How do you budget for consumption bar?

They offer shots? I find that odd for a wedding venue. Most places just serve the liquor "on the rocks" to avoid liability.

Oh goodness you're in for a hefty bill.

Okay, $18 makes more sense. However, $12 for non-premium liquor is outrageous.

Damn! I keep seeing this post and it keeps reminding me to go look up the prices in my contract to do the 2 per person for cocktails and then 1 per hour calculation.

Thank you for posting this question as I have learned a lot from the responses! (And thanks for the responses!)

@Holly- don't forget to take into account resort fees or service charges and tax. Makes a huge difference. Brought my $9 cocktails to $12.

I actually don't find the prices too outrageous? I'm in Toronto & I've paid more than $24 for corkage. We brought our alcohol to our venue, but when trying to calculate how much we need, we started off estimating 1 drink/per person/per hour - then we went through our guest list, literally person by person, adding drinks where necessary. You know your crowd, some will drink more than one drink an hour, some might not drink at all. Budget on the high end to be safe.

I think the liquor might be considered premium to most. My venue calls it well.

I would kill the liquor. With your corkage, wine will be about six bucks a glass, beer will be six. So that's $42/ person. if you have 140 people then that's $5880 (right? I suck at simple math). Which is half of what it would be with liquor, and you are hosting properly. If you guests are that desperate for liquor then they can go buy it themselves. You are providing plenty for free. I have been to plenty of weddings with just beer and wine, in hotels or resorts where liquor was available at another bar, and no one bothered to drink anything other than beer or wine.

I think this is the best you can do with the choices you have. If you don't ant purple teeth, drink white. If you can't drink wine for six hours, don't. Have iced tea or something for a break. If you have 11k hanging around, sure go full bar. But if not then wine and beer only is the best option given the restrictions.

We looked at who are the drinkers. We know about 40% do not drink so we looked at the non-alcoholic beverage costs and went from there.

For the rest, we calculated standard, about 6 drinks per adult based on the most expensive option.

@Always- it's definitely an option. I know for a fact my guests will not be happy with beer and wine and neither will I. I considered having beer and wine and then a cash bar for just liquor at the reception so at least people don't have to leave to get it but was told that's rude. Not really sure why that's so bad considering if they go to the bar downstairs they'll be paying cash anyway.

Because the cash bar would be a part of your party by virtue of being there. Asking guests to cough up for anything is super rude. If they can't deal with beer and wine then they can go find some. If it is truly an issue, then go with full open bar, but the cost difference is really big. You are properly hosting with just beer and wine, so it's up to you guys if you can find the extra cash and want to spend it that way.

Thank you for starting a thread on this, because it will be a great hint to others that haven't chosen a venue yet that this should be a big consideration early on in the selection process. I did F&B and every single contract is different and every single venue has different pricing structure. You have to find one that matches your needs, and you have to figure that out VERY early. So it's a useful thread for everyone.

Ah, you're getting married in the Monterey/Carmel area. It all makes sense now.

What they consider "well" seems like quality to me, I'd be happy with those options. I think you really just need to suck it up and budget more than you think you'll need and hope for the best.

Sorry Jessie, I have seen corkage fees up to $25 per bottle at higher end venues.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the quality of what they call "well." It's not Popov's vodka in a plastic bottle.

We had a consumption bar, 79 guests, 88 including vendors. Open bar from 4:30-10:30, except for shots( yes i know some of you are going to frown upon it) I budgeted $35 a person. I pulled anything over $20 a shot from view. Our bill was $3500 at the end of the night and shots did come into play around 9:00. I was drunk and happy(oops) We budgeted for around $3000...

we live in norcal- wedding was in rocklin, ca

edited: up->>upon

Thank you Alexis! How much were the drinks? $35 pp would only give a guest 3 cocktails in a 6 hour period for my wedding. You never know though! Maybe people won't drink...lol!

We went through our whole guest list and classified people as non-drinkers, light drinkers, and heavy drinkers to decide whether a consumption based bar or a bar package would be better for us. We know our friends pretty well so it wasn't hard. We way overestimated what our friends would drink. Only a small percentage drank 5+ drinks. Is budgeting going to change anything for you? Sounds like you aren't going to change what you bring or offer, so does it matter?

KDS- I guess it just depends on what we can save between now and then. Spending $12,000 on the bar tab is a lot of money. But having people leave my reception to go to the bar would make me sad. I'm kind of stuck. Maybe shorten my reception?? I don't know.

Offer beer and wine

AhleyCT- As I said above, I'm afraid people will go to the bar downstairs to get cocktails. I know I will! HaHa! Plus I would still be expecting my guests to buy their own drinks because I know most won't be happy with beer or wine. If I already know they want liquor is it still properly hosting?