Open Bar

A stock the bar party is for your personal bar at home, not the wedding bar. For the wedding bar if cost is an issue I would pick a couple beers and a red and white wine that you and your fiancé like that fit in your budget.

A stock the bar is for your home, not your reception.


At your reception, serve what you can afford and what your guests drink. Are they only beer drinkers or only wine drinkers? Some people are and others won't touch beer or wine, preferring the taste of liquor, but will drink nonalcoholic options if that's the only choice.

Kelly it’s right about a stock the bar party.
As far as supplying the alcohol yourselves rather than through a vendor, I would definitely pick a few drinks because buying the alcohol and mixers for “any” drink your guests may want will be way too much. If budget is a concern, a lot of people do one white wine, one red wine, and a couple of beer choices. If you want to offer hard liquor, I’d suggest picking two drink options (a his and hers is common) so you’re only worrying about liquor and mixers for those two drinks instead of multiple types of liquor and multiple juices and sodas.

The PPs are correct about the stock the bar party. These are meant to stock your own bar at your home, not in order to obtain the alcohol for your wedding. Serve what you can afford at your reception. If you're working with a limited budget, then it's perfectly acceptable to limit it to, say, one white wine, one red wine, and a couple of beer options.

So, I’ve been to a stock the bar party for a wedding. That’s how I got the idea. We aren’t wine drinkers and I’m definitely not a beer drinker. I like so liquor and he drinks liquor or beer. I just don’t want people say oh they only have liquor and beer.

View Quoted Comment What do your guests drink? Your families/best friends?
Whatever you offer, people will graciously accept so long as no one has to open their wallets. Between liquor and beer, people will find something they like or drink soda all night.

PPs are absolutely correct- stock the bar parties are meant to stock the home bar of the couple. I guess if you choose to use that liquor at your wedding, then no one has to know. If that is what you plan to do, maybe you could put in the invites something to the effect of guests bringing a bottle of their favorite liquor & their favorite recipe using it - that way you know it is something your guests like & will drink (and also gives you an idea of mixers you should provide).
You could also include a “what’s your favorite drink” in the questions section of your wedding website. If you want a wide array of liquors, you could choose 1-2 popular brands for each type (ie, 1-2 kinds of whiskey, scotch, rum, vodka, tequila).

It’s not really an open bar if I’m paying for the wine/liquor that I bring for your wedding. But.... if you choose to have guests pay for your wedding’s bar, then let them bring whatever they choose and don’t dictate how they fill the bar for themselves.

View Quoted Comment This. Also many venues do not allow Byob and you must have a licensed insured bartender.

Who is throwing this party?

By definition, you can't have an open bar if the guests funding the bar. Also, it's not just about what you and your FH want, you have to think of your guests since your reception is also to thank them for coming. I personally hate beer but we will be having several beer options at our wedding, because that's something that guests generally expect. Besides, stock the bar parties are not intended to stock the bar for your actual wedding.

As PP’ers have stated, a stock the bar party is for your personal home. It wouldn’t be an open bar if your guests are providing their own alcohol. That is no better than a cash bar. I would pick a beer or 2, a red and white wine, and then a couple of types of liquor (vodka and whiskey maybe) and just serve that. People will happily drink anything that is provided for them at no cost and not complain about it.

View Quoted Comment

We did the "what's your favorite drink" as part of our online RSVP since we will be providing our own drinks. It definitely helps to narrow down on what type of drinks to provide, especially since my fiance and I don't drink beer and most of our guests don't drink wine.

But no matter what, you should pay for your guests' alcohol either through providing beer or wine or having a short window of open bar. Check your state law about BYOB to see if you can personally provide the alcohol to the venue -- I know other brides have used Costco or Binny's to stock their wedding bars.

Great idea to ask ahead about their preferences on the website.