Bringing own alcohol to reception

Definitely hire a bartender! they will help cover you from a liability perspective.

Also a bartender will be able to save you on the excessive pouring!

You absolutely need to hire a bartender.

Weddings are not a "serve yourself" event.

Hire a bartender. And get liability insurance.

We have to provide our own bartenders and beverages at our venue. Even though our venue is insured and licensed, they want the bartenders themselves to be insured and licensed because they are the ones serving the alcohol. If you serve it yourself and someone leaves and gets into an accident that's on you or the venue so it's better to have bartenders especially since they can tell when someone has had enough. If you go with a company they will more than likely have bar packages which includes beverages and all the serving stuff. We decided to go with a company but are bringing our own kegs, wine bottles and soda.

We are bringing our own alcohol to the reception as well. We plan to drop it off the night before. They will provide beer and wine. We will have them stock up on a few favorites. Haven't worked out all the details yet, but FH said in China guests don't appreciate having to get up and get their own drinks, especially if they like to drink. Getting up and going to the bar every time, makes them feel like an alcoholic. We will have some bar stations in the room for the liquor that they can serve themselves or a waiter can serve for them. Beer and wine they can order from the tables and will brought out to their seats. They also have a bar in the room, so we can utilize that as well. We still need to work out the final details, so I'm following for more suggestions.

ETA: my wedding is in Shanghai, so different rules apply and most people don't drive. They use the metro, taxes and buses. It isn't logical to drive in a large city like Shanghai (similar to NYC, I would assume, but have never been)

Hire a bartender for sure. Set up some sort of bar- put tables together, etc- to keep the flow going. And make sure you have enough!

My venue does not supply alcohol, but requires that we hire bartenders, which they will supply and bill with the rest of the wait staff.

There are a bunch of links out there on how much alcohol to buy, based on the number of people you are having. Check out pinterest or

http://fifthgroup.com/blog/how-to-stock-a-wedding-bar/

Hire a bartender!

You should hire a bartender and make sure to have insurance

Our venue also allows us to bring our own alcohol, but they do provide a bartender. I agree with PP about liability insurance. My venue provides it and the bartender will also cut people off when appropriate and ID your guests.

ETA

I've had people recommend to use the online calculator for how much alcohol to get and what kind. Mainly beer, wine, and a couple of signature drinks are a popular choice.

You definitely need a bartender or two, and when you interview them, I'm sure they'll be able to help you figure quantities.

Okay great, any idea on how much bartender cost per hour?

$150/hr at my venue. We're having 3 bartenders for 2 bar set-ups.

Hire a bartender or two. You must get liability insurance. If there were an accident or alcohol related incident, BIG problems could occur. Have you reconsidered your venue?

A friend of mine went through that...however, she didnt hired a bartender. Ceremony/Cocktail hour was outside, so she make some "punches" (drinks w alcohol) and made a little bar using Mason Jar drink dispenser. And she also had a Bourbon "bar"...guest were really good and no one got super drunk. At diner, they have a white and red wine at each table and it was self serve...It works for them!

We're purchasing some kegs and other various beers/wine/few liquors, putting them in two big canoes (booze canoes for my mountains/woods/camping theme wedding), and letting them serve themselves.

Before people freak out, our venue requires that we purchase insurance ($200) to have it this way, which is called a "host bar." This insurance includes "host liquor" liability, which is covering us the same way it would if we hired a bartender. Hundreds of weddings at my venue do it this way every year with no issue.

Definitely don't let your guests serve themselves without some sort of protection, but you don't HAVE to have a bartender.

Edited to add: no one under 21 is at our wedding. If you have children, serve-yourself might not be a good idea.

We are a boyb venue too - one of the main reasons why we picked them. Our caterer is providing two licensed bartenders for us. Something they do often and know how many bartenders they need per guest count.

Ask your caterer about bartender service. We provided our own alcohol and the caterer hired our bartenders.

Does your venue or caterer offer bar staff for an additional cost? If not, look into hiring one who has their own liability insurance. Self-serve bars are potentially disastrous. People will severely over pour, do shots, etc. and not only will you be held liable without insurance. but your booze will probably run out more quickly than normal and if you're not prepared for that you'll be out of alcohol.