How much should we pay bartender?

Your venue has an add-on bartending service but you aren't required to use them? You can bring in a friend?

I agree in reference to using the venue's bartender. Is the $5.00 per person just for the bartender or for everything that comes with the bar (glasses, ice, napkins, etc.)?

Honestly $5 a head is not that bad for a bartender. Does that include your alcohol price? If you don't use their bartender do you have to supply your own alcohol?

Has he ever worked a wedding or large function before? And I don't mean Saturday when the bar is at capacity. A lot of people don't realize how different a "function" is vs working a busy weekend night at the local bar. Even if its a popular local bar.

Either way make sure you are insured and all licensing is put into place. And when I did bartend events, like a wedding, My fee was $5 per person of drinking age for 4 hours. I'm in Indiana so a New York bartender for that price is kind of a steal

Is the $5 a service fee or is that the price per person with alcohol etc? I would spend the money for the venue's staff. My opinion of course

I think the price is reasonable.

Also, I would actually go with 2 bartenders. A lot of places will say that one can handle 75-100, but that is the absolute max. For the best flow at the bar (unless you are doing beer and wine only, maybe), get 2 bartenders.

For our 98 guests, we had 2 bartenders and I believe 2 barbacks (it could have just been one, I can't remember). There was hardly EVER a wait.

We are paying $25 an hour for bar tending service that does not include the alcohol or ice etc.

We are paying our two bartenders $35 an hour.

I also wouldn't expect my guests to tip the bartender. Especially with an open bar, a lot of people won't have cash on hand.

I would just bite the bullet and pay the venue. Easier for everyone, and you'll know it'll all run smoothly.

My bar tender that is a partner with my venue is $30 an hour. Which I think is a steal! And includes cups, napkins and everything. We just provide the alcohol

^Thank you, O&S. That's exactly what I was thinking!

Honestly, $500 is not bad at all. Our bartender is costing us around $40 per hour for 5 hours and that doesn't include alcohol. By the time we get the alcohol and cups it'll probably be over what you are paying if that includes alcohol. Also, I never tip at an open bar for a wedding.

I think $5/head sounds fair if that includes glassware. Our bartender is $25/hr, but we have to rent all the glassware separately.

$500 just to serve is not a good price. Especially if it doesn't include the alcohol and $500 wouldn't cover alcohol. I'd pay him $25 an hour.

$500 just to serve is not a good price. Especially if it doesn't include the alcohol and $500 wouldn't cover alcohol. I'd pay him $25 an hour.

"Make good tips" - it's not up to your guests to tip your bartender. It is up to you as the host. Yes, some people WILL choose to tip on their own accord, but there should not be any tip of tip jar on the bar prompting them to leave money.

It depends on what the $500 includes. If it is just a bartender for say 5 hours and nothing else (no glassware, napkins, etc), then that is pretty steep.

If it includes other things for the bar, then it could be very normal.

We had to use our venue's bartenders and we paid $1000 for 2 bartenders for 300 people. Are you sure you can bring in outside bartenders? $5 a head sounds great!

I can tell you that at every wedding that I have ever been too (over 1200) people tip the bartender, whether there is a tip cup or not.

The bartenders, (and there should be two for every 100 guests) should make **** an hour and split their tips.

Two bartenders for 300 guests is not enough if your ceremony is in the same place. You can get away with it if there is a giant table of wine and drinks to start, but no one wants to wait 15 minutes for a drink.

Sorry, I left this message up and then went to work so just now catching up with these questions.

1) $5 a head is JUST to serve, and just one bartender, no bar back.

2) Yes, I can bring in an outside vendor. Their catering services were totally optional, and this is a first-year business, so they are still working out a lot of their own kinks. They are a venue first, which offers catering with option of bar tending second. The number was literally made up on the fly when I asked, and it stuck. But other things with the venue haven't stuck. As much as I'm comfortable with the venue, I'm not so comfortable using them for every last thing as there are clearly some bumps in the road. And $500 just to pay one staff member to serve the alcohol does not seem reasonable to me.

3) Yes, he is a licensed bartender

4) He hasn't worked a wedding, but HAS been a bartender for MANY years, knows most of our friends (not family) who will be there quite well, and has been a DJ as well, and has worked wedding functions in that capacity

5) Whether we use the internal bar tending service or our own, we must supply the alcohol

6) We're already planning on supplying the glassware as 1 part of the favor

7) I agree, every wedding I've ever been to, people tip. Not that the hosts expect them to, but I think the service deems that to be the appropriate thing to do. Otherwise, why would a bartender work a wedding? In honesty, a host can't make up for all their guests tips on every single drink..... so why wouldn't a bartender just work a bar instead? Tips are typically $1/drink where I am, so you're talking an additional $600 the host ought to tip on top of pay if that's the case (based on 1 drink/hour x 100 guests x 6 hours)..... I think it's pretty standard that guests tip.

Plenty of weddings have a tip jar for their bartenders. were having an open bar and just asking the guests to tip the bartenders. the way I see it, they're getting free food and drinks, its not too much to ask for them to give a couple dollars to the amazing people making their drinks.

we're paying each of our bartenders $200 for 7 hours. equates to a little over $25 an hour plus tips from over 100 people.