The Summer Boiler Party

This summer has been kind to us and although the normal weather has come back to Glasgow of late we lucked out last weekend as the sun returned for a brilliant garden party on the shores of the Clyde Estuary. In the end we had a great time providing the bar services for Fraser at his 43rd birthday party. You might think that 43 is a strange birthday to have a big bash for but it coincided with the 5th anniversary of incorporating his business, Paisley Boiler Installations.

With 130 friends, coworkers and family the day was for all of the family. With 30 engineers working for the company and all of their families the bar soon got very busy…… non alcoholic cocktails for the children went down very well and of course the “Boilermaker” (See our earlier post) which we added to the menu especially for the occasion. Being in Glasgow we had to have a good range of single malts which went down well later on.

Luckily everyone had left their work vans at home and either had designated drivers, shared cars or got taxis. We started the bar at 2 pm and didn’t close up until 12 midnight.

4 staff and 2 mixologists kept the drinks and food flowing all day. 2 main sittings for a cold buffet provided by our favorite partners, Glasgow Buffet Kings. Some very interesting and original party games kept everyone happy though the afternoon and then for the evening a little ceilidh dancing as one of the head engineers George happens to play the fiddle pretty well.

Our staff were dressed on 1930s Manhattan style with waistcoat and braces, including trousers and braces for the girls. It worked great and everyone looked amazing….. unfortunately yours truly dropped his mobile in the sink and lost all the photos!….. I’ll do better next time!

You would be forgiven for thinking that it wasn’t a family do …. because a couple of the afternoon games involved drinking games with our cocktails putting a classy twist on things.

The games were as follows:

  1. Beer Pong……. With Boilermakers instead of beer
  2. Dizzy bat…….. With non alcoholic cocktails for all the family
  3. A team obstacle course involving Tequila and Verdita
  4. Jenga and Coffee………………. Well needed caffeine!

The ceilidh was a blast and the fiddling was sublime. We’ve actually agreed with George to get him along for some fiddling action at other future gigs. So you may be hearing more from him. Truly gifted!

Never heard a Dashing White Sergeant played with so much energy…… and danced with so much too!

George went through all of the favorites and everyone joined in. The Britannia Twostep, The Circassian Circle, The Eightsome Reel, Gay Gordons, Strip The Willow, The Orcadian Strip The Willow, Canadian Barn Dance and the Dashing White Seargent.

Obviously for the dancing we brought out a range of Scottish or whiskey based cocktails.

  • The Rusty Nail
  • The Bobby Burns
  • The Blood And Sand
  • The Penicillin

Have a look at (https://www.themanual.com/food-and-drink/essential-scotch-cocktails/ )if you want some great visuals of these.

Anyway, thanks to Jenny and Rose for standing in at the last minute. Thanks to George for the great fiddling. Thanks to Jeff and Fud for their usually spectacular flaring at the bar.

And of course thank you to Fraser for inviting us to help make your celebrations great fun and memorable for everyone involved.

An absolute pleasure.