We recently connected with Olivia & Marcus Barnes and have shared our conversation below.

Olivia & Marcus, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Barnestending came about from the love of great drinks and atmospheres. We are both people who love to just hang out and have different experiences at events and restaurants/bars. We also love creating drinks, so while doing so one day at our family owned restaurant, we thought why not create our own legacy and start a cool bartending company? We love to entertain so starting Barnestending was a perfect way to do so, while earning cash. We had not heard of many other companies doing the bar side of things, so we entered the lane. We were nervous at first, but thankfully our personalities created new opportunities to bartend at the most amazing events! We always treat our clients with the utmost respect, give them sound advices, and always keep our morals involved throughout the process.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

We are Olivia and Marcus Barnes, from Birmingham, Alabama. We are the owners of Barnestending, a luxury boutique bartending company. We create custom cocktails, host tastings and mixology classes, and bartend for any occasion. We have taken classes in Puerto Rico, studied for a few hours during our Paris vacation under a master mixologist in a speak easy, and have years of restaurant experience. We aim to set the bar high, but also unique for our events.

Olivia here! I am most proud of how we stay true to our brand as we evolve. We have grown so much over the last 3 years and it is rewarding to know that people support us because we are true to ourselves. We have several clients who hire us for every event they host and that reassurance lets us know that we are in the right business. We strive to add even more joy to the most joyous occasions.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Honesty. We are transparent about everything from pricing, to working within budgets, to telling our clients what may or may not work. Bartending is not just serving drinks. As a bartender you are practically crowd control. You have to not over-pour and know how to divert the guests to water when they’ve had enough.

Our reputation has always followed us because we have personal and business morals that make clients want to hire us for their event. It provides comfort to know that your vendors have your back and we certainly do!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth. We try and make every event just as special as the last. We meet all types of peoples from CEO’s to caterers at events, therefore we make those connections. We also try and keep our website fresh and fun. We just went through a website upgrade that we are really proud of, so when people refer their friends and or clients, they have a visual reference as well.

We also have to thank our loyal wedding planners and event space owners for always thinking of us when planning events. For example and just to name a few Brittany Sharp of The Sharp Standard, whom we have done so many great weddings with over the years (including two huge wedding this year and the best Nigerian/American wedding ever) and Jamie & Tez Heard who gave us the opportunity to be their in house bartenders at their event space, Asthetik. Of course we have our two restaurant spaces, The Six Sixteen and Olivia’s Transit Cafe that we always call home. We not only bartend but manage events, thanks to my mom and the owner, Beverly Russell. It has truly been a blessing to gain knowledge and experience through steady bookings.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barnestending.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barnestending/?hl=en

Image Credits
Infinite Creation Images