SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT: THE TOW BAR

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Hello from The Tow Bar! Our mobile wedding and events bar business is owned and operated by Keith Emslie. With years of experience in the drinks industry running a mobile bar has always been a dream. I LOVE weddings and seeing how much of an individual stamp our couples put on their special day. We are best suited to creative, design focused couples looking for something special. Our range of drinks is an unrivalled selection of craft beer, hand made gin and some beautiful champagne, prosecco and cocktails. We can serve welcome drinks from The Tow Bar and have a couple of indoor bars to keep the drinks flowing all night!

Our small team is supported by Robin Burns who designed and built The Tow Bar. Our digital marketing is taken care of by Rod Richmond and Cameron Mitchell make lots of magic happen behind the scenes on the operations side of things! Together we make a dedicated team focused on creating the very best weddings in Scotland.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START YOUR BUSINESS?

As things slowed down during the various lockdowns we found ourselves desperate for a creative outlet. We had always dreamed of building out own wedding bar but never found the time to do it. With more time on our hands than we’d had for years it all made perfect sense!

HOW DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?

Every wedding we take care of is as different as the couples themselves! We spend a huge amount of time customising each individual wedding booking we receive. Creating different options for our couples is great fun. This side of things takes up a lot of our time as we trawl through various suppliers’ wine lists and work on customised cocktail options.

The rest of our time is focused on planning alongside venues to make everything focused on creating the very best wedding possible. A lot of work goes on which our couples don’t ever realise to make their wedding day seamless and relaxed. The best venues we work with combine their rustic charm with a can do attitude to make everything flow without a hitch!

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB?

Our video calls to plan with our couples. It is so fun to hear what each couple has in mind for their special day and to create a drinks package which ticks all of their boxes. Being able to point out things they might not have thought about yet is great too! This relationship we form with each couple is definitely the best part of our job!

AND WHAT IS THE WORST PART?

The long days! We allow our couples to decorate our bar themselves so we try to drop The Tow Bar at their venue the day before their wedding. On the day itself there are dozens of finishing touches to take care of including fully stocking our various bars first thing in the morning. Briefing our team on the flow of the day and then serving drinks for 10+ hours is tough work. Starting at 6 or 7 and not getting home til 3am is definitely the worst part of our job!

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN?

Stick to what you’re good at and pay people to do the things you’re not! This has been the best piece of advice I have ever been given and has paid off time and time again!

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT COUPLES TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

Our goal is to set a new standard in mobile bar service across Scotland and the North of England. Our range of drinks is second to none. We have a close relationship with heaps of the very best craft breweries and distilleries in Scotland. We don’t have a single drinks list and customise our offering to each individual wedding!

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR COUPLES PLANNING A WEDDING?

Keep it simple and let us take care of the stuff that isn’t!

You want to have the most fun and relaxed day of your life. Guess what? Your guests do too! Don’t make them sit down for too long. People want to party with you!