Alcohol Estimate

I tried the calculator once but I didn’t understand it. Maybe talk to a whole seller or winery about how much they think would work. We’re buying our stuff through various connections with discounts and we can return any unused alcohol

Do you get anything back for unused alcohol? We had the option of a consumption bar for our cocktail hour/reception and were told what wasn't used of our upfront funds would be reimbursed to us after the event. We went the all inclusive route (open bar) as it seem's it will be cheaper in our situation.

I should have added, they are estimating 5-8 drinks per person for a 3 hour reception. There is no way I can drink 5+ drinks in 3 hours and still stand up! I know some guys can, but I also need to consider that some guest will not have any alcohol at all. ALL of the alcohol calculators online estimate about 4 drinks over 3 hours.

Daughter's wedding was a full open premium bar for 5 hours (1 hour cocktail hour and 4 for reception). The guests were pretty evenly split between friends of the B&G, mostly in their mid-twenties, and family, 35-65. We probably only had a small handful of guests who do not drink at all. Toward the end of the night I jokingly asked one of the bartenders if we'd "gotten our money's worth" from the open bar, and he assured me the choice had paid off quite well for us -- that we definitely had a "hard drinking" crowd! Keep in mind, especially if a lot of people are dancing, people get a drink, take two sips, put it down somewhere, and then get another later. Also, throughout the night, groups of B&G's friends would all approach them with drinks for another "toast." Daughter RARELY drinks at all, and over the course of the night, expects she had at least 10-12 glasses handed to her. She certainly didn't "drink" them all, but she'd take a sip and put it down somewhere. Is that wasteful? Yes, but I think it's fairly typical of an event where people are up dancing & mingling. (Paying per drink can add up really fast, and it can be very hard to control what your total costs are, unless you tell the venue to close the bar when it hits a certain total, but that can definitely kill the party. If you go that route, I'd be sure to build in a BIG buffer in what you budget, so you're not unhappily surprised at the end of the night. If your guests do drink less, it will be a nice bonus.) Good luck!

View Quoted Comment I would have guessed 4 drinks too! 5-8 drinks does seem high. Even if guests set down their drink before finishing then go get another, seems high.

Do tell your venue NOT to clean up drinks left unattended unless put in a weird spot. I’ve heard that’s a trick a few unethical venues do to force guests to go get new drinks. Of course you’ll leave your drink on your table while dancing!

Your venue probably does that on purpose, because they make more money that way. You and your FH might be looking to save money wherever you can, but I can assure you, the venue is not doing that. They are trying to make money.

If it can be calculated another way, do it. I agree with MOB So Cal though, that at a wedding, a lot of drinks get wasted. Someone gets a drink, takes a few sips, sets it down to go onto the dance floor, and then later ends up getting a new drink, rather than going back for the one they had originally.

So, you'd be better off doing a consumption bar (if your venue allows it), or see if you can put a cap on the event (like no more than $X), and once that cap hits, bar is closed. I've never heard of 5-8 drinks per person, even for a longer reception. But in 3 hours? No way.