byo - Alcohol Must-haves

If I go to a wedding with only beer and wine, I like to have a cabernet sauvignon (red) or chardonnay (white). If it's an open bar, I always have a vodka soda. My favorite brand of vodka is Tito's.

Typically it’s good to provide only a few hard liquors and supplement with beer and wine. You don’t want the guests to get hammered. Maybe go with a mid grade beer that you can get in large cases to cut down cost. A lot of places also offer discounts on wine when you buy larger quantities. I would say a merlot is a good general red and a Pinot Grigio for white. As far as liquor, I’m not much in to it but vodka with cranberry juice mixer is a good option

View Quoted Comment

Is Heineken considered a mid grade beer?

So for 100 guests I don't think $600-$700 is enough for a FULL bar, i mean Beer, Wine and Liquor. If your budget is non-negotiable then I would first start with Beer and Wine, So think 2 Red, 2 White, and 3-4 types of beer. Then if you have money left over you can consider liquor.

Red Wine: a Full body like Merlot, a Medium like Cabernet or Malbec (malbec's and Cabs are both very smooth)

White Wine: A dry like Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, and i hate sweet wines like Rieslings but I know lots of people drink it.

Beers: Lager like Sam Adams/Yeungling/Heinekin, An IPA (India Pale Ale) like Goose Island IPA, Lagunitas, Sierra Navada, a light beer like Miller Lite, and a Wheat Beer like Blue Moon, Shock Top.

I hope this helps. After stocking the Wine and Beer, then see if you have room for Liquor. Basic liquors you'll need, Vodka, Rum (both White and Dark), Gin, Whiskey. Plus accouterments like tonic, soda, juices, other mixers. But if you don't want to bother with Liquor and all the crap that goes along with it, Beer and Wine is just fine.

Agree with previous posters about having mostly beer and wine. Maybe opt to have a signature cocktail or two (one with vodka and one with a dark liquor like whiskey) instead of a full bar.

I would say vodka is probably more popular than rum but, if you want to do a full bar you'll need both plus mixers.

View Quoted Comment I’m probably going to provide 1 type of beer because my crowd that prefers mixed drinks. Fortunately catering provides the juices, fruits, etc. so I don’t need to consider that in the budget. Also, I based my budget on my FBIL’s alcohol budget. He had about 150 guests and spent 1200 on alcohol. It took him 1 1/2 year to get rid of the remaining bottles. He even gave away a few at the wedding.

Also, Thanks for the wine input!

View Quoted Comment I’m still working out the signature drinks. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Moet, La Crema-affordable options.
Whiskey, vodka, rum, gin

I think with that budget you could do 2 wines, two beers, and a signature drink. My fiancé and I are planning on doing:
Wine-

Cabernet
Riesling

Beer-

Dos Equis
Bud Light

Patron frozen margaritas- and to switch things up and add a bit of variety we’re adding extra flavor options for the margs (prickly pear, strawberry swirl, mango etc)
We will end up spending about the same as you for just alcohol not including the bartender fee

Also another good way to save on beer is to get kegs, if your venue is equipped to keep them cold and serve them it could potentially save quite a bit.

Oh Titos vodka is yummy. Zaya rum is an affordable option.
Beers-modelo

View Quoted Comment That’s what I was thinking. Maybe offer a dry and sweet wine. I’m flexible with the budget and I’ll probably go down south to purchase my alcohol to avoid taxes.

Also, the margaritas sound yummy!!!

View Quoted Comment I briefly thought about a keg but how do you get one? How much do they cost?

View Quoted Comment It is but some people do not like it. You should have 2 beer choices

If you're set on the under 1k alcohol budget, you probably need to limit it to beer, wine, and maybe one prepared cocktail. We had around 130 guests with a full, BYO bar and we spent over $3200. Granted we had very premium spirits and some (though not much) left over, but 600-800 including liquor won't go super far. Nothing wrong with beer and wine, and if you like vodka, there's a lot of great vodka cocktails that are good for groups. I would do a light drinkable beer, a craft type beer, a red like merlot or cab sauv, and a mild white like sauvignon blanc or a not too oak-y chardonnay.

You have a bartender already in place/provided by venue or caterer, correct? Don't forget to factor in ice (surprisingly a little costly), mixers, and things like limes, etc. if you are doing liquor.

Also seconding (okay more like third-ing) the Titos recommendation for vodka! Went through way more of that than anything else.

Do you have Costco or other warehouse sellers near you? That's where we got alcohol from- but their beer/wine deals aren't as good as their liquor deals.

I’m having 100 guests (80 adults) and bringing our own liquor. Categer is providing the mixers. So far we have spent more than 1k in whiskey, champagne (not expensive one), wine, margarita wine (costsco brand is sooo good and inexpensive) vodka and rum. So for your budget maybe two wines, two beers and a couple cocktails will be enough.

View Quoted Comment I just googled it and found them from Total Wine I believe. And they had the prices listed for the local store in my area. For a 1/2 keg of Dos Equis that serves approximately 160 12 ounce cups I believe it was around $125! Which I think is pretty great.

I posted about this the other day and got a ton of great advice (https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/what-alcohol-do-you-want-to-see-at-a-wedding/4bcaf298a62eab90.html)

I decided on

I am basing this off a guest count of 80, with ~30% drinking liquor

2x Tito's Vodka (1.75L)

2x 1800 Tequila (1.75L)

2x Bacardi Rum (1.75L)

1x Jack Daniels (1.75L)

1x Makers Mark (1.75L)

1x Captain Morgan (1.75L)

BEER: Stella, Miller Light and Jai-Ali IPA

WINE: Mix of everything

At Total Wine the liquor is $350 including 2 bottles of Triple Sec and Salt

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Correct and our caterer will provide all of the juices and fruits for the liquor. I'm still waiting to meet with them but I'm sure they can also give me an idea of what people typically spend. Also, I don't know if this should be a factor but it is a Sunday wedding.