Pay as you go bar

What exactly does this mean?

If it has the guests opening their wallet then it's a no.

Do you mean a consumption bar? This is where you typically pay a service fee and effectively pay the tab at the end of the event. It can be a good choice of your guests don't drink much.

Yes, what is this ??

What is this? Is the guest paying for their drink? If so, no.

I think this means you keep an open tab on drinks for the night and only pay based on consumption at the end of the day versus flat out paying for a full open bar. As long as your guests do not need to open their wallets, it might be a cost-effective option for you if budget is a concern.

OR! It means each drink has to be paid after each order is served... which, again, as long as the guests aren't paying, this can be cost effective for you.

Depends who is paying as they go. If you are paying the tab as people drink that's fine. Buuut if you mean a cash bar where guests pay... you will not find support for guests paying for drinks on any wedding forums.

I want to assume you mean a consumption bar but I am worried that you mean cash bar for your guests because I don't know why you would possibly think it's possibly not proper to do this idea.

Pay as you go-where YOU only pay for what is actually consumed by your guests at the end of the night (or paying the tab)=PROPER

Pay as you go- where the guests pay as THEY go=NOT PROPER

Consumption bar? It can be more cost effective - depends on how much you think your guests will drink, and what the per drink cost is.

We did the math and a consumption bar would have cost us way more then the open bar.

My cousin did a consumption bar and, while I don't know the numbers, i'm fairly certain it would have been more cost effective to do a pp open bar. do the math! and be legit with yourself - ppl drink more when its free and there's lots of food.

Explain yourself, OP.

If this means cash bar, no. No no no.

If it means that you pay for what your guests consume, aka a consumption bar, then sure. If you feel like it makes more sense for you guys, that's fine. As long as you're paying.

Run the math each way (as long as none of those ways have guests paying for themselves). Check for additional fees, like extra built in serving charges depending on are style to ensure you're capturing everything. Most good venues can give a scary-accurate estimate each way.

Pay as you go bar?????

Properly host your guests...

My venue only does a consumption bar, so we're obviously doing it. We've put 5K to the bar in hopes of keeping it open for 5 hours (average drink price = about $4.50/ average drinks pp estimated = 6-7). We're offering draft beer, wine, and middle tier liquor (captain morgan, kettle one, etc.) Our venue has a minimum, so everything is paid up front. If guests don't drink 5K worth of booze and we hit our minimum, we'll get the money back. If our guests drink more, or the bar looks like it'll run out of money, the staff will contact my father who will give them the go ahead to put more money on our tab. Any excess amount has to be paid by us within 10 days of the wedding.

I WISH we had an open bar option, but we're guessing the best we can.

OP don't post and ghost!

An open bar isn't legal in MA (where I got married), so we did a consumption/pay-as-you-go tab, and I told the venue coordinator to let me know when it hit $2,000. I hear from her between the 2-3 hour mark, and ended up paying around $2,300 for 4 hours and 100 people. It was less than I'd anticipated.

I'm getting really fucking tired of the post and ghost routine. So many of them!

I'm pretty sure OP means a consumption bar. With how much our friends drink, this would've been way more expensive for us.

@kyle that's not bad! My friend got to $1000 right after the first dance