Save Money on Alcohol for Your Wedding Reception
Tanner |
Thoughtfully composed by Tanner Filed under: Reception, Saving Money, Wedding Alcohol, Wedding Planning |
This might be a little tricky, because Caterers and Reception Halls often force you to retain their services for serving alcohol and liquor at your wedding reception, but I plead with you to STAND UP for yourself and tell them that you will find someone else if they will not let you provide your own alcohol.
Buying your own alcohol and hiring your own bartender is the absolute cheapest way to have an open bar at a wedding. Caterers will charge you thousands for something that should only cost you hundreds.
First: Hire a bartender/s to serve the alcohol:
The absolute first place I would visit would be Craigslist for your town. Go to the ‘Services’ section and peruse the site for bartenders that are offering their services. Try searching using the keyword ‘bartender’ or ‘alcohol’. If you cannot find anyone already offering their services, try posting a message saying “Hiring: Bartender for One Day Wedding Reception.” Tell them that you will pay them $50 or $100 for the reception services and they will receive all of the tips (which will probably be over $200 after the day is over). Amateur (but good) bartenders will be swarming you with emails offering their services at this point.
You will want to have face-to-face interviews with the potential bartenders to see if they have an OK “look” and if they will be professional. You can also have them give you demonstrations of serving alcohol. Maybe have them serve several common drinks, like a cosmopolitan, margarita, and martini in an impromptu fashion to see how well they will do.
Second: Buy the liquor for your wedding:
This is the part that is FUN. I would have so much fun spending several hundred dollars at a liquor store. Great times. Below, I will list the calculations for how much alcohol to buy. The numbers are going to be a little funny, but that is fine.
The alcohol amounts are provided assuming 100 guests. If you need to do the calculations for 50 guests, just halve the numbers.
Beer – (Total 9 dozen)
Three dozen each of domestic, imported and light beers
Wine – (Total 5-8 dozen bottles)
Chardonnay - 3-4 dozen bottles
Sauvignon Blanc - 1-2 dozen bottles
Cabernet Sauvignon (red) - 1-2 dozen bottles
Champagne – 1-2 dozen bottles
Hard Spirits
Vodka – 5L
Gin – 3L
Rum – 2L
Scotch – 2L
Bourbon – 2L
Vermouth - 750ml
Kahlua – 3L
Sweet and flavored liquors: (About 1 liter of each)
Bailey’s Irish Cream (heavy Irish cream)
Grand Marnier or Triple Sec (orange)
Amaretto (cherry)
Sambucca (licorice)
Brandy (whatever flavors)
Frangelico (hazelnut)
Chambord (raspberry)
Also, to help you save money (but upset the snobby guests)….buy the cheap liquors and either don’t let people watch while they are made (stupid) or just pour the drinks without even making a fuss about it. Who’s gonna complain?? Free drinks!
I promise you that buying your own wedding alcohol will save you TONS of money!
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June 6th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Would guests know to tip the bartender? Nobody ever does at the weddings I have been to (all very upscale) because it is understood that the bartenders (which are usually provided by the venue) are tipped by the individuals paying for the wedding. How would guests know that this is a different scenario where they will NOT be tipped by the wedding hosts, and instead are supposed to be tipped by the guests? Putting out a sign seems incredibly tacky, and just makes the bride and groom look cheap.
June 6th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Hi Julie. Thanks for the comment. It might possibly look a little tacky to put up a sign asking for tips. You might just put a tip bowl or jar out in front of the bar and that might encourage tipping. I usually have seen tipping though at both cheap and expensive weddings.
But, if you do feel that it is tacky, you can just negotiate to pay the bartender more money upfront and get any tips that might possibly (but doubtfully) fly his way.
Then again, we are going for cheap weddings, so some sacrifices must be made
June 21st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I’m not having a bar at all at my wedding, but these are some great tips.
You guys should be on the Style Network!
July 9th, 2007 at 10:33 am
If at all possible try to buy alcohol on a military base. We live in Navy country and it is a lot cheaper. I know this obviouly isn’t possible for a lot of people but if it is it can save a lot
July 16th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Couple Questions:
We are having only beer and wine at our reception. We will have 200-250 guests — majority of which will be drinking. Our reception is going to be held at a historic Garden Center with an outdoor tent where the bar and seating will be located. Our buffet will be indoors (to avoid the bug situation as much as possible).
One thought we had was to do boxed wine and kegs and just display bottled wines of our bulk choices out on the bar. If we go with this option, how many kegs and how much wine should we get? Thoughts on this as an option?
If we do go with bottles of both, how much should we get and what would be your suggestions?
What is a reasonable budget for our alcohol expense?
Sorry to bombard you with questions but this has been the first site where someone was replying to responses that actually seemed to know what they were talking about.
Thanks!
Lori
August 12th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Lori:
Sorry no one has replied yet for you - hope it’s not too late!
Boxed wine is kinda lame, and a real pain for the bartenders, and I don’t know that you’d save that much there.
The kegs are a great idea. You’ll need two standard bar kegs (17.75 Gallons) for your crowd, especially if it’s warm. Pick a popular local microbrewery, get one lighter and one more full. They will usually let you taste a bunch of them when you go to get it - that’s the really fun part!
Based on Tanner’s counts for beer and wine by the bottle above, I did a quick spreadsheet. For the beer, wine and champagne it looks like about $580 for 100 people, so 2-2.5 x 580 = $1160-$1450. The beer part of that is $210-$300, I think you can get the kegs for less than that.
Congratulations and good luck to you and your man, Lori - Let us know how it goes!
August 12th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Great Stuff, Tanner! I have been bartending catered weddings for several years now, and just recently learned how much my company charges for my services - I think I’ll go indy from now on!One additional tip on the bartenders: be sure to check references!
Regarding your alcohol list, it’s really a pain to try and provide a full service bar in this manner. Most people don’t have the equipment and supplies necessary to do it right, and the setup is usually ad hoc. You WILL run out of some things, and barely touch others. And don’t forget all the mixers and garnishes, straws, toothpicks, umbrellas, and oh, how many of each of the right size glasses?
Another alternative is to stock for 2 or 3 “signature” drinks, for example Lori’s favorite Cosmo or the groom’s extra spicy Bloody Mary, and then just add the few extras for basic Rum, Tequila or Whiskey drinks and call it good. This is a fun way to go, much easier for you and your bartender, and will usually please just about everyone!
Happy Day, everyone!
August 29th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
this has to be the best info i have read so far, thanks so much.
September 7th, 2007 at 4:58 am
How much juice and mixers should we buy for lets say a wedding of 450 people?
October 10th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Tanner, I plan to provide my own alcohol and bartender for my wedding reception. My reception site does not have a liquor licence. Do I have to obtain insurance or licences?
October 23rd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
OK, I hate to be a crepe-hanger here again but there are some very important considerations. Here in Arizona you can’t serve alcohol in other than a personal residence without a permit from the city. It only costs $25.00 here but the steps you have to go through and the divisions that have to sign off on it is really hard to do. The other factor is liability. These companies that serve alcohol carry the requisite policies to shield you from a lawsuit. Is your fathers homeowners policy going to cover him offsite?
November 14th, 2007 at 10:03 am
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April 18th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hi I wanted to know about how much of total liquor far as how many liters for a wedding reception of 300 people?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Hi I’m having a beach-themed wedding and we are bringing our own alcohol to our facility and we are trying to keep the costs down w/o having a full bar b/c it never all is gone.
I was thinking some signature drinks with Vodka, Rum and Tequila any ideas? We are also having Beer and Wine.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I am having a wedding this weekend. We have more beer drinkers than wine drinkers. We are supplying our own alcohol. Approx. 75-80 guests. How much beer and wine should we have.
By the way…we are paying the caterer a corking fee for the alcohol. Many places will require this. Due to OLCC (liquor laws) rules, we have to have a certified bartender, and our site requires us to use there caterer. It sucks.
We won’t tip the bartender, because the corking fee as well as the bartenders fees will be charged an additional 20 % “service fee”. I think 20% is enough tip!
Cheryl
June 29th, 2008 at 9:51 am
evite has a drink calculator
i don’t know how accurate it is:
http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:24 am
My reception is 9/27. I have been doing research trying to find out how much beer and wine to have for 85 adults. Most of the info I have found is based on 100 or more with a FULL bar. I’m assuming I need more if I’m not serving the liquor.
Can anyone help please? 85 adults. I’m serving home-made Sangria, White wine and keg beer. In addition, there is soda and coffee for the kids and adults who don’t drink. How much of each item above should I have?
October 31st, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I’m actually coming from the other side of the fence… I was asked to bartend a wedding reception and provide bus boys to help clear dishes. Both the wedding party and I are not sure what is appropriate pay. Maybe you can help… The wedding is a week away, for 120 people. They would like 2 bartenders and 2 bus boys for 6 hours. We are going to help set up and clean up and the bar will be serving beer and wine. The wedding party is providing all the alcohol, cups, napkins, and soda.
Thanks for your help!
November 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Hi there! This is a fantastic site!!
We were thinking about buying the alcohol for our wedding, and then just having a twoonie bar…is that tacky? I don’t want to charge full price for the drinks and an open bar is just out of our price range. Also is it ok to buy alcohol in bulk and then re-sell it at your wedding? Do I need a permit for that (other than the alcohol license?)
Thanks a bunch!
November 19th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
I am planning on having a friend bartend our reception. There will be a security guard on duty and she will not serve someone if she thinks they’ve had enough. Do I need a liquor permit or insurance?
January 8th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
the evite calculator is way off, and will cost you a ton of money as in most states alcohol cannot be returned and for Example I entered 200 heavy drinkers for 6 hours and the calculated 700 beers, 140 bottles of wine and 35 bottles of liquor.
Now let’s break it down
700 beers will produce 700 beers
140 bottles of wine will produce 700 glasses of wine, and is way to high will not even be close
35 bottles of liquor will produce 525 mixed drinks
So now we have 1925 drinks, so let’s say each person drinks the same we have just pumped 9.625 drinks into your guests.
Now let’s break that down per hour and we get 1.6045 drinks per hour.
BETTER HAVE LIABILITY INSURANCE, or are you driving 200 highly intoxicated people home on your wedding night.
Ok, so maybe they won’t use that much, great now you have a stocked bar with about 400 beers, 140 bottles of wine and some left over liquor, or maybe the retailer will risk his or her license and take the leftovers back.
Now let’s take a look at that cost.
The beer at 13 per case is going to cost you $350
The wine at $5.00 a bottle is going to cost you $700
The liquor at $10 is going to cost you $350
We are now at $1400.00 + $100 for a bartender + $250.00 lost deposit for the hall because of the $100 bartender and now we are at $1750.00.
What about pop, cups, napkins, straws, pourers, ice, oj, cranberry juice , ect, ect, ect.
Well here we are $1750 for alcohol, bartender, and lost deposit
$65 for cups, $15 for napkins,$30 for pop,$60.00 for ice and now we are at $1920 and have no limes, olives, cherries, lemons, bloody marry mix, juices, vermouth, coolers, bar rags, and what are we going to serve this all from?
FIND A BAR SERVICE THAT CAN DO THIS FOR ABOUT $2,000.00 AND CALL IT A DONE DEAL and now you will not run out of product, you will not have 700 beers in your frig, and 100 bottles of wine under your bar, and you will probably save about $50.00 in gas and you will have insurance.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
My wedding is in September.I am trying to find out the cheapest way to serve 80 guests alcohol. This is beach themed. I want one light beer and one dark beer. Should I get a keg of each? (will that be too much?)
Also 1 or 2 signature drinks. And since this is beach themed, something that would remind people of the beach and relaxation. What sort of drinks, that are not expensive should I shoot for?
What should I stock the bar with to insure there is enough? It is only a 4 hour reception, MID-day. Hoping that people dont get too wasted.
And Wine, and soda, and water. I am also providing juice boxes for the young ones
Oh and hopefully one of my bartender friends will volunteer… I will tip him well.
July 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
I know most people expect alcohol at their wedding but has anyone considered a coffee bar? A lot less expensive,stylish, chic, safe.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:03 am
What about margarita machines? Are those good to have? It sees a lot less cheaper.
September 14th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I am also planning a wedding and trying to estimate costs. I was glad to have the numbers from my cousin’s wedding this spring to help me and I am happy to share them. 120 people in six hours drank 30 cases of beer. They ran out and had to go to the store to get more during the party! So maybe, the calculator is closer than suggested? Of course, everyone in my family is of drinking age, there are a lot of young to mild age men and we like to party
You couldn’t compare the wholesale cost, to what this would have cost at an open service bar.
Also, though boxed wine is traditionally cheap wine, a few classier brands have started to package this way and if you look at the unit cost, it seems to be much lower. Serving behind a high bar, no one will know the difference.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Agreed having your own bartender is a much cheaper way to go. A word of advice: look for venues on http://www.gatheringguide.com/ec/event_venues_wedding_sites.html if you don’t already have one, since they have it easily organized by who requires you to serve their liquor and who doesn’t.