Those with Open Bars - are you afraid the venue might "cheat" you?

Is your venue not doing an up-front cost per person? My venue is charging $10 per person for an open bar so I don't really have to worry about them "cheating" me because we are not running a tab.

I know for my venue it's $18/per person for the first hour then $9/pp each hour after I think it's like $9/pp each additional hour. So based on that its a set amount so they can't cheat you.

I am worried about that because my first hour is just open bar for a flat fee...and then it becomes per consumption. I just have to go with faith, really.

5hr open bar is actually apart of my catering package with my venue. So there will be open bar the entire wedding. In fact all of the packages my venue have has 5hr open bar included

They would be risking their reputation to do this. If you have a reputable venue/bar tender, why would they risk it for a few extra bucks?

Nope. We are purchasing our alcohol ahead of time and our bartenders will be using what we have supplied.

*Edited for punctuation.

My open bar for 100 people is approx. $995 plus gratuity and sales tax. And I am not concerned about this in the slightest nor do I feel cheated at ALL, because I have seen just a couple of us go out for the same period of time and spend $350 ish or more between maybe 5-6 people...so I am sure with 20x that amount, the $ will be well spent!

Also I sincerely hope that people who wouldn't typically drink or buy themselves a couple drinks will have some, that way they can loosen up, get on the dance floor etc.

Also, I have seen the tabs at our company Christmas parties (roughly 50 people), which are on a consumption basis, go welllll into the several thousand dollar mark. Lol maybe my crowd is just a bunch of heavy drinkers, but I DEF feel that Im getting my money's worth, and even feel like Im getting a bargain!

I'm really jealous of some of your bar prices.

If you are worried about the amount of drinks being ordered then you don't seem to have an Open Bar based on per person prices. I think you have a limited open bar that caps at a certain amount or you are the one paying for the consumption afterwards, is that right? If it is then I can see your concern for guests ordering drinks just for the hell of it. But i wouldn't worry about it.

If people don't drink they will not feel an inclination to drink just because it's a wedding. Even if they do it is more likely than not to just be one or 2 drinks and probably just wine or beer. If you have hired or your venue provides you with a legitimate bartender then they will make drinks as required. If they are professionals they should be honest. If you have any concerns then talk to your venue/bartender and just ask them exactly how it works as in charges to ease your mind.

They really have no reason to cheat you at all if they are a reputable company.

M2H, you are correct. My venue charges ~$10/drink. Not $10 per person for the whole night or $1K for 100 people. Of course I wouldn't worry if I paid a flat fee because if that were the case, my guests could have a sip of their drinks and order a new one, I wouldn't care. But at ~$10/drink, I do care if some guests who wouldn't drink normally and just order because it's free to them.

But most of you are right, my venue should be professional. It's just that I heard from someone who had a $5K bill for her open bar and her guests told her that the bartender kept pouring when they didn't want any. She had less than 100 guests.

That's exactly what the caterers do. I know people who work in catering and they've said that if anyone leaves a drink at all, they will take them then pour them new ones. even if they are full. and bottles get open when they aren't needed to rack up the bottling charge.

just about every activity I've been involved with where alcohol was catered ended up with a bar tab that was way more than ever expected.

I didn't see a way around it other than to not use a caterer, so I made my plans around it.

@MrsChanel I live in the Midwest! Everything is cheaper here BUT cost of living is relative... so I probably also make less $ or whatever lol

I guess that's true. I still bet my $5000/month net pay next to the $6000 open bar difference probably sucks a lot more lol

Haha I give, I give, you win! Yes, my bar tab is NO WHERE near the salary vs expense ratio as yours!

WTF that's INSANE!!!!!!! What is the explanation for that??

Is alcohol really expensive where you live? I would say like "mid shelf" bottle of vodka is no more than $20 ish here.

If you are going to have an actual bartender where people have to go up to get their drinks you should be fine for amount of drinks being poured. That seems to be the only logical way to keep track of amount of drinks being made.

If they are just pouring drinks randomly, you should maybe talk to them ahead of time and just clear that up as to how they charge bottle wise. Unfortunately people will leave their drinks lying around and they can get removed and have to be reordered. I see it being pretty rare when people who enjoy drinking and dancing just leave their drinks behind.

Maybe see about having a cut off dollar amount and after that amount is reached it turns to a cash bar. We had an open bar for like 5 hours then the DJ made an announcement 15 mins before that it will be turning into a cash bar. We also told people ahead of time if it came up that it turns into cash. Nobody cared that it turned to cash.

I would say that's about the same here. Honestly I think my venue is just ridiculously over-priced. The venue is he one thing we couldn't let go of though. So it's costs us from having a full open bar but the more I think about it ridiculous drama shit happens with my family when they drink. It never fails. Maybe it will keep for a drama free wedding.

As long as you are okay with it, that's all that matters

I'm having open bar that is for 4 hours for $25 per person and that is with premium liquor. all guests over 21 will be charged that price, even if they don't drink( which sucks because I have about 10 guests who don't drink at all but over 21.

My venue is additional $5 a person for those over 21 from beer and soda to open bar. That being said, that also includes the cake with that package. We don't drink and most of the family is beer drinkers so as a compromise its beer and soda for us. They also decrease the price by $3 a person for those under 21.

We are having a hosted bar at roughly $6.5per drink with tax and gratuity. The venue estimates about 4 drinks per person. I have looked at my list and anticipate that to be accurate for heavy drinkers vs non-drinkers. I have asked the venue to let me know when we get to that dollar amount and asked for a full detailed invoice afterward that details the wine/beer/liquor consumption. By seeing that I should know if things are in line. I don't plan to switch to a cash bar (but the venue thinks that).