Chesapeake Bartenders and Events

If you're planning a wedding in Maryland you've probably had this conversation:

"We love your bartending services, but we just can't afford $3,000."

Courtney Smith, owner of Chesapeake Bartenders and Events, heard that line hundreds of times. After serving 150+ weddings across the DMV, she finally did something about it. She took everything her team does to plan seamless wedding bars and packaged it into a $99 digital guide couples can use themselves.

"I got tired of watching couples stress over their wedding bar," Smith says. "They'd find some random calculator online, and I'm thinking, 'That's either way too much or not nearly enough depending on your crowd."

The Real Problem:

Most couples make the same mistakes: buying wrong quantities, forgetting ice melts faster in summer, not accounting for setup time, choosing glassware that breaks easily.

"I've seen couples run out of alcohol at 9 PM because they used a generic calculator," Smith explains. "Or bought $500 worth of liquor they didn't need."

What She Built:

The DIY Wedding Bar Planning Guide includes interactive calculators that adjust for your actual wedding—time of day, season, guest demographics. It includes a 16-part audio guide and a real wedding case study showing what 155 guests consumed over five hours.
The guide answers:

- How much does ice melt in July vs November?

- Should you buy champagne for toasts?

- What's the cost difference between wine bottles and boxes?

- How do you set up a bar so guests aren't waiting?

Who It's For:

Budget-conscious couples, couples whose venues require in-house bartending, or anyone wanting to understand what they're paying for.
Smith, who has 20 years of bartending experience and runs three businesses including 1631 Event Venue, says: "Free calculators tell you what to buy. We tell you why, and how to avoid disasters."

The guide is available at chesapeakebartenders.com/diy-wedding-bar-planning-guide