Fer A Cheval: a mobile bar build thread

[BIGRED9158]

This next event was fairly unique in that the client not only requested champagne and margaritas on tap, but for us to serve Dom Perignon and Don Julio 1942. That put each 2.5gal cornelius keg value at over $3,000 for champs and $1,000 for margs! Fitting for a week long fiesta at one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the valley. Naturally we were given limited access to shoot the trailer.

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Do you come to California Temecula area?

 

[Marios Metalworks]

@BIGRED9158 Haven’t yet but sure can. Based out of PHX but have done a few Cali events. Just booked a 10yr wedding anniversary in San Pedro for November.

 

[ultra26shadow]

This next event was fairly unique in that the client not only requested champagne and margaritas on tap, but for us to serve Dom Perignon and Don Julio 1942. That put each 2.5gal cornelius keg value at over $3,000 for champs and $1,000 for margs! Fitting for a week long fiesta at one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the valley. Naturally we were given limited access to shoot the trailer.

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That’s awesome. So in the Cornelius kegs you can pretty much put anything in there?

 

[Marios Metalworks]

That’s awesome. So in the Cornelius kegs you can pretty much put anything in there?

Pretty much. The top is a uniquely shaped pressure hatch so it’s fairly easy to open up. We run quick disconnect hoses so we can keep several types of batched beverages on ice and flip between C02 or Nitrogen.

Also known as a “ball lock keg” or “home brewers keg”

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Ok, this is incredibly cool. Everything came out looking great and hoping for you guys to kill it moving forward!

Thank you very much.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Some fun pics from this past weekend w/ my business partner Katie. She's a sweet little firecracker from NorCal and married to my best friend. This client is a friend of ours and has used us multiple times. Nice to be on the other side of the bar!

 

[Flying_Lavey]

If you were in So Cal my brother and soon-to-be Sister-in-law are looking for your exact set-up for their wedding in Acton in October.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

@Flying_Lavey we’re always down to recommend some of our indirect competitors as we get a couple cali inquiries per week. I also believe there’s an inmate here who’s family member runs one out your way.

I’ll reach out to Katie and get back to you.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

@Flying_Lavey we’re always down to recommend some of our indirect competitors as we get a couple cali inquiries per week. I also believe there’s an inmate here who’s family member runs one out your way.

I’ll reach out to Katie and get back to you.

Thank you! I will pass along whatever recommendation you can give me.

 

[v6toy4x]

So one day its re doing throttle switches and the next a bar on wheels, I would call that "covering all the basics"
Nice!

 

[Marios Metalworks]

@v6toy4x how does the saying go?

A jack of all trades but a master of none…

More upgrades coming to the bar!

 

[Marios Metalworks]

We had yet another great event @ Hunkapi Farms but this time around for The Gentry Foundation. It was an honor to serve a group who focuses on decreasing the average age of Autism diagnosis in the state of AZ.

The Gentry’s are good people and we hope to develop a long lasting relationship with their foundation moving forward.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Thought y'all would like this trip down memory lane to May 9th 2018. This was one of our preliminary meetings where we would has out the concept. We spent many many nights down in the loft basement putting all our ideas down on the whiteboard.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Brought the trailer over to the shop for some modifications to the tap system. I’m moving the primary regs/tanks under the bar top. They’re set it and forget it so no need for quick access.

We’ve learned that it’s more important to have the secondary regulators easily accessible as they allow for more finite control of keg pressure. It’ll make keg swaps much easier too!

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Busy season is upon us!

We’re six events in since the weather has calmed down and there’s no sign of business slowing down. We have 10 more contracts signed and our biggest event of the year is coming up this Saturday!

In 2021 we worked a deal to be a partial sponsor of a fundraising gala at a 10-acre farm in Scottsdale. The annual event helps fund their budget for providing equestrian therapy to those in AZ who need it most. We had a great time and were asked to be a part of the 2022 gala only a few days after the event. The best compliment we can get is a returning client so we marked our calendars. We’ve always focused on building long term relationships with our clients by providing a white-glove service with impeccable customer service. We want to be at your wedding, your baby shower, your kids birthday parties and your anniversaries. Honestly it was the only thing focus on without a marketing budget, we bootstrapped this thing from the ground up.

2021 out by the dance floor

Fast forward to a few months ago; we were approached by the team and asked for a proposal to exclusively handle beverage catering services for the entire event. Last year this event spawned more referral business than all other events combined so we put our best foot forward and landed the contract.

My lady snapped this picture a few minutes after we got the green light. I had worked on the proposal for a week or so while exploring Yucatán, Mexico with her family. This pool was tucked into a French colonial house in Mérida and I must of been on my laptop in every nook and cranny it had to offer. I may look relaxed but all I could think was how I better not fubar this event.

Fast forward again to today. We’ll have two satellite bars supporting the horse trailer and four professional bartenders on the team. A local cocktail mixer company and a certain vodka distiller out of Austin came on board to develop a great signature cocktail for the menu.

We had initially worked with an events company to provide both satellite bars but ended up only going with one because in typical fashion I put a design and fab project on a plate that was already full. Somehow it’s worked out and we’re going to be debuting our new micro bar dubbed Fer à Cheval “La Petite” which fits through standard doorways and elevators. It’s based on a prototype I made almost a year ago for an events rental company that never made it off the ground. It’ll help us capture a significant amount of lead flow we were losing for various reasons.

Here’s a mixture of photos of our new little baby:

My type of CAD: Cardboard And Drink

We have a winner!

Proof of concept testing was a surprise bday party for my lady. A year ago this Saturday.

Most recently:

 

[4Waters]

Looks great, congrats on the thriving business and the many contracts

 

[Done-it-again]

congrats, great seeing the progress you have made.

Check out this trade show. Might be beneficial for you in the event world.

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www.arashow.org

 

[HNL2LHC]

Alright Mario!!! This is such great news to hear. I was wondering how you were doing on moving forward to expand as you had hoped when we talked last year.

 

[mbrown2]

Amazing stuff! You could get rich off of just chronicling your builds and events off of youtube..

 

[That Guy]

Happy for your success!

 

[FROGMAN524]

My wife’s friends just sold their horse trailer bar for $25,000 in like 2 days. They built it for under $5,000 and charged who knows how much every time they showed up for a party. Just did my MILs 60th birthday here in central Phoenix.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

@FROGMAN524 thats a clean buildI’d love to meet them and talk shop.

Alright Mario!!! This is such great news to hear. I was wondering how you were doing on moving forward to expand as you had hoped when we talked last year.

It feels good to share the journey. I was definitely wrong thinking scaling the business meant investing in more trailers when we talked last. I’ve found more success in building out CRM software, becoming proficient in AZ liquor law and cultivating a great team that shares our values and helps achieve our vision. It’s things like no-code software, automated lead management, data analytics and overall clear and concise communication that will drive us to be the premier choice for boutique beverage catering. But I might be wrong again so there’s that.

Amazing stuff! You could get rich off of just chronicling your builds and events off of youtube..

One day. My brother is pretty successful at it. Hope I will be half as talented as he is.

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[Marios Metalworks]

Hey guys It’s been an incredibly busy 2022/2023 season for us and there’s no signs of it slowing down as we head into the second half.

We hit every single goal for 2022 with the exception of rolling out a 2nd horse trailer. We bought it and I was very excited to start fab work but as soon as our new rental, “La Petite”, went live I’ve barely stepped in the shop. As a generalist in this business there’s just no bandwidth left on my end.

Which brings us to 2023/2024 season planning. The idea is going to be centered around bringing on individuals that can wear some of our hats. If we shift from a few generalists to a team of specialists, I see us continuing to expand our rental fleet, our services and possibly dipping our toes into short term leasing.

Feeling pretty damn good right about now! We’re staged for a gig tonight @ Scottsdale Airpark (SDL).

 

[pull-on]

Dude........what an awesome concept and great thread. You've grown this thing organically. And that is truly something to be proud of. Killer job!!

 

[Socalx09]

Congratulations on a very successful 2022 year and hitting the goals! This has been awesome to follow along. Best of luck to 2023 of business! Can’t wait to see more pictures!

 

[RiverDave]

I was thinking about you the other day.. I saw this chalet bar trailer for sale on Fb.. I sent the lady a message to buy it but it didn’t really go anywhere ??

She did tell me she makes bar trailers and had a few different pics on her fb of them.. seemed really cheap.

Here’s the pics of the one and the different one was another one in her profile pic.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

That’s a wrap for tonight!

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Thank you @pull-on and @Socalx09. It’s been a fun ride, glad y’all can enjoy it too.

@RiverDave that price is about what I look to pay for a stock trailer in good condition. Is it me or is there actually three different trailers pictured?

 

[Ricks raft]

Nice business!
We have someone local doing similar.

https://m.facebook.com/100075542816083/

 

[RiverDave]

Thank you @pull-on and @Socalx09. It’s been a fun ride, glad y’all can enjoy it too.

@RiverDave that price is about what I look to pay for a stock trailer in good condition. Is it me or is there actually three different trailers pictured?

I’m not sure? I didn’t look that close.. but yes the one trailer is completely different. That was the one she had on her profile pic

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Nice business!
We have someone local doing similar.

Love seeing this. F&B catering isn’t for the faint of heart so wishing for the best.

Here she is leaving the Phoenix Uptown Farmers Market last month. We sold 6.5 gallons of hot coffee in the first 1hr 27 minutes that day.

 

[v6toy4x]

Farmers market one day and "hob knobbin" with the jet-set crowd the next! That's what you call a diversified portfolio!

Love the to rig too!

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Farmers market one day and "hob knobbin" with the jet-set crowd the next! That's what you call a diversified portfolio!

Love the to rig too!

Thank you. It’s a Q7 with the 3.0T. She gets the job done in style

We just wrapped on another event tonight in Silverleaf @ DC Ranch. It was a repeat client who we really enjoy working with. We had the honor to be a part of their oldest daughters wedding last year and their youngest daughter this year.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Annnnnnd that’s a wrap for 2022! Anybody care to guess how many cocktails we made this year?

Technically we’re halfway through the 2022-2023 season but we block out the last two weeks of the year for a little R&R.

We capped a great December with a mimosa bar setup @ a post wedding brunch for the Basha’s family. As always, the trailer was a hit with champagne on tap, fresh herbs, fruits and even pressed juice from their orchard.

This event also marked a major milestone towards scaling as this event was ran by the bartender themselves. They picked the trailer up, setup at the house, bartended then tore it back down.

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Quick video from inside the trailer.

Here are a couple shots from our 4th double header day. Started at 5:30am and tucked the trailer away at about 11:30pm.

Uptown Farmers Market in the morning

Surprise 30th Birthday Party in the evening