Floral Cocktails: The Must-Have Bar Trend for 2025
The bar is more than just a place for drinks. It’s a focal point, a conversation starter, and an opportunity to showcase your exquisite taste. This is where floral design steps in to transform your bar from basic to breathtaking. Let’s explore how to incorporate florals to the bar to create a truly unforgettable celebration.
For those in the know, it’s all about the details. And when you're planning an event that serves a signature style with that certain je ne sais quoi – think weddings, galas, or that perfectly curated garden party – the bar is more than just a place for drinks. It’s a focal point, a conversation starter, and an opportunity to showcase your exquisite taste. This is where floral design steps in to transform your bar from basic to breathtaking. Let’s explore how to incorporate florals to the bar to create a truly unforgettable celebration.
Flowers to Dress Up the Bar
Dressing up the bar with floral arrangements is the first step in creating a visually stunning experience. But we're not talking just any blooms; we're envisioning elegant, high-end florals that speak volumes about your refined aesthetic. (For photographers and party hosts, this is pure Instagram gold!)
To envision the placement of the arrangements, think of your bar as the stage. The bartender must be front and center, a clean workspace is essential for producing skillfully made drinks that taste as good as they look. On the bar, there is space stage left and right for bold arrangements with a smaller footprint.
The front of the bar is a versatile area that can also be adorned. Imagine lush garlands of greenery, like eucalyptus or Italian ruscus, draped artfully along the front of the bar and cascading to the floor. Pillars to the left and right of the bar can expand the appearance of the bar area, creating an inviting space. You can also use stands at varying heights as a platform for lush ferns which are a symbol of new life, protection and good fortune.
The back bar, located behind the bartender, is grand. It makes the perfect backdrop to display high impact arrangements like chrysanthemums, peonies or stock in colors that complement your event's color scheme. These add height and drama, drawing the eye and enhancing the overall sophistication.
Flowers in the Ice Cubes: Chillingly Chic
Want to step up your ice game? Floral ice cubes are the answer! Imagine serving cocktails with ice cubes that encase tiny blossoms. Floral ice cubes are a detail that screams "high-end" and adds an unexpected element of delight. They are perfect for elevating a signature cocktail and adding a touch of color to every glass.
In our experience, smaller flowers, like daises and lavender blooms, freeze best and look incredibly delicate suspended in clear ice. Our mixologist can recommend which flowers would match your cocktail menu and achieve the look you desire.
To truly appreciate the delicate beauty of the embedded blooms, only ice of pristine clarity will suffice. Our signature method crafts ice cubes and ice spheres with exceptional clarity. Because let's be honest, a cloudy white mass in the ice will obscure the flower's delicate charm and completely detract from the overall impression.
Floral Garnish: Elegance in Every Glass
Now, let's talk about adding a touch of floral finesse directly onto your cocktails. Flowers and herbs as garnishes are not just pretty; they engage a sensory experience discerning guests will truly appreciate.
Orchids: For sheer drama and sophistication, orchids are unmatched. Small orchid blooms, like dendrobiums, can float gracefully in cocktails, adding an exotic and high-end touch. They are stunning in martinis or tropical-inspired drinks.
Pansies & Violas: These delicate beauties are perfect for adding a pop of color. Their mild, slightly grassy flavor won't overpower your drinks, making them ideal for lighter cocktails like gin and tonics or sparkling wine cocktails.
Roses: Rose petals, especially fragrant varieties, are the epitome of romance and elegance. Use them sparingly – a single petal or two is all you need to impart a subtle floral aroma and a touch of visual poetry. Perfect for champagne cocktails or rose-infused gin drinks.
Lavender Sprigs: Beyond just visual appeal, lavender sprigs offer an aromatic experience. Gently bruise a sprig to release its calming scent and pair it with gin, vodka, or even rum mojitos for a sophisticated twist.
It is crucial to remember that not all blooms are created equal. Our mixology team possesses specialized expertise in safe, edible florals, guaranteeing both breathtaking aesthetics and the utmost safety for your guests to enjoy.
Floral Flavor: Cocktails with Flower Power
It's not just about visual appeal; let's talk about taste! Floral notes in cocktails are incredibly on-trend. When perfectly balanced, earthy floral flavor add a layer of sophistication that will tantalize the taste buds.
Elderflower Liqueur: St. Germain or similar elderflower liqueurs are incredibly versatile and add a delicate, floral sweetness to cocktails. It's fabulous in spritzes, martinis, and even margaritas for a floral "Elderflower Margarita." Ask us about our Butterfly Pea Tea, our color-changing cocktail. Like magic, it transitions from a blue to a stunning violet hue right before your guests’ eyes!
Rose Water: A dash of rose water can transform a classic cocktail into something ethereal. Try it in a gin martini for a "Rose Garden Martini" or in a French 75 for a romantic twist.
Hibiscus Syrup: Our house-made hibiscus syrup is a real crowd pleaser. It’s stunning, vibrant pink color, is optimal in margaritas, daiquiris, or even a floral twist on a whiskey sour.
Lavender Syrup: Lavender syrup adds a calming, aromatic sweetness. It pairs beautifully with gin, vodka, and even sparkling wine. A "Lavender French 75" or a "Lavender Bee's Knees" are chic and delicious options.
By incorporating these floral elements, you're not just serving drinks; you're crafting an experience. A floral-themed bar is the epitome of elegance, sophistication, and attention to detail – everything our refined clientele desires. For your next event, let's make it bloom! Contact us today to discuss how we can help you bring your vision to life.
Pinky’s up!
Planning and host: @thecollectivecreativeco
Photography: @jodyatkinson
Flowers: @nataliegdesigns
Acrylics + Invitation Suite: @kulgra
Linens, pillows, napkin rings + flatware: @somethingvintage
Rentals: @standardeventrentals
Catering: @mexican_twisted
Bar: @mobilemixologist
Permanent jewelry: @fusedpermanentjewls
Functional Mocktails: Drinks Made With Wellness Wisdom
In the spirit of Dry January, we partnered with Candace Fleming from Oracle Blends to share some delicious functional mocktails. They are not a substitute for alcoholic beverages; she uses botanicals, teas, and super foods to tantalize the taste buds while also nourishing the body and mind.
In the realm of mixology, a revolution is brewing, one that transcends spirits and mixers. In lieu of alcohol, it uses botanicals, teas, and super foods. Enter the functional mocktail, a libation meticulously crafted not only to tantalize the taste buds but also to nourish the body and mind. These elixir-like beverages are poised to redefine the very essence of social gatherings.
In the spirit of Dry January, we partnered with Candace Fleming from Oracle Blends to share some delicious functional mocktails. They are not a substitute for alcoholic beverages; they are culinary masterpieces in their own right. Candace crafts refreshing beverages that promote relaxation, enhances focus or boosts energy - they are designed to nourish the mind, body, and soul.
The Empress
Chamomile Tea, Lavender Simple Syrup, Aloe Juice, Spirulina
The Empress
The Empress drink is all about tapping into your feminine energy. It was inspired by abundance, nourishment and creativity.
The chamomile and lavender act as a calming, nurturing relief for your nerves. While the Spirulina, a type of algae, gives the mocktail its green hue, for abundance. Spirulina is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and antioxidants that can help protect cells from damage.
The High Priestess
Mullein Tea, Sage, Pomegranate Syrup, Blue Lotus Tincture
The High Priestess
The High Priestess is all about spiritual awakening, balance and intuition.
Fresh squeezed pomegranates, being one of the main ingredients, represents beauty and eternal life in multiple cultures. It is sweet and rich in flavor, it also balances the mullein tea beautifully. Mullein supports the immune system and has amazing respiratory health benefits. The drops of blue lotus tincture acts as an aid in third eye activation, which finishes off the mocktail as a very high vibrational elixir.
The Hanged Man
Dandelion Tea, Fresh Orange, Blackberry, Rosemary Simple Syrup
The Hanged Man
The Hanged Man is about releasing what does not serve you and trusting the process.
Rosemary, a herb used for protection and intuition also supports liver, kidney and brain health. While blackberry and fresh squeezed orange juice add a refreshing flavor. Dandelion represents adaptability, resilience, hope and healing. Its tea is rich in vitamins like A, C, K and minerals like folate, calcium, potassium. It is high in antioxidants, reduces inflammation, and can be helpful in managing blood pressure.
The Hanged Man mocktail asks that you let go and enjoy the flow.
The Mock Toddy
Angelica Root, Hyssop, Raspberry Leaf, Peppermint Leaf, Fresh Orange Squeeze, dressed with Pine and Cranberries
The Mock Toddy
The Mock Toddy is full of abundant warm flavors. It is served hot, sure to boost your immune system and have you in a relaxed state of mind.
Angelica is a genus of plants and herbs that’s often used in traditional eastern medicine for various purposes, including hormonal balance, digestive support, and liver detoxification, circulation issues, and anxiety. This drink is works with every chemical in your body - it wants you to heal!
The functional mocktail, once a niche curiosity, now stands poised to redefine our very understanding of social lubrication and personal care. It is not merely a trend, but a reflection of a deeper societal shift, a yearning for connection and celebration without the compromise of health. Candace, and her drinks, offer a tantalizing glimpse into a future where indulgence and vitality are not mutually exclusive, where the ritual of the shared drink becomes a shared act of self-care.
Meet Candace - owner of Oracle Blends
“My goal is to bring awareness to plant healing and holistic health! I hope to help and influence people to be the best version of themselves. While operating from a place of love, I genuinely want to help people heal their mind, body and soul.”
How To Personalize Your Signature Drinks
By working closely with couples, we ensure their signature drinks not only taste incredible but also tell their unique love story. Our mixologists collaborate with brides and grooms to craft signature drinks that are personalized so that every sip is a reminder of the beautiful journey they are embarking on together.
By working closely with couples, we ensure their signature drinks not only taste incredible but also tells their unique love story.
Our mixologists collaborated with Amanda and Scott to craft a signature drink menu that was personalized so that every sip was a reminder of the beautiful journey they were embarking on together. Here’s how.
Incorporate heritage
Whether it's the rich spices of Indian chai, or the refreshing tang of Italian limoncello, there's a world of ingredients that can make your drink truly special. Horchata is a sweet rice milk from Mexico. The bride loves horchata so we had the caterer make extra so we could use some for cocktails. For one of the signature drinks, our mixologists paired horchata with tequila and Kahlua, for a play on a White Russian.
Blend flavors you love
Each couple is different, and by weaving their personal tastes into the cocktail, we create a drink that not only delights their palate but also tells a piece of their special story.
Cactus Cooler is a regional soda that tastes like a cross between a pineapple and orange soda. Popular in Southern California, their favorite soda’s nostalgic flavors evoked sweet memories for the couple. They wanted to share their love of Cactus Cooler with their guests, so we paired it with vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry, and fresh lemon for a vibrant fruity cocktail.
Combine interests
We also incorporate couples’ shared interests into cocktails. For instance, if they share a love for tropical vacations, we might craft a cocktail featuring exotic fruits and a splash of rum to capture the essence of their favorite getaway. If they bond over a mutual passion for coffee, a rich espresso martini could be the perfect blend to celebrate their union.
Amanda and Scott share a love for baseball. They even used baseball bats to demolish a piñata wedding cake during their reception! We incorporated their love of the game into the names of the drinks, resulting in Home Run Horchata and the Tropical Triple Play.
Ultimately, our mission is to help couples savor each precious moment and create memories that will last a lifetime. After all, your wedding day is a celebration of love, and we are honored to be a part of it.
Home Run Horchata
Tequila, Kahlua, horchata
Tropical Triple Play
Vodka, peach schnapps, cactus cooler soda, cranberry, fresh lemon
Cheers to unforgettable experiences!
Bride & Groom: Amanda & Scott
Bartender: @mobilemixologist
Backdrop: @goodstockca
Catering: @fuegotaqueria_
Coordination, Planning, & Design: @goodstockca
Content Creator: @contentbestie
Desserts: @churrokings916
DJ: Adriano Salazar
Hair & Makeup: @wanderlustbeautycollective
Lighting: @larcomslighting
Photography: @skwolf1998
Rentals: @pleasantonrentals
Service Staff: @unlimitedhelpinghands
Tent: @elitepartyrentalssac
Venue: @cavaignacestate
Roaring Twenties Meet Celestial Weddings
These cocktails are central to the beverage history of the 1920's. They owe their catchy names to the jazz aesthetic that was quickly reshaping the world at that time. Likewise, their bright, quenching flavors reflect shifts in the nature of night-life, as cocktails moved from men-only social clubs into dance halls and cafés where both women and men could partake.
When planning a 1920's-themed party, it's easy to get wrapped up in the speakeasy vibe of it all, with secret passwords and hidden doorways lending an air of illicit mystery. And we're here for the cloak and dagger. But once you dig a little deeper, you'll find that there's more to a good 1920's cocktail party than outsmarting the law. 20's drinks have a special flair, born from the unique enthusiasm of a remarkable moment in history.
Drinks like the Bees’ Knees, the Hanky Panky, and the Bizzy Izzy Highball are central to the beverage history of the 1920's. They owe their catchy names to the jazz aesthetic that was quickly reshaping the world at that time. Likewise, their bright, quenching flavors reflect shifts in the nature of night-life, as cocktails moved from men-only social clubs into dance halls and cafés where both women and men could partake.
Bees’ Knees
In the 1920's, the term "the bee's knees” came to be slang for something really good – similar to "the bomb” in the 1990's. The Bee's Knees cocktail, which debuted in 1925 in Paris, lives up to that promise, with just three ingredients– gin, lemon, and honey– weaving layer after layer of taste and aroma.
The keys to making The Bee's Knees well are to use good fresh lemon and to choose a gin and honey-variety that pair well together. You'll want a light-bodied honey (clover honey works well) so that the delicate aromas of the gin have room to take center stage. A more modern gin, with enhanced floral elements, works really well here– something like our local favorite, Falcon Spirits’ Botanica, or the London/Iceland mashup of Martin Miller's Gin.
If you're willing to spend a little more time and money sourcing special honey, a whole new set of options becomes possible, where the honey itself takes center stage. From the Manuka-flower honeys of New Zealand to the Linden-flower honeys of Germany and the Osmanthus-flower honeys of China, beekeepers have long known that feeding bees the pollen of certain flowers can create honeys with incredible flavor. Taking one of these unique honeys, like the Linden-flower honey from Breitsamer Honig, and pairing it in a Bees Knees with a sharp dry gin like Anchor's Junipero or St. George Dry Rye Gin, gives you a Bees Knees where the spice of the gin cuts the sweetness of the honey just enough for the flower aromatics to shine.
The Bees’ Knees
2 oz Falcon Spirits Botanica Gin
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz honey syrup (equal parts honey : water by volume)
Shake vigorously and strain into a coupe glass
*For celestial vibes garnish with crescent moon dehydrated lemon
Hanky Panky
According to the visionary 1920's bartender Ada Coleman, at the start of the 1920's in the bar she then ran in London, an often-overworked actor named Charles Hawtrey would walk up to her bar and say "I am tired. Give me something with a bit of punch in it.’” To supply the "punch" that her friend/regular requested, Ada Coleman turned to the cutting bitterness of Fernet Branca– but just a tiny splash, balanced with fragrant gin, and softened by plenty of soothing Italian vermouth. The actor's response, says Coleman, was first to sip it; then to drain the glass; and then to exclaim "By Jove! This is the real hanky-panky!"
Cocktail history writer Emily Bell says that Hawtrey meant "something closer to magic or witchcraft" than we might think today. The magic of Coleman's recipe is clear: the Hanky Panky is both soft and sharp; both simple and deep. It's the perfect invigorating sip for your Roaring Twenties party.
Hanky Panky
1.5 oz Beefeater London Dry Gin
1.5 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
20 drops Fernet Branca
Stir and strain into a stemmed glass.
Bizzy Izzy High Ball
We had to bend our timeline just a touch to include this recipe as a 1920's drink; it was first published by Tom Bullock in 1917. Cocktail writer Drew Lazor has suggested that Tom Bullock, like Ada Coleman, most likely created the Bizzy Izzy as a nod to a vaudeville actor in the area where he ran a bar. and from its rhyming name to its bold, thirst-quenching character–perfect for gulping between songs on a dance floor– the Bizzy Izzy is undoubtedly part of the Jazz Era that shaped the 20's.
Bullock's Bizzy Izzy opts for two base spirits in equal parts: bourbon and sherry. This trick of "splitting" base spirits is super popular in the 2000's, and for good reason. Dry sherry, with its mix of tart, sweet, and earthy, is great at drawing out the refreshing side of a good bourbon. Paired with pineapple syrup, lemon, and cold seltzer, the sherry-bourbon duo makes a bright and exciting impression. This is the drink that your 20's party guests will keep talking about for years to come!
Bizzy Izzy Highball
¾ oz Evan Williams Bonded Bourbon
¾ oz Lustau “Fino Jarana” sherry
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz pineapple syrup
Shake vigorously and strain into a tall glass. Top with cold seltzer and fill glass with ice.
To make pineapple syrup: cut an entire washed pineapple into rough 1” cubes. Instead of peeling the fruit, allow the rhind to remain on the outer cubes.
In a large bowl, stir all cubes with enough sugar to coat all cubes generously. Add the peel from 2 lemons. Cover and leave in refrigerator 24 hours.
Strain all resulting liquid into a container, pressing cubes to extract the juice. This liquid is the syrup. Keep cold until ready to use. Lasts 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator.
New Money Honey
A MobMix original, New Money Honey is our tribute to the character Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby. Jay is a target of fascination and suspicion among the characters of the novel he inhabits, and cocktail should be the same: fascinating and suspiciously easy to drink.
To make the New Money Honey, we start by combining fresh lemon peels with honey. Into this mix, we crush fresh grapes, skins and all. We add the juice from the lemons, and let everything rest together. Over time, the honey draws unique and magical flavors out of the lemon zest and the grape skins. With these flavors extracted, we remove all solids and keep the liquid that's left, which is called oleo saccharum.
We combine this grape-honey-lemon oleosaccharum with cold sparkling wine, a splash of cold seltzer, and some of the dry sherry that we've got on hand from making Bizzy Izzy Highballs. The result might just be too refreshing.
Are we mixing champagne with grape soda? No comment. Why don't you try one and let us know whether you approve?
New Money Honey
2.5 oz chilled sparkling wine
1 oz oleo-saccharum from grape, lemon, and honey
¾ oz Lustau "Fino Jarana” sherry
2 oz cold seltzer
Combine all in a rocks glass. Top with ice and garnish with fresh grapes.
*For celestial vibes serve up in a champagne flute and add sparkling star edible glitter
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