Bottles & Bubbles: From a Family Trailer to a Business on the Move

After a career shake-up and a leap of faith brought them to Greenville, South Carolina, mother and daughter Leoni Michael and McKenzie Nunley turned an old trailer into a mobile bar and built a family business around hospitality, hard work, and looking out for people. 

Bottles & Bubbles is a family-owned mobile bar service that specializes in elevating events ranging from corporate gatherings to the most intimate events such as birthday parties, weddings and much more. Jeff Michael; Ethan and Lana Michael; Madison Aslin and Parker Aslin; McKenzie’s husband, Jacob Nunley; and Leoni’s father have all contributed to the formation, development, and success of Bottles & Bubbles through their time, dedication, resources, prayers and unwavering support. 

The idea began with a trailer that wasn’t going anywhere. “We started in Dallas, and my grandfather had a trailer,” Nunley shared, reminiscing how the trailer sat on the property, and after her grandmother passed, her grandfather asked for her help in selling the trailer. Michael noticed the listing on Facebook Marketplace and as a longtime business coach, she had the idea to use the trailer as a business opportunity. 

That idea would become a mobile bar business – one that now brings cocktails, mocktails, conversation, and a little extra family spirit to weddings, rehearsal dinners, private parties, and corporate events.  Jeff, who has a background in architecture, redesigned the trailer while Ethan became an integral part of the operations team alongside his mother and sister. 

The leap came after years of winding turns. Michael grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, during apartheid, and later moved to Columbus, Ohio, when she was 14 years old with her parents, two younger, and two older siblings. “My parents said, ‘We have a suitcase, we have $50, and we have Jesus.’ And we figured it out,” she shared. At 18 years old, she met Jeff. They later got married, and three kids later moved from Columbus, Ohio, to Texas, where Leoni built a career in corporate centered around professional development. After a company restructuring eliminated her position, she found herself focusing on a future she hadn’t planned. 

Some of her loved ones, including her older brother and mother, passed away over the course of several years. Leoni’s father told her something that opened her heart and her eyes to see beyond her life at that moment: “You’ve always taken care of your mother and I. Just spread your wings and fly” – reminding her that South Carolina was always on her mind during the years when she and Jeff often traveled to Hilton Head. 

As family losses prompted them to reconsider what came next, the move began to feel possible. Michael wrote a book about leading across generations in the workplace called, “Bridge the Gap, Lead the Pack: 5 Bullet-Proof Ways to Connect and Lead Multi-Generations in the Workplace.” Then, she looked at the unexpected opening in front of her and saw another possibility: a business she and Jeff’s children could help build together. 

Nunley had a marketing degree, experience in social media marketing, and a keen eye on presentation. Michael brought leadership, energy, and the willingness to write the first check. Their family brought the rest. Nunley helped mold Bottles & Bubbles’ look and social presence.

The first event was a launch party for the trailer and a celebration for Michael’s book. Two months later, they moved to Greenville. 

Since then, the business has grown beyond one trailer. The family has added smaller pop-up bars that can fit into different spaces, as well as a larger bar for bigger events. They’ve also developed a team of bartenders, including Nunley’s husband, Jacob, and many of whom they first met out and about. For the family crew at Bottles & Bubbles, a good fit matters as much as experience: they want people who are warm, capable, and aligned with the way they treat their guests. 

That approach extends to safety. The business maintains a substantial insurance coverage, works to meet venues’ requirements, and invests in bartender training certifications. They also have a simple house rule: no shots. The goal is not just to serve drinks, but to help guests enjoy themselves without putting anyone in a difficult situation. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt,” is the thinking behind their careful and mindful service. If someone has had enough, the bartenders look for discreet ways to cut them off, and if guests shouldn’t drive, the team is ready to help them find another way for the guests to get home. 

It’s a practical kind of hospitality: lively enough for a party, thoughtful enough to look after the people at it. 

The family’s own calendar offers plenty of evidence of how much the venture has become part of their lives. Several relatives have gotten married, and the business is staffing events while celebrations unfold within the family. What began as a trailer and an idea is now a team that can cover multiple events on any given day. 

They didn’t arrive in Greenville with a perfect business plan or a long history in bartending. They arrived with complementary strengths, prayers, faith, a family willing to pitch in, and a willingness to learn as they went. The trailer needed a facelift. The operation needed systems. The business needed to grow beyond the founders’ own hands. And it did. 

For the Michael/Nunley/Aslin family, Bottles & Bubbles is more than a place to pour drinks. It’s proof that an unexpected ending can become a new beginning – and that sometimes the best business idea is the one that brings the family along for a ride. 

To learn more about Bottles & Bubbles, you can visit them at 616 Bridgeway Blvd, Simpsonville, South Carolina (located inside City Market at Bridgeway Station), or reach out to them directly at info@bottlesbubbles.com