details wedCetera
new and noteworthy WHAT'S NEXT AND NOW IN THE WORLD OF WEDDINGS
written by Giuseppa Nadrowski
The Touring Tap Once used for everything from farm utility and mail delivery to ice cream sales and meter readers, today the Cushman Haulster has found new life as The Touring Tap — a trendy mobile tap truck serving events (and beverages!) across metro Detroit. Discovered at a farm in Ohio, the 1979 truck was refurbished and transformed to house six chrome taps in its sleek Porsche-inspired chalk gray body. The Touring Tap officially launched in 2020, and this season, new owners Christopher Richmond and Jeffrey Fuller are excited to take the tap back on the road. “This is definitely a way to set yourself apart from other weddings,” Richmond says. “It really tends to be a conversation piece. And it’s just fun. We can get really creative with the types of drinks we serve, and we can have it really add a true value to an event.” Richmond and Fuller first discovered The Touring Tap at a graduation party last summer. It wasn’t long after that the duo decided to make it their own. This season, The Touring Tap returns to work ready to serve events of all sizes and styles. “We can have up to six drinks [on the truck],” Richmond says. “Anything you can get in a keg we can put into the truck for
22
Metro Detroit Weddings
022-23_DetailsWedcetra_MDW_SF2022.indd 22
your event.” Per Michigan law, liquor licenses cannot be sold to mobile bars, so while The Touring Tap can’t sell alcohol drinks by the glass or keg, they will install the kegs you purchase on the truck, help you source where to purchase them, and even help design your drink menu. There is also a variety of non-alcohol drinks that can be served — think lemonades, teas, ciders, coffees, and even craft sodas. “Despite being small, we can also serve quite a few people,” Richmond says. “There really is no minimum ... but once we get to 200 to 250 people, we definitely recommend having one to two tap tenders.” Self-serve packages are ideal for those events with fewer than 100 guests. Tap tenders can be added to packages of any size to help alleviate lines and assist with pouring drinks. The Touring Tap can also be styled to fit into any theme with options to provide custom cups that feature a signature design or logo. “Where we try to really focus on setting ourselves apart is just the experience from start to finish,” Richmond says. “Whether that’s helping to design a drink menu, helping to decorate the actual truck itself, or the set up and the dismount, we just want to make things really easy for our clients.” For more information, visit thetouringtapmi.com
Salud Shivani Kothari and Anne Goering are redefining the bridal industry with their recently launched month-to-month wedding planning subscription service, Salud. Plans start at $80 a month and include a wedding planner, virtual meetings, vendor recommendations, design assistance, an online planning portal filled with spreadsheets and planning guides, and unlimited advice via email. “Wedding planners are worth their weight in gold,” Kothari says. “But only if the budget allows. We designed our plans to be financially flexible to accommodate all types of budgets.” Kothari, a former Michigan-based wedding planner, met Goering while attending the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business graduate program. Salud, which first began as a class project, is now changing the way couples across the country plan their big day. “Before we started our business, we would hear how our team of wedding planners would spend so much time focusing on sales and marketing strategies to attract clients,” Kothari says. “We've put a lot of thought into how we cultivate the couple-planner relationship so when it comes time for the couple to hire someone for in-person coordination services, asking if their Salud wedding planner is available is naturally their first move. The couple has someone they can trust, and our planners are able to showcase their talents through the couples they work with through us so it's easier to get booked.” For more information visit, momentstosalud.com
PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF THE TOURING TAP AND SALUD
6/15/22 10:12 AM
