By consumption vs. flat rate for alcohol

55 per person is a lot for open bar. I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country and even around here open bar is only like 40-45 per person. Even if you have a lot of drinkers, I would still do consumption. If people only drink beer or wine that's 11 drinks per person...

I felt like $55 was a ton as well....

Ho many drinkers and how much do they "drink"?

And how much are your drinks costs per drink?

$55 is a bit high but that depends on your costs and length offered and how many drinkers.

We had 50% drinkers and consumption bar saved us a TON of money.

So you can pay 2640 and not worry

Or you can figure out how much and who drinks and all...

Maybe 40 guests at four drinks at $5--is that reasonable? That would be 800.

Our family and friends are big time drinkers so for us it would be a no brainer.

I guess do the math and figure in how much you would worry/wonder about it.

How long is your reception? You can usually assume that everyone will have two drinks during cocktail hour and one drink every hour after that. If you had a four-hour reception and a cocktail hour, that would be six drinks per person. Even if everyone had mixed drinks, which won't happen, it would cost about $2600, which is very close to the flat rate. In that case, I think a consumption bar would probably be cheaper for you.

We were to finally going to do consumption just beer and wine but I am going to add two "signature drinks" just for some options. I am leaning more toward consumption as well.

I agree, I do like the guarantee of the flat rate as well. Wedding is at 4, cocktails 4:30-6, dinner 6-7, cake cutting, speeches 7-7:30 orchestra performance at 7:30, fireworks at 9:30. I guess I need to check with my venue when they plan to shut down the bar.

Our venue recommended a consumption bar because our wedding would be considered small (50-100 guests). Our open bar will cost around the same ($52-60 per person), which is a total of the per person, per hour rate for premium or select tiers. Also, I know some of our guests have their favorite drink and their favorites aren't in the same category/tier (we can't mix tiers). If we go with consumption, everyone gets their favorite drink and I also think it will be less expensive. I don't think the drinkers will drink enough to cover the cost for the non-drinkers.

I would do a consumption bar knowing my family. The avg. estimate of 1 drink per hour would NOT apply to them. What's your crowd like?

We were advised to do consumption because of the smaller amount of people we have, and how some of them don't drink. We choose our budget, and when we get close to that amount we have the option of extending it or shutting it down. That may be the way to go vs. paying the same rate for all folks regardless of how much they may or may not drink

I would just keep in mind that some people drink more when free (or free to them, not you). They may leave half consumed drinks, dance, and then go for fresh one.

@MrsFallBride .. thank you for that. I have said to so many people that aren't from NY, that all the venues I've gone to never offered a consumption option. Open bar was always included in the pricing. A number of people think that I was just saying that for the sake of saying it. My family and friends are drinkers so having an open bar was probably the most important thing for me anyway, aside from the food, of course.

Ours is $26 pp

ETA: A co-worker got married 4/29 and she did consumption and she ended up paying a shit ton after...like 2K

Our open bar flat rate is $57 pp, but the drinks are more expensive- $6-7 beer, $9-11 wine, and $11+ for cocktails. Based on your prices, I think consumption may be the way to go.

Our venue charges open bar prices for the highest tier (select) up front then will reimburse what isn't spent at the end; or ask for a card to cover the costs above what was pre-paid.

@LoveLoveLove, what do you mean by ask for a card to cover the costs above what was prepaid?

@ OP Definitely consumption. If everyone drank mixed drinks and had 6 over the course of the wedding, theyd still be less than the open bar cost you were given.

Obviously, I don't know if your crowd are heavy drinkers but assuming the reception is 5 hrs, thats a little more than a drink per hr.

That sounds high. I did an open bar and it was 35/ person for 4 hours. Are your friends and family big drinkers? Do you anticipate that each person will have several drinks?

My venue only does consumption (booooooo) but that open bar sounds pricey. I would definitely drink that at a wedding, but FH would probably nurse a beer or two all night. I'd also be more likely to drink less at a small wedding. Consumption might be better for you.

My open bar came in at a whopping $75 per person!! I am going consumption all day long. I also only have 30 people and 10 are non-drinkers.