The Open Bar Question: How much does it REALLY cost?

Meee toooo! My photographer suggested it. Ha. My sis had a "party bus" but, I am thinking of horse/carriage. Anyway.

I hope that you get to a reasonable place for you and your budget to be comfortable. Soon, so you dont have to stress long

So I tried to call my venue and they told me the single person in charge of catering is on leave and won't be back until next week. And no one can answer questions besides her. :-(

This is getting to be just stupid.

Hm, I didn't have a limo and I didn't miss it. But it was a bit of a problem getting someone to drive us, since DS did not want to stress about driving. I think one of the GM should be on call for that kind of stuff though.

It really depends on your crowd. In my circle of friends and culturally, people don't drink. So the consumption tab never reaches the limit! And it's more like 1-2 drinks per person, if that.

I would not do drink tickets. To me, that's just not that classy.

I like the idea of just serving wine, beer, and a signature cocktail and having a limit on the bar bill.

Everyone mostly just drank bottled beer and red wine at our wedding.

Also, these days it's quite common for guests to attend a cash bar wedding. So when they find out that it is partially open bar or even an hour or two, they are happy.

JJ - Do you think I could get away with that? ANd I need to fid out how much beer cost, too

Yes, I think you could get away with wine, bottled beer, and a signature cocktail. Or even just wine and beer.

I'm not sure what is the norm for your circle though?

But since budget is always a concern, do what's right for you two.

My family drinks. FS' family does, too. But I don't think as much. In my family people won't complain about a lack of an open bar since they aren't paying & if they do complain they KNOW not to let me find out cause I'm only inviting half of them due to pressure from my parents.

FS? Not sure - everytime I went to a family event with him very few people drank and it was mostly men drinking hard liquor.

Oh, it just seems easier to put a limit on it then, but then move over to cash bar once that limit is reached. I guess they do like hard liquor.

Or just do wine and beer. I don't understand why ppl would complain to the bride and groom anyway. What's done is done. Amazing how many rude ppl there are out there.

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I guess I can see two sides.

Although my guests did not drink that much, they were very happy and appreciative that we had a full open bar (costco and bevmo route) because they are used to cash bar nowadays or just beer and wine (we are out in cali, where everything is expensive). No one abused it and drank like crazy. But everyone was so happy about it. It was right up there in importance, along with the food quality, abundance, and actual ceremony itself!

Another reason we are doing a light lunch desert reception in the middle of the afternoon.

we are having a bar - but I cannot afford to pay for everyone to drink, so its a cash bar - oh well. I dont drink and the lushes in my family can bring cash (just need to be sure to do dollar dance sooner as opposed to later)

To save money. We are buying only beer and wine and giving it to the caterer to hand out, instead of having her provide the alcohol.

Its important to me but I don't want to PO fh...

Yeah, I do not drink much but family does and I wnat everyone to have a great time. Cutting the limo and cheese platters really wont be missed. Even opting from Real to flake flowers would save on budget.

So if I cut the cheese platter - what should people do in the first hour of the reception?

Do you have a photo booth? Or something that would occupy their time? I think you will want to offer some sort of snack for the begining of the reception. Not everyone will be drinking and many will wait until after dinner to eat. Something else to consider that I have experienced at weddings (and think it is a great idea) Is serving alcohol UNTIL dinner and return to serving it again AFTER dinner. This could ease over serving, lol, and your budget!

Wow that is crazy. I got 2 quotes (both came in at about the same price) for an open bar (beer, wine, liquor, all the mixers, glasses, the bartender, etc etc) and for top shelf liquor it's only $8.25 per person for 3 hours, plus an extra $100 per hour over that.. So I'm expecting to pay about $1100 for a 5 hour open bar. Never been so glad to live in the south!

Can they sign the photo frame collage of you two, sign well wishing cards for the wishing well or tree, look through engagement photo book, or watch a looping slide show?

They should have something to nosh on.

By all means, don't PO the FS. LOL.

People should just be able to make do with free beer and wine and it doesn't have to be all night either! We didn't serve champagne.

You have a lot of awesome ideas that have already been provided to you. Its hard to choose but how many beer drinkers are there? Put it this way when you talk to FS ask about his guests and think about yours. E.g. my family and friends do wine and hard liquor over beer so if it wasn't an all inclusive package then I would cut it. Does your group drink a lot of wine? Maybe closing the bar for an hour during dinner for the alcoholic drinks? Also in this economy the vendor I'm sure will try to work something out. I think that limiting what you offer whether it be the amount of time the bar is open or what you offer will be helpful

Here is my suggestions, IDK if anyone else already proposed, didn't read all the comments.

1) You can ask your venue if you can do tickets. Offer 2-3 drinks pp, so FH and u would pay for those. If anyone want anything else they have to pay. My cousin did that and it turned out great. Also, if some people don't drink they will give it to someone else.

So you buy lets say 2000$ of tickets or 1000$ and you give it to the guests.

2) You can pay for juices, soda and wine and make guests pay for evrything else. Wine can be cheap.

Hope this helps

Decisions...decisions....sorry I dont have anything to offer BUT I would consider cutting the cheese (no pun intended) & champagne.....most guests will be busy talking or taking pictures of yalls.....

do you have other hors d'ouerves?

Some cost-saving suggestions:

1. Buy your own alcohol, if the venue allows it.

2. Serve only beer, wine, and soft drinks (and maybe a signature drink) instead of an open bar.

Having guests pay for drinks will call the etiquette police down on you. ;-) However, you are not obligated to have alcohol available at all, and can limit the type and quantity if you do supply it.

We are getting married in February 2015 and my venue is based on consumption and the event coordinator said to average about $35++ for alcohol.... WOW if you add in the tax and gratuity that is approx $45/pp with 150 guests that is close to $10,000 just for alcohol. I'm trying to come up with ways to keep the bar bill in check like limiting the types of alcohol or closing the bar an hour before the reception ends... so stressful!