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Savvy October 2019

Open Bar w/caterer or Purchase Alcohol Ourselves??

Erika, on January 7, 2018 at 11:39 PM Posted in Planning 0 12

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Hello! I am going to do an open bar either way, but I'm trying to decide if I should pay for open bar through my caterer, or provide all the alcohol myself and pay the caterer a $500 set up fee. I feel like I would save a some money purchasing it myself, and we are definitely on a budget... however, is it worth having to buy everything, deliver it all to the caterer, worry you didn't buy enough of something, and then taking home allnof the leftover alcohol at the end of the night when we are trying to clean up?

For my food package, let's just say the estimated cost with open bar is $11,500 and if I pay the $500 fee and purchase my own alcohol, the cost would be about $9,500, + my cost of the alcohol.

What are you doing at your wedding or what would you do? Anyone who has purchased the alcohol for their venue, would you do it again and did you save a lot of money??

Thanks for your help!

Erika

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12 Comments

Latest activity by Erika, on January 8, 2018 at 6:00 PM

Devoted October 2017
Dextor3000 · on January 7, 2018 at 11:44 PM
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We saved a lot of money purchasing our own alcohol. We provided beer and wine. The caterer would have charged $20/person over the age of 21. This would have cost us ~$2500. With our guest list though, I knew at least half the people wouldn’t be drinking alcohol, but we would have had to pay for them anyway. Then we were able to go through the rest of the list and approximate how much people would drink. We went to Costco and spent about ~$600, and we had a bar set up fee through the caterer of $250. So we saved a significant amount of money. This was for a guest list of 130 invited, and we had 100 guests at our wedding.
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Devoted October 2017
Dextor3000 · on January 7, 2018 at 11:46 PM
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I will also add that I would do it this way again. We did have some left over, but we gave most of it away as guests were leaving. You can sometimes return unopened bottles, but we didn’t want to deal with that.
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Savvy October 2019
Erika · on January 7, 2018 at 11:52 PM
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Thanks! I didn't think about it that way.. going through my guest list... even my fiance doesn't drink! Not even one beer! A lot of my guests don't, so it might work better to buy our own. Oh and we have 100 invited. They did say our liquor store will take back any unopened bottles.
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Expert August 2018
Kelli · on January 8, 2018 at 12:57 AM
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We are having a wedding with 50 invited and with about half being old enough to drink. We are buying the alcohol ourselves and have to hire a bartender but he's only charging us $35 an hour for like 5 hours. I've estimated we will spend maybe 300 but set the budget at 500 for alcohol. We are getting married at an inn that includes a 3 night stay from Thurs-sun with the wedding being on Saturday, for us and our wedding party, so we will end up using the rest of that budget for the alcohol for the rehearsal dinner and such. If it saves you money and you can return anything unused that's def the way to go and will open up more in the budget for other things.
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VIP May 2018
Ashley · on January 8, 2018 at 1:45 AM
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I would have a bartender there, pouring drinks. Don’t let your guests pour drinks.
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Super May 2018
Summer987 · on January 8, 2018 at 7:13 AM
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We're saving a lot of money by purchasing the alcohol ourselves and letting the caterer server it. We are buying everything in bulk and getting a discount. I would check out pricing it yourselves first and then making the decision.
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VIP October 2018
Yoomie · on January 8, 2018 at 8:29 AM
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We are saving at least $3k for BYOB our own alcohol and renting out the caterers liquor license for a day ($425); we also had to agree to use their bartenders. The kitters would have charged us $35/pp and at 150 guests, $5250 compared to the $2200 we are paying for the cost of wine, beer, and premium liquor. We are using Ace Liquors; they will deliver and pick up for small fee and take back any unopened bottles. They are nationwide chain so check to see if the operate near you.
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VIP July 2018
The Nuptials · on January 8, 2018 at 8:40 AM
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We are doing the same! We have 160 or so guests in DC and we are paying about 50% less buy using ACE. The great thing is they deliver them pick up the leftovers and refund you for a nominal fee. See if someone in your area provides this service. No was was I going to source premium booze and beer and wine with rubs to Costco and the such. We are doing that for our welcome reception of 50 but I’m considering using ACE for that too!!
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VIP September 2018
EngineerInLove · on January 8, 2018 at 12:15 PM
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I'm a big fan of convenience and would opt for having the caterer take care of everything. Also, what would the do about mixers and nonalcoholic drinks like soda? Are those included in the setup fee or do you need to buy those too? And is a bartender included?

If you use an accurate drink calculator and can price out everything and feel there is a significant price savings that outweighs the extra work required, it isn't a bad option to have.
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Master March 2017
BlueHenBride · on January 8, 2018 at 12:30 PM
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We just did out open bar through our venue. It was incredibly convenient. Our venue ue also didn't give us a choice.

There are several online drink calculators that can help you figure out how much alcohol (and of what kinds) you should purchase for the number of guests you are inviting. It looks like, from the numbers you've provided, if the cost of all the alcohol is less than $2k, it would be less expensive to purchase your own rather than through your venue. I'd recommend using a drink calculator to figure out how much you would need to buy for your size guest list, and then shop around for prices for that amount. If it's less than $2k, choose the buy your own option. If it's equal or more than $2k, go for convenience and get the open bar package from your venue.
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Savvy October 2019
Erika · on January 8, 2018 at 5:57 PM
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Thank you! I will look them up! Sounds like a better way to go, byob and paying the caterer for the bar services!
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Savvy October 2019
Erika · on January 8, 2018 at 6:00 PM
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Yes, I would pay the caterer a $500 fee and they would provide the bartenders, license, all of the mixers and garnishes. So I would just need the alcohol, nothing else.
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