Florida Booking and Event Terms

1. Scope of Services

Special Sips provides only the bartending labor, planning, equipment, nonalcoholic ingredients, supplies, rentals, setup, breakdown, and related services expressly listed in the accepted proposal.

Any additional service, product, staffing, rental, travel, or time requires a written change order approved by both parties.

2. Client-Provided Alcohol

Unless the accepted proposal identifies a separately licensed alcohol provider, all alcoholic beverages must be selected, purchased, paid for, owned, received, and supplied by the client or venue. Alcohol is not sold or included in the Special Sips service price.

Special Sips will not purchase alcohol for the client, advance or receive reimbursement for alcohol, mark up or resell alcohol, include complimentary alcohol with a paid package, charge guests by the drink, sell drink tickets, accept donations in exchange for drinks, operate a cash bar, or collect admission that includes alcoholic beverages.

Client-owned alcohol must be legally purchased and delivered by the client, venue, licensed retailer, or other legally authorized party. Shopping-list quantities are planning estimates, not guarantees against shortages or excess. All unopened and remaining alcohol remains the client’s property and responsibility.

3. Private Events and Licensed Providers

Standard service is intended for private, hosted events where invited guests are not separately charged for drinks. Public or ticketed events, fundraisers, festivals, cash bars, drink-ticket systems, and alcohol included with admission require advance compliance review.

Special Sips may require a properly licensed venue, caterer, nonprofit permit holder, or alcohol-service provider, and may decline an event when the alcohol arrangement cannot be verified as lawful and acceptable to the venue.

4. Mixers, Garnishes, Food, and Ice

Special Sips provides only the mixers, garnishes, ice, ingredients, and consumable supplies listed in the accepted proposal. The client may be required to provide specified consumables for labor-and-equipment-only service.

Food or drink preparation will use an appropriately approved operating arrangement and location. Preparation requiring a licensed facility will not be performed in a private residence.

5. Venue Approval and Local Requirements

The client must confirm that alcohol and outside bartenders are permitted; the alcohol arrangement, service hours, equipment, rentals, ingredients, permits, insurance, security, and approvals satisfy venue and local requirements; and no exclusive provider rule applies.

Venue rules, loading instructions, insurance requirements, and restrictions must be disclosed before booking. Late requirements may change pricing or service. Special Sips may refuse or discontinue work that would violate law, ordinance, venue rule, license restriction, insurance requirement, or reasonable safety standards.

6. Proposals and Date Reservations

A proposal is valid only through its displayed expiration date. A consultation, verbal agreement, proposal, unpaid signature, or courtesy hold does not confirm the booking.

The event becomes booked only after the proposal is accepted, the agreement is electronically signed, and the required booking payment successfully clears. Expired proposals and courtesy holds may be released without further notice.

7. Booking Retainer and Payment Schedule

The booking retainer compensates Special Sips for initial planning, administration, staff commitments, and removing the date from availability. Unless the proposal states otherwise, it is 25% of the event total or $500, whichever is greater, but never more than the total.

For events more than 30 days away, the client may pay the displayed booking retainer or pay the proposal total in full. When the retainer option is selected, the remaining balance is due by the date displayed in the accepted proposal.

Events occurring within 30 days, including events exactly 30 days away, require payment in full at booking and do not offer a retainer option. The accepted proposal’s displayed schedule controls.

Special Sips is not required to staff, prepare for, travel to, or perform an event with an overdue balance.

8. Taxes, Fees, and Gratuity

Applicable Florida sales tax and county discretionary surtax will be added to items or services marked taxable in the accepted proposal. The event-location rate and tax treatment must be confirmed before sending.

Mandatory fees will be clearly named and explained. They will not be represented as gratuity. Gratuity is optional unless the proposal expressly states otherwise and is displayed separately.

9. Final Guest Count

The final guaranteed guest count is due 14 days before the event unless the proposal gives another deadline. Final pricing is based on the greater of the guaranteed count or the actual number served or reasonably expected to be served.

Increases depend on staffing, equipment, ingredient, rental, and scheduling availability and may require additional bartenders, barbacks, supplies, equipment, or stations. Reductions after the deadline do not reduce the contracted price.

10. Menu and Event Details

Final menus, drink names, service times, venue information, access instructions, allergy information, and the day-of contact are due by the portal deadline. Changes are not effective until approved in writing.

Changes affecting price, labor, supplies, rentals, preparation, travel, or time require a written change order and payment. Reasonable substitutions may be made when an ingredient or supply is unavailable, unsafe, discontinued, or materially delayed.

11. Responsible Alcohol Service

Special Sips controls service decisions and will not knowingly serve anyone under 21. Staff may require acceptable government-issued photo identification; a guest who cannot establish legal drinking age when asked will not be served.

Staff may refuse, slow, suspend, or stop service to anyone who appears intoxicated, behaves aggressively or unsafely, provides alcohol to a minor, self-serves, interferes with staff, pressures staff to overpour, violates venue rules, or cannot establish legal drinking age. The client and venue may not override that decision, and no refund is due because responsible-service measures are used.

12. Bar Rules

Guests may not enter the working bar area or use Special Sips tools without permission. Special Sips may decline shots, doubles, drinking-game service, rapid consecutive servings, or other high-risk service.

Water and reasonable nonalcoholic options must remain available. The client must designate a sober authorized contact able to make event-day logistical decisions.

13. Service Hours and Last Call

Service begins and ends at the accepted proposal times. Last call may occur approximately 20–30 minutes before scheduled alcohol service ends and does not extend the contracted period.

Service may end earlier when required by law, ordinance, venue rule, security, safety, or responsible-service concerns. Additional time is not guaranteed. Approved event-day overtime has a one-hour minimum at 150% of the normal hourly rate, followed by 30-minute increments.

14. Staffing

The proposal states included staff. Special Sips may require more staff based on guest count, menu complexity, layout, glassware, loading conditions, service style, or number of bar stations.

Required adjustments will appear in a revised proposal or change order. The client may not reduce required staffing without approval.

15. Event Access and Working Conditions

The client must provide sufficient setup, service, and breakdown access, including a stable level surface, lighting, water and electrical access when required, a safe loading route, sufficient workspace, weather protection, and disclosed parking.

Stairs, sand, unpaved paths, long carries, freight-elevator limits, valet-only loading, security checks, and unusual conditions must be disclosed. Undisclosed conditions may create additional labor, travel, parking, or equipment charges.

16. Outdoor Events, Heat, and Weather

Outdoor events require an adequate backup plan, overhead cover or shade, stable flooring, and protection for staff, ingredients, electrical equipment, and rentals.

Staff are not required to work in lightning, dangerous winds, flooding, wildfire conditions, unsafe heat or air quality, or other conditions posing a reasonable threat. Ordinary rain, heat, humidity, or wind does not create an automatic refund when the event could proceed under the required backup plan.

17. Client Cancellation

Cancellation must be in writing. Unless the proposal states otherwise, liquidated damages are: more than 60 days before the event, the earned booking retainer; 31–60 days, 50% of the event total; 15–30 days, 75%; and 14 days or fewer, 100%.

Amounts paid are credited against the cancellation amount and any unpaid amount may be invoiced. The schedule reflects planning, reserved labor, rentals, purchased products, administrative work, and lost booking opportunity that can be difficult to measure precisely.

18. Rescheduling

Rescheduling is subject to availability and written confirmation. A request more than 60 days before the event may be transferred once to an available replacement date within 12 months, subject to a $250 fee, current pricing, updated staffing and travel, and nonrecoverable third-party or custom costs.

A request inside 60 days may be treated as cancellation and a new booking. Payments are not transferable to another client without written approval.

19. Hurricanes, Evacuations, and Force Majeure

Force majeure includes a government evacuation order, legally mandated closure, emergency venue closure, hurricane, tropical storm, wildfire, major flood, widespread utility failure, or comparable event beyond reasonable control that makes performance legally prohibited or reasonably impossible.

The parties will first try to reschedule. Payments may transfer to an available date within 12 months less nonrecoverable expenses, committed third-party charges, custom purchases, and completed work. A forecast, ordinary bad weather, travel preference, or personal concern alone is not automatically force majeure.

20. Client and Guest Conduct

The client is responsible for guests and invited vendors. Special Sips may suspend or terminate service for threats, violence, harassment, illegal activity, intentional damage, unsafe crowds, or repeated interference with responsible service, without refund.

The client is responsible for appropriate security and safe transportation when reasonably necessary.

21. Allergies and Dietary Requests

Known allergies and dietary requests must be disclosed before the final-details deadline. Special Sips uses reasonable care but cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment; tools, surfaces, packaged products, garnishes, mixers, and ice may contact common allergens.

Guests with severe allergies should speak directly with the bar lead before ordering.

22. Equipment, Rentals, and Damage

Equipment and rentals remain the property of Special Sips or the rental provider. The client is responsible for documented loss or damage caused by the client, guests, venue, or other vendors, excluding ordinary wear and damage caused by Special Sips personnel.

Repair, replacement, extra cleaning, and recovery may be invoiced. A damage authorization may be required for specialty bars, glassware, decor, or other high-value rentals.

23. Cleanup

Special Sips performs only the bar-area breakdown and cleanup listed in the proposal. It does not include general venue cleanup, guest tables, catering waste, decorations, restrooms, trash outside the contracted area, or cleanup caused by other vendors.

Excessive bar-area cleanup caused by guest or venue conditions may be billed at the additional labor rate.

24. Special Sips Cancellation

If Special Sips cannot perform for a reason within its reasonable control, it may provide a qualified replacement appropriate for the contracted service. If none is reasonably available, amounts paid for unperformed services will be refunded.

Liability for other losses is limited to amounts paid to Special Sips except where applicable law prohibits that limitation.

25. Photography and Media

Special Sips may photograph its equipment, setup, beverages, menus, and decor without unreasonably interfering with the event. Identifiable client or guest images will not be used for advertising when consent is legally required and not obtained.

The client may decline promotional media use without affecting service.

26. Payment Disputes

Special Sips works directly with clients to resolve any billing question. The client should promptly contact Special Sips at swfl@specialsips.com about a disputed charge and allow a reasonable opportunity to investigate and resolve it before initiating a chargeback or bank dispute.

Because online card payments are handled by a third-party payment processor, a chargeback filed before contacting Special Sips may delay resolution and does not by itself change the amounts owed under the accepted proposal and these terms. This provision does not waive any nonwaivable consumer right.

27. Electronic Records and Signatures

Proposals, agreements, notices, change orders, invoices, receipts, and communications may be delivered electronically. Electronic acceptance and signatures are intended to have the same effect as handwritten signatures under applicable law.

28. Governing Law

Florida law governs. A court proceeding must be brought in the Florida county identified as the Special Sips principal business location in the accepted proposal unless applicable law requires another venue.

29. Entire Agreement

The accepted proposal, these terms, the signed agreement record, approved change orders, payment schedule, and incorporated attachments form the complete agreement. Verbal statements do not modify it.

Changes must be written and accepted by both parties. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to the fullest extent allowed by law.

30. Website and Client Portal

Website descriptions, availability results, planning tools, examples, and estimates are informational until included in an accepted proposal or approved change order. The client is responsible for keeping account credentials private and promptly reporting suspected unauthorized access.

Portal users may upload only files they are authorized to use and that are reasonably related to the event. They may not attempt to disrupt the site, access another person’s records, introduce malicious code, or use the service for unlawful activity.

31. Privacy and Electronic Communications

The Special Sips Privacy Policy describes how website, inquiry, account, event, communication, and transaction information is handled. Transactional email and portal notices may be used to administer an inquiry, proposal, agreement, payment, or booked event.

Marketing email and automated or marketing text messages are governed by the consent and opt-out choices stated at collection. Consent to marketing text messages is not a condition of purchase. Transactional communications necessary to administer an active request or agreement may continue when permitted by law.

32. Payments, Currency, and Card Processing

All prices, payments, retainers, and balances are stated and charged in United States Dollars (USD). The client is responsible for any foreign-transaction, conversion, or bank fees charged by their own card issuer.

When online card payment is enabled, card payments are processed by Stripe on secure, Stripe-hosted pages. Stripe is certified as a PCI Service Provider Level 1. Special Sips does not receive, store, or have access to full card numbers or card security codes; it retains only the payment amount, date, status, and processor reference needed for receipts, accounting, support, and dispute handling. Card charges appear on the client’s statement under a Special Sips billing descriptor.

By authorizing a payment, the client confirms they are authorized to use the payment method. Retainers and later payments are due on the dates shown in the accepted proposal’s payment schedule; the schedule does not by itself authorize automatic charges. A payment is complete only when Stripe confirms it has cleared; a declined, reversed, or uncollected payment does not confirm or maintain a booking. Special Sips may also record payments made by cash, check, or other offline methods that it has independently verified.

33. Refund Policy

Special Sips sells scheduled, date-reserved event services. Because booking an event removes the date from availability and commits planning time, staff, and resources, payments are generally non-refundable except as stated below and in the cancellation, rescheduling, force-majeure, and Special Sips cancellation sections above, which control over any conflicting summary.

The booking retainer is earned when paid and is non-refundable. On client cancellation, amounts paid are applied to the cancellation (liquidated-damages) amount for the applicable notice window, and any remainder after that amount is refunded. Refunds are also issued when Special Sips cannot perform for a reason within its reasonable control and no acceptable replacement is arranged, in which case amounts paid for unperformed services are refunded. No refund is due solely because responsible-service or safety measures were used, or because ordinary weather occurred and the event could proceed under the required backup plan.

Approved refunds are issued in USD to the original payment method through the payment processor when practical, normally within 5–10 business days of approval, less any earned retainer, completed work, and committed nonrecoverable third-party or custom costs. Duplicate or clearly erroneous charges are refunded in full promptly on verification. To request a refund or raise a billing question, contact swfl@specialsips.com.