you like. Everyone in the room gets in on the toast.
Professional Events
Polished, discreet service that takes its tone from yours and leaves the spotlight on your occasion. I’ve poured on soundstages and studio lots and signed my share of NDAs. The goal is a pour, not a splash.
Intimate Gatherings
Your closest circle, at home, with drinks made across the counter and undivided attention for everyone in the room. A small room asks for a quieter kind of service. I learned it in homes from the Back Bay to Bel Air.
Dry Hire
You set the scene. I set the bar.
Pour Me is a dry-hire service. You provide the spirits and the setting; I bring the craft and the presence. The bottles are yours, bought to your taste and your guest count. For one night, the bar is mine to run and yours to enjoy.
No. 06 Kind Words
In their words
“Pour Me is the only choice. Aaron is such a talented and professional mixologist. Best dirty martini in Atlanta.”
“A well spoken, incredibly charming and very hardworking young man. Aaron exceeded expectations.”
“Although he wouldn’t strip, his drinks and his energy made the bachelorette pregame the celebration we needed! The martini was shaken to perfection!”
Unedited. I wouldn’t change a word.
No. 07 The Gallery
The first frames are reserved.
Pour Me is a new house, and I’d rather say so plainly. The gallery is still in development, and that gives me the chance to offer you something: a place among the first nights it keeps.
Invite me to feature your evening, and your menu gains two after-dinner cocktails, designed around your taste and on the house. Call it a toast to the hosts who were here first.
To be featured, check the box when you reserve.
The gallery keeps to the bar, the drinks and the details. Guests appear only with their say, and evenings under NDA stay private, as they should.
Reserved · The bar, before the first guest
Reserved · The signature serve
Reserved · The after-dinner pour
No. 08 Reserve
Say when.
Answer a few questions about your evening and I’ll match you with the Pour Me program that fits. Then choose a date, and we’ll take it from there.
Make a night of itTakes about a minute · The consultation is complimentary · No obligation