Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

Former interior design student at Ringling School of Art & Design, now local entrepreneur, Jill Martini is a jane of all trades. While an established interior designer for many years, she decided to be her own boss and currently dabbles as an independent fashioner—creating customizable apparel and totes for her seaside-inspired line Avenue Blue—showcased and sold from her Etsy shop.

“I have always been an artist at heart and love to create things,” she says. And now keeping herself on her own toes, she decided to “put her design skills to the test.” Martini opted to convert an old, dilapidated trailer and dive into the events industry—with a cocktail in hand. She had an aquaholic vision for a boutique bartending service on wheels and utilized her ingrained skills as a designer—sketching up the mobile bar design, then calling upon master carpenter 4 Elements Industries to bring "the whale" to life.

Hitting the streets of Sarasota for the first time yesterday, The Wandering Whale is officially opened for bubbly business, and certainly turning heads with its retrofitted 1978 vintage horse trailer-turned modern mobile boutique bar. 

The Wandering Whale is available to bartend for any occassion, from weddings, birthdays, holidays, engagement parties and corporate events, to showers and graduations. Realtors, planning an open house? Simply provide the alcohol, and Martini will be able to mix up a refreshing lavender lemonade for your attendees to keep cool on a hot Florida day. Want to throw a Cinco De Mayo house party and have margaritas handled so you can salsa, or throw the coolest baby shower anyone's seen with a full-service outdoor mimosa bar? This wayfaring dive ensures everything goes swimmingly by bringing the party curbside and blowing your guests’ expectations out of the water.

Two options for booking include:

Mobile Bar Rental Only — Option to rent just the trailer and have your catering company as the bartender.

Mobile Bar + Bartender — Book the trailer and Wandering Whale bartender as a package deal.

Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

The Wandering Whale, 941-650-9950, hello@thewanderingwhale.com