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Amanda
Dedicated October 2021

Open Bar vs. Consumption Bar? Help!

Amanda, on November 5, 2020 at 12:26 PM Posted in Wedding Reception 1 21
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Hi friends. I have been going back and forth with my parents recently on the bar packages for our venue. When we first started planning months ago, we had originally agreed on a 5 hour, limited spirits open bar package. This includes beer, wine, regular shelf liquor options & mixers, and a champagne toast for the bridal party. I’m now working on getting the details and deposit finalized. I sent the contract over to them to review last night, they agreed it looked good, and sent me the deposit.


Maybe an hour later my stepmom texted me asking why there isn’t a champagne toast for all guests (we didn’t feel it was necessary/just another expense) and is being super analytical of how many drinks each guest might drink, suggested maybe we should bring the guest count down (tried to discuss that with my fiancé and that caused an argument as the number of people on our guest list hasn’t been an issue till now), or maybe do a consumption bar instead. I’m now doing research on if it’s better/more cost effective to have an open bar versus a consumption bar. I am eternally grateful to have the help of my parents for our wedding because I know many couples have different situations. But changing what we previously agreed on, asking to bring the count down, or adding things we didn’t originally want is just feeling a little bit overwhelming to me. They’re telling me not to worry about cost, but I totally am.
For reference, we have a pretty close group of friends who like to drink/party/have fun. I’m in no way advocating for everyone to get hammered, but I worry about doing the consumption bar and it being a way bigger bill than my parents anticipate on having and I don’t want them or us to be caught with any surprise bills.
If anybody has any advice or experiences with open bar versus consumption bar, I would be very grateful! Thank you.

21 Comments

Latest activity by Florida Marlins, on November 18, 2020 at 3:47 PM
  • H
    Master July 2019
    Hannah ·
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    If you have people who like to drink, I would think the open bar would be better. I guess...maybe calculate 1 drink per hour per guest who drinks and multiply that by cost per drink. If that cost is higher than the open bar, then I would go with the open bar. Also, I agree that if you are going to do a champagne toast, it's rude to only serve it to bridal party and not all guests. You wouldn't serve them different meals from the rest of the guests, would you?
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  • Amanda
    Dedicated October 2021
    Amanda ·
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    That is a good idea, I was trying to figure out the math behind it and wasn’t getting far so I will try that out!


    And in terms of the champagne toast, we’ve been to other friends’ weddings where we didn’t have champagne for the toasts and it was never a big deal since we all still had drinks from the cocktail hour. I can see your point though - it’s just not something we felt was worth the money. But with my parents paying if that’s what they want, I’ll gladly include it! I just worry about everything else in terms of the bar more than anything
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  • Hanna
    VIP June 2019
    Hanna ·
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    If your crowd likes to drink, then a consumption bar will likely end up costing a lot more. I'd stick with your original plan!

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  • Amanda
    Dedicated October 2021
    Amanda ·
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    That’s what I am thinking too. Thank you for the help!
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  • Lisa
    Rockstar July 2022
    Lisa ·
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    I agree with the previous comments - if you know your crowd likes to drink, I'd say open bar is the way to go, it'll likely be cheaper!
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  • Yasmine
    Master October 2020
    Yasmine ·
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    I definitely would go with the open bar!

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  • H
    Devoted August 2023
    Hhh ·
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    It sounds like the open bar is probably best in your situation, but also consider distribution of drink type because consumption bars typically have different prices for beer/wine/mixed drinks. Also factor in if sodas/waters are priced by consumption. Lastly, weddings with more dancing/party lead to more “dead soldiers” or partially drank items forgotten and replaced faster than someone is actually drinking!
    It may be best to do a quick spreadsheet of all your guests and expected drink type and count to show your parents the expected cost for each option. Best of luck!
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  • Clarissa
    Super October 2021
    Clarissa ·
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    I would go with the open bar but I would see if maybe you can cut it by an hour to add the champagne toast for all of your guest. I’m doing open bar for 4 hours with a champagne toast included same cost just less amount of hours of the open bar.
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  • M
    Super October 2022
    Michele ·
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    Do open bar. Consumption bar will cost you an astronomical amount that has no cap.


    Also put your foot down because while you may be getting financial assistance, it is still your day, not theirs so avoid caving to their whims when possible.
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  • Mrs. Spring
    Master April 2021
    Mrs. Spring ·
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    I agree with previous posters about the open bar.
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  • Samantha
    Expert October 2021
    Samantha ·
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    Open bar is almost always more beneficial for the customer than to the bar. People tend to leave drinks behind and are more likely to over order, plus more glassware is needed. As a bar owner, I never offer open bar, as a customer it's a great deal.
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  • Karla
    Super February 2020
    Karla ·
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    If your crowd likes to drink— go with open bar.


    We had an open bar for our reception and by the end of the night, all the tequila was gone because people were taking shots.
    We had a consumption bar for our welcome dinner as well as afterparty since the venues didn’t offer open bar options. For our welcome dinner, we spent $2k just for the beer/wine tab (3 hours for about 80 guests, 20 of those guests did NOT drink alcohol). This total was before tax and tip.
    The afterparty was full top-shelf bar and we ended up spending around $4k for drinks. This was for around 100 people. We also found out that a few people insisted on paying for their drinks so the tab should have been higher.
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  • Shelly
    Dedicated May 2022
    Shelly ·
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    I agree with everyone else but I wanted to add one thing that no one said. I was going back and forth with this also but one of the venues brought this to my attention which helped me make my decision. If you do a consumption bar, there's no way to keep track of the drinks consumed, no register or notepad, just their word. So who knows if they're going to be honest. It's just better to pay a flat rate and not have to worry about how much people are drinking.
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  • Lynnie
    WeddingWire Administrator October 2016
    Lynnie ·
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    I'd skip the group champagne toast - most people will want to drink what they already have and it would just be a waste! We skipped a champagne toast but did have champagne available at the open bar if it's your drink of choice! 🥂

    Also with a big fun group I'd definitely go for the open bar rate and not consumption! The consumption bar rate is only better if you have a light drinking group, less of a party reception, or lots of non-drinkers. The general rule of thumb for estimating how much wedding booze to buy is "one drink per guest per hour" - so if you think your crowd will drink more than that (mine definitely did Smiley laugh ) then go for the open bar!

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  • Pirate & 60s Bride
    Legend March 2017
    Pirate & 60s Bride ·
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    For our micro wedding (15 guests), we did an open bar, per consumption, estimated high and STILL went over budget by $300+. 😳


    For our local reception (50 guests), we were given the option and paid per person. Waaaay better way to go. People set their drinks down, drink only 1/2, etc. No budget surprises! 👍
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  • Vicky
    VIP January 2020
    Vicky ·
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    You don't need a champagne toast, but if part of your guest list is being served champagne, it should be served to all.

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  • I
    Expert August 2021
    Ingrid ·
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    Of you have a bar it should be an open bar (with limitations of Top Shelf). Our venue has an option to put a dollar amount on the bar, we are doing a 5k bar and once we hot that amount it becomes a cash bar. The calculation I used was probably 3 drinks per person this does not count the bottles of wine that will be on the tables. We are buying the wine
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  • Jessica
    Devoted February 2021
    Jessica ·
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    Open bar is safer. No one drinks the champagne toast they drink what they've already ordered. I've seen consumption tabs go off the rails. Don't risk it

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  • A
    VIP December 2020
    Amanda ·
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    We have a crowd of drinkers but also only had a 4 hour full open bar built into our package and that includes signature drinks, beer, wine, spirits and champagne plus our cocktail hour. That left the last hour of our reception without a bar, we chose to have a host/consumption bar for the last hour with only beer and wine offered. We figure by this point of the evening most people will have slowed down with the drinking and we will get money back from this portion to use elsewhere in the bill.

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  • Amanda
    Dedicated October 2021
    Amanda ·
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    Thank you for the help and advice everyone! We ended up going with the champagne toast for everyone involved and I sold my stepmom on the open bar vs consumption just based solely on the risk of a surprise bill at the end. This way we can control costs as best we can! I appreciate all of the great insight Smiley smile
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