Reception at restaurant

I would see if they would provide "house" red and white wine (not usually made in house, just a cheaper option) for a set amount per person, or just provide bottles for the table. I would also price out having maybe 2 beer options (one light, one amber/IPA/dark/other). If the wine and beer pricing is in your budget I would just include those options on a printed menu card (assuming you need one for the limited food option they can order.

I wouldn't specifically say "no liquor" or "liquor for purchase" but instead just include the beer and wine options that ARE included. Since it's a full-service restaurant, you probably can't stop anyone from order liquor if they really want it, but it would be rude of them to do if you have listed the available options.

We're having a restaurant reception as well and we've decided to put a few wines on the table and pay for any extra drinks ordered. The good thing is most folks won't be drinking.

I agree with this. Offer a house red and white and two beers. It being a restaurant they can order whatever other liquor drinks they should want but you don't have to mention it. Also, usually these types of restaurants have "private party menus" that detail the cost of say an app, salad or soup, 2 main entrees to choose from, 2 sides, and a dessert. Unless you have cake try to work something out as far as a menu!

We just had an intimate wedding as well with 25 guests (27 people total including us), where our ceremony was at a resort and the reception was a dinner in a private dining room at one of the resort's restaurants. Since it was such an intimate wedding, we too were very mindful of keeping our costs down as we were not hosting a full reception, just dinner. The restaurant where we had our dinner had two beverage options which were either get a 2-hour package with options at $35/person for beer and wine, $45/person for beer, wine, and deluxe bar, or $55/person for beer, wine, and premium bar or forego a package and charge on consumption.

Since our guests were not staying at our hotel, and all were driving themselves to and from the venue, we knew they would not be drinking to excess (some don’t even drink at all), so we chose to go with charge on consumption drinks vs a package (we were considering the $45/person package). We were given the option of doing just beer and wine or beer, wine, and liquor. We offered all three, and were able to keep costs down by capping drink requests to a set price limit of $15, and having the sommelier select lower priced wine bottles from the selection offered by the venue (one white, one red, and one champagne). We did not pre-order wine, so whatever was opened, we were charged for instead of being locked into x amount of bottles, with the guests not consuming it all.

Ultimately, alcohol-wise our guests went through 9 bottles of wine, 10 beers, 24 drinks, and then a handful of sodas and teas throughout the cocktail hour and dinner service.

If your reception venue has private dining menus, family style service options can also keep costs down. For our menu, we had the options of offering guests food from a prix-fixe menu or family style menu, and there was a cost savings opportunity with the family style service compared to the prix-fixe table service.