Hosted Bar

Are you buying the drink s at a store then bringing it to the hall or are you openinh a tab at the hall and paying at the end

I think gypsy wife is right ....unless your bringing your own frink we paid 400 for 2 kegs and 17 gallons of liqour which our bartender said would be more than enough for the 170 guests we are having its 6 hours

Im paying per person per drink. Like if they order, lets say a beer that costs 4.00. I pay for that. So, what I do is I add up what I think my guest will consume and I pay before. If they run out I can either convert it to a cash bar or at the time extend my tab. If I pay to much and there are still funds left over they get returned to me.

I wish they had a per person per hour charge. It would be easier to caculate out.

Our hosted bar is wine and beer only (with the option to purchase mixed drinks - no shots!) and we have $1400.

That is $1000 of bar tab, and then a $400 credit for the wine bottles that are normally included on the tables. I figure that's plenty of hosted bar, and if it gets close to running out the coordinator will go find one of my parents and they'll decide what to do

Kristn! Oh so thats how much the credit is for the bottles of wine are! I was wondering! Thanks for the infor Unfortunately, FH and his friends are drinkers and they like the good stuff! I think I'll include mixed drinks, with the option to purchase shots!

I wish I could go to my mom for that but she doesnt drink.. but hmmm my dad does! Ill talk to him about that

@gypsywife- Thats a good estimate!

It's technically a credit of $390 but I rounded up :p We don't have a lot of drinkers so wine & beer only will be plenty for us.

I think your idea of mixed drinks available & option for shots is good. You can probably ask your coordinator (Megan or Ashley) about the cost & how much they estimate you should host for.

Does it depend on how many tables you are having? You are soo lucky! I wouldnt even have a bar if FH and his friends loveeee to drink.. and they like the expensive stuff!

I doubt on my wedding day I will even drink that much! Prob just a shot to calm my nerves befor the cermony and a mixed drink or two. Lol.

I'll def ask them Im going back soon to put the actual deposit down. We been back and forth on dates and were going to make sure I want the arbor terrace for sure

I feel so bad for them! I keep changing my mind on the dates I think I did it like twice and right now its march 21st, but im thinking of pushing it back until august...

I agree with the estimate of 2-3 drinks per person per hour (and closing the bar 1 hour before the party ends so no one goes home too inebriated). But if your FH's friends like top shelf, that doesn't mean you have to serve it! IME, most guests are happy enough that it's open bar that they won't care. You can also ask your venue what the savings would be if they didn't pour a "Champagne" toast. Most venues use a cheap sparkling wine but charge you a lot, and I'm always much happier toasting with whatever drink I have in hand.

3 drinks per person/hour would be 12 drinks in 4 hours. I would be dead. I agree with SmallWonders. 1 drink per person/hour. That's why my venue recommended. The heavy drinkers will balance out with the people that don't drink.

Hey Felicia! Are you still getting married at Grand Tradition? For us, we're going with the open bar. Estancia in La Jolla won't let you switch to open bar if you go over the comsumption amount so we were worried we'd end up paying more that way. We're doing 4 hours of open bar and then close it for dinner hour when there is wine service. The open bar for 4 hours calcuates to $12.5 a person and they can drink like fishes. The cocktail hour open bar is included with our dinner package, and the wine service is $35 a bottle and each guest can have 1.5 glasses of wine. We also got a quote from Hotel Del and they suggested 2 drinks during cocktails, 3 during the reception, and wine service at dinner. Our group is heavier drinkers though so we wanted to do open bar to be safe and not have any nasty surprises at the end of the night with the bar tab. Hope that helps!

@Small Wonders- thank you for that!

@Fluffy- Its FH that is requesting top shelf stuff... if it was just for his friends I wouldn't spulurge on it! Lol. My family and his family don't really drink, so I think we can balance it out

@Samantha- My thoughts exactly! Im done after like 4 cocktails -_-

Hi Lauren! Yes, I am! We haven't finalized a date it will prob be in june or july Oh I love your venue! That was one of my choices! They never got back to me though.. I know it was wedding season. That is a smart idea for bar service! Sounds like something I should do, since FH and his friends are heavy drinkers.. and they like the good stuff.. lol.. just making things that much more difficult! But it is FHs wedding too.. so I guess he can get some input in something! Lol jk

Samantha! We're actually getting extra hours, so instead of 4 hour bar it may be a 5 or 6 hour bar! Lol. I may have to have the bartender cut ppl off if they start getting sloppy, and we want them all to make it home!

We had open bar at our RD that we paid for ourselves. It was a rehearsal dinner for 46 people and after 2.5 hours our total (including 18% gratuity) was $850. This is in the greater Boston area, but if that's helpful, I wanted to share.

FWIW: Our venue had us make a deposit of $30/pp (125 guests) for the open bar at our wedding. Any overages, we would pay after the wedding. We ended up with a $217 refund.

I hope this helps in your planning!

Felicia...just double check with your venue about the shots. Around here (granted, it's 4,000 miles from you), shots aren't always allowed. Top shelf liquor? Can I come?

K & A...just curious. At your rehearsal dinner, was it a single charge of $850 (based on your guest count), or was it a tab you paid at the end of the night?

K&A- Our venue is allowing us to put a certain amount of money in and if there is left over at the end we get to keep it as well. So, I can def prob use those guidelines in assuming how much money to put towards the bar Thanks

How exciting! You're wedding will be awesome! Just keep in mind the idea of closing the bar for dinner while everyone is eating. From what the people at Estancia have said, and my coordinator, people really don't get up from the table to get drinks. So if you have wine service or bottles at the table, that will save you money for sure! A lot of the time, guests will bring a drink with them from cocktail hour, and have wine at the table with dinner. Just doing the math, with my situation, wine service for an hour is saving us about $5 a person. Also, I'm all about premium liquor, but if you did a mid-range brand, I'm sure everyone would still be happy and that would save you enought money to have the bar open longer! We're having a total of a 5 hour reception and 1 hour cocktail hour so guests will have bar access for 5 hours and wine for 1.

Centerpiece- I think shots im def going to only allow if they want to pay cash or put very little into shots (unless FH suggests otherwise)! And of course you can come!!! Im most likely going to below minimums! Lets do the four weddings theme that been going around here lately! I would love to meet a lot of my WW brides and where else better than at a wedding with a top shelf open bar

Thanks Lauren! So is yours! I cant wait for next year! Picture time!! Hey our reception and cocktail hours are the exact same time amount! Wedding starts at 5, then cocktail hour then reception till midnight. They usually only allow us to be there tlll 10, but if we pay for additional hours we can stay till midnight (the contract says midnight, but the coordinator told us 1am). So, we have to get that answer so we can budget it in the extra hours!

Do you live in La Jolla?

KristnB, Jesska223 and I are getting together this Friday to finally meet and hang out We're meeting in San Marcos at Restaurant row You should try to come!