Honest side hustle you can start outside your full time job
Honest side hustle you can start outside your full time job

Behind Dave's $2000 Monthly Side Hustle in Wedding Bartending On Weekends

Dave Lawson sidestarters.co wedding bartender

Dave Lawson • Published December 30, 2023

ABOUT

Dave Lawson sidestarters.co wedding bartender
Linkedin

Dave Lawson

Wedding Bartender

From Gainesville, GA

Side Hustle Started February, 2019

Full-Time Job

Software Sales, Sage

Sales Development Representative

Started July, 2023

SIDE-HUSTLE STATS

8-16

Hours Worked Per Week

$1000-$2500

Revenue Per Month

1

Founders

5

Employees

$1000

Startup Cost

15

Days Before Profit

Wedding Venues

Main Growth Strategy

60%

Net Profit Margin

Table Of Contents

Working In Software Sales + Bartending Weddings
Hi, my name is Dave Lawson at Delaware Entertainment. I provide quality bartenders for your weddings and other events at a reasonable price with ServSafe-certified bartenders that know how to open, close, and run an efficient bar for your event.
 
In a nutshell, wedding bartending in itself is probably one of the most lucrative side hustles you can do. It’s weekend only and it is extremely profitable. I would say I earn, on average, like $175 to $250 for the base pay per event before tips.
Starting Your Side Hustle

How did you start bartending weddings? Did you have experience before starting your own side hustle?

My friend Derek had been doing this with a wedding team known as Southern Soiree for about five years. They noticed that they were rotating in and out bartenders because they either got too drunk or they didn’t know what they were doing. They were unprofessional.

But basically, he asked me to come and kind of gave me a shot. I crushed it. Like, I bartended for the last, shoot, say, ten years. I also managed a bar for a long time. 

Once he did that, they started asking me for friends to come do these events with me. I built a team of about eight to ten people on rotation. And about a year into it, I was like,” Oh man, I should totally LLC this.”  So that’s when I started the paperwork to create my LLC and basically have an entertainment license.

Drinks That Sell

How simple or complex are the drinks you need to make?

All I’m doing is making single highballs., like Jack and Coke, vodka and Sprite, and vodka and OJ, so simplistic work.

Growing Your Side-Hustle

How did you grow your side-hustle? Where did you find weddings to book you?

Well, to be honest, Derek left me with Southern Soirée, which is the wedding planning group. They will basically call me with a full sheet of dates. So they will say,”We’ve got this wedding in Cleveland, Georgia,” or “ We’ve got this wedding in Lula and Atlanta; which ones can you get covered?”

So in a sense, they’re just sending me free and clear dates. I built a Google calendar and shared it with my group. And it’s like,” All right, guys, here’s the list. I’ll need three people for this event.” You know it’s first sign-up gets it. Once the slots fill up, we’re good to go.

What I’ve started doing is building my own team of DJs, flowers, and sound system aficionados, and then I’m able to come to them and say,” Hey, guys, guess what? I got all this covered; just coordinate the wedding, and I have your whole entertainment team.”

Revenue + Earnings

On average, how much do you earn from your side-hustle each month?

So basically, you get a lump sum of $175 to $250 base pay for the event. And it’s normally from 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. So for six hours of work, you’re getting like $30 an hour.
 
With tips, you know, that’s that’s really where I’ve had nights where I’ve come home with $700.
 
It took two events for me to be profitable, which was, like, a weekend.
Recommended Tools & Costs

How much did it cost to start your side-hustle? Any tools you recommend?

It depends if you want to offer full-service or if you’re doing this at a venue that has everything setup. Also, if you’re looking at starting an LLC, you’re looking at a minimum of $250 to get your LLC certified (in Georgia).
 
Then you’ve got to look at your insurance, which in Georgia roughly comes out to about $50 a month. If you want a team of 4 to 5 people, add an extra $250 per person for their own cocktail kit.
 
If you’re doing this, like at a venue that was just a blank slate, I would say you should have at least $1,000 ready to go to spend for the wedding party to reimburse you.
Side-Hustle Lessons & Advice

For people who want to start bartending weddings as a side hustle, what tips do you have?

Rule #1: Don’t hire your friends, because you’ll immediately find that they are not as friendly when money gets involved. I have unfortunately had to end friendships with multitudes of folks because of that. Jeez. Um, yeah. People get greedy, and it’s really ugly.
 
Rule #2: Don’t count your chickens before the hatch. Basically, don’t give away the phone numbers of your clients to people you work with. I lost an entire venue due to a friend who swooped in and just undersold me.
 
You just have to look clean and be professional. Basically, come in, show yourself, and get the job done. Make sure everything’s organized and clean, and leave it better than you found it.
 
For insurance, I recommend at least a half-million, if not $1 million, insurance liability form. The only reason I say to go for the higher coverage is due to the unfortunate reality that people get drunk and could potentially get into a car wreck. And if they do, in certain states, they can put that blame on the bartender. So that is where a ServSafe certification or a TIPS certification is probably one of the most necessary things that you could ever do if you’re trying to get into bartending. That right there puts a complete buffer between you and the government.
 
Also I’ve done like ten weddings where somebody at the wedding was like,” Hey, we’d love for you to be our head bartender.” And I was like,” Okay, so do you guys want me to purchase the alcohol, build the bar, and set it all up?” And if they say yes, I tell them that I’m gonna need $500 up front for the cost, and then I’ll give you an itemized receipt of all costs, so we can add that to what I leave with.
 
Wedding bartending as a side hustle is a lot about just knowing the right folks, earning their trust, and getting that camaraderie. 
Advice For Getting A Job In Tech Sales

Is software sales easy to balance with bartending weddings? Any tips for people who want to get into tech sales?

I did outside sales in beer for roughly ten years. You can tell if somebody doesn’t like you or wants your product pretty quickly in person. You can’t do that much on the phone, especially off a cold call. I would say that BDR and SDR work is, without a doubt, the hardest job in sales, hands down.

As long as you’re cool with calling strangers and getting told to fuck off or potentially have very awkward conversations, go for it. Turning those conversations into a potential meeting is your goal.

Know that you’re ready to bust your ass. You decide your own destiny. It’s yours to make. No one’s going to make it for you. Like, okay, you have a quota of 50 calls to make each day. So, you make 50 calls a day. Did you get a meeting? No? It sounds like you should’ve made 70 calls.

Book Dave's Wedding Bartending Service

Where can people book your service?

If you’re in the Southeast, thegetupfest@gmail.com is kind of my running work email. If you want to get more direct with me, it’s just dlawson5@gmail.com until I get my LLC fully approved.

Connect with Dave on Linkedin.

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