So I've decided on bottled beer vs. a keg but....

Rent a big frige

Big metal bins with ice in them.

What about those aluminum looking big tubs with ice? You could decorate with whatever matches your theme?

I'd do the metal or plastic tubs. There's really no other way than renting a fridge ( where from? How much? How to get electricity to it?)

The tubs you could fill with ice, which would melt over time so you could hide some ice in coolers somewhere.

Good ideas ladies! I like the metal bins idea we can hide coolers for ice behind the bar too I guess?!

Depends how its being served. I think I'm gonna do good 5 day Coolers because we can hide them behind the bar and no one will really see them but their beer will still come out cold and the ice wont turn to water in an hour. Otherwise yes metal bins! But I'd still keep extra ice in coolers.

Yeah I didn't even think about hiding them behind the bar. I'm not 100% sure it'd be totally hidden cause our bar is actually a bar, it'd just be cute to make it a bar.

Yeah we did the large galvanized metal buckets we had all the backup beer in giant coolers under the tables (hidden by table clothes). It worked well, just be sure to assign someone to keep an eye on the buckets to restock when the get low.(unless you have a bartender) We had my moms group of best friends be our beer re-stockers I'm not sure where you live but the best place around me to find them was at Tractor Supply Store, they had large selection of sizes. http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/king-metalworks-105-gal-galvanized-metal-tub?cm_vc=-10005

We have a tractor supply nearby we are going to have a bartender. Mainly to make sure no one drinks too much. We don't want anyone getting a little too crazy! Haha! We are only serving beer and wine to limit that as well.

Im planning on using some dry ice in the coolers to keep things cold, but not having it melt down so fast.

I don't know your theme but an old horse trough OR an old bath tub works well and is fun... you can sometimes find them on craigslist for free

@Hiker bride: that's an awesome idea!!

FYI....make sure it's labeled that there is dry ice... I've had people severely burn themselves because they didn't know....

Our guests won't be handling the alcohol. We are going to have a bartender but she would definitely be notified

Can your bartender or caterer bring cooler tubs and ice? And do you have to buy the beer ahead of time or can you have it delivered cold that day?

We shopped around for booze and found that one big liquor store in town did delivery, and was pretty much the same price as Costco. And also we could return unused cases/packs for a refund. So we just went with them. And we ordered the cooler tubs and ice from our bartender. So we never had to think about anything being the right temperature, taking home leftovers, storing or transporting heavy/bulky cases, etc. It was super easy.

My bartender is just a friend who works at a local restaurant as a bartender. I didn't hire her as a vendor or anything. She's actually doing it all for free for me! We don't have to have a bartender for our venue, especially since only beer and wine will be served. We decided it would be a good idea though since we want to keep drinking to a minimum so it doesn't get too crazy. Our caterer doesn't serve alcohol, but we are getting tea and lemonade through them. I think I may just go with the cooler idea for back up beer and a tub of a variety of beers on the bar so people can see what all we are serving!

Hmmm, are you just storing beer or will you have a variety of items to keep cold? Maybe you could rent a portable cold storage container? I know a lot of people do something like that if they are having an outdoor wedding that has no refrigeration options.