Unless you are premixing pitchers of Bloody Marys or Screwdriver, you should have brand-name liquors available. Pick the most popular scotch, rye, vodka, gin, and so forth. Have fruits and all the other garnishes ready just before your guest arrive. It is awkward and unprepared to have to fetch this and grab that at the last minute. Where to Set Up the Bar Choose a location away from the front door, and most definitely not in the kitchen.
Most people grab a drink and tend to gravitate around the bar area, creating a bottleneck.
If your guests are mixing their own drinks, check the ice, soda, water, et cetera, often. If you have someone mixing drinks, check in with him or her frequently and also make sure that your special no-alcohol mixed concoctions are being offered. Watch for guest drinking too much, too fast, too soon. It is in your best interest as the host to avoid drinking until the party is nearly over. Also, when you see a guest drinking too much, make him or her a drink with little or no alcohol.