How much alcohol?

[jaylex]

So i'm sure there has been a post about this before... but I can't seem to find it.

Fiance and I looked at a few reception sites yesterday and found two that we LOVE! One provides the alcohol, the other does not so we'd have to bring our own.

We're trying to figure out how much of everything we would need to purchase so that we can compare the reception hall prices "apples to apples".

Here's some background info:

We will probably have about 200 guests. Our family members that do drink, drink wine or beer (mostly red wine). Our friends drink mostly beer or anything spiked with vodka lol. We drink red wine and champagne.
besides that, we'd like to offer one or two signature drinks but have no idea what to offer lol. We love raspberry iced tea and one of our friends said that we should just spike it with Absolut.

So...

how many kegs should we get?
how many bottles of red/white wine should we get?
The venue has a white wine fountain that we can rent. It's $150 for 5 gallons of white zinfandel. Should we rent that too and not get bottled white wine?
Is the spiked raspberry iced tea a good idea?
What else could we offer as a signature drink that is a "crowd" pleaser? Our wedding color is blue so that'd be really neat to have one blue drink (maybe something made with blue curacao?).. and our last name will be "Palmer" so it would be fun to incorporate a "P" into the name... like a Palmer Peach Bellini. clever, right? not that it's blue... lol.



We don't really drink so we are pretty much rookies at this.

Thanks for any suggestions!
It feels so good to finally get some things done on our list!

 

[ladypirate]

How long is your reception for? I'd plan on at least 1 drink per hour per person and probably closer to 2. Also, some places will let you bring back unopened bottles for a refund.

What time of day is your reception at? What season is your wedding?

During the day, especially if it's hot, many people will drink white wine, but prefer red when it's cooler or in the evening. Also, consider having a couple different types of beer available (maybe a keg of a light to medium beer and a keg of a medium to dark beer). I would definitely skip the white zin (it's actually a rose, not a true white) unless you have guests that will drink it. If you do it, definitely offer a true white wine as well for those who don't like rose.

As far as signature drinks, it's really up to you. Maybe rather than doing a spiked iced tea, do something with chambord (a raspberry liqueur)? You could do a variation on a kir royale and mix it with champagne, which would be tasty and very classy. If you didn't want to use champagne, you could also just do chambord and soda water with lemon (sort of an alcoholic italian soda).

Another option that would be super cute with your last name is to offer Arnold Palmers (half and half iced tea and lemonade). You could offer them both virgin and spiked with vodka. If you wanted to, you could even try it with raspberry iced tea, but I don't know how that would taste. You could also maybe call them "Mr. and Mrs. Palmers" for the reception.

If you're going to do a blue drink, it'll probably have blue curacao in it, which is a sort of orange flavored liqueur. You can mix it with anything you like and it will end up blue (or purple, if you use anything that is red colored like grenadine).

Hope that helped!

 

[jaylex]

Date: 3/15/2010 12:29:55 AM
Author: ladypirate
How long is your reception for? I'd plan on at least 1 drink per hour per person and probably closer to 2. Also, some places will let you bring back unopened bottles for a refund.

What time of day is your reception at? What season is your wedding?

During the day, especially if it's hot, many people will drink white wine, but prefer red when it's cooler or in the evening. Also, consider having a couple different types of beer available (maybe a keg of a light to medium beer and a keg of a medium to dark beer). I would definitely skip the white zin (it's actually a rose, not a true white) unless you have guests that will drink it. If you do it, definitely offer a true white wine as well for those who don't like rose.

As far as signature drinks, it's really up to you. Maybe rather than doing a spiked iced tea, do something with chambord (a raspberry liqueur)? You could do a variation on a kir royale and mix it with champagne, which would be tasty and very classy. If you didn't want to use champagne, you could also just do chambord and soda water with lemon (sort of an alcoholic italian soda).

Another option that would be super cute with your last name is to offer Arnold Palmers (half and half iced tea and lemonade). You could offer them both virgin and spiked with vodka. If you wanted to, you could even try it with raspberry iced tea, but I don't know how that would taste. You could also maybe call them 'Mr. and Mrs. Palmers' for the reception.

If you're going to do a blue drink, it'll probably have blue curacao in it, which is a sort of orange flavored liqueur. You can mix it with anything you like and it will end up blue (or purple, if you use anything that is red colored like grenadine).

Hope that helped!

OMG that helped so much! I can't believe i didn't think of Arnold Palmers! That is one of my summer time faves! What an AMAZING idea! Thanks, LP!
Great idea on the two different kegs.. and nixing the white zin, maybe even the white wine. like I said, we're rookies... and fiance doesn't like wine unless it's red. If I took a white wine and put food coloring in it, I'm sure he'd drink it. He's just stubborn lol.


More info:
Our reception will prolly be from 6 to 11.. next May.

Ok. so Mr. and Mrs. Palmers, 2 kegs, red wine, and something with blue curacao. i love it!

Fiance really likes white russian's so I thought we could possibly serve those with cake? Our cake will be chocolate w/ kahlua and chocolate with raspberry.. is that too much kahlua? lol

 

[megumic]

If your caterer or venue is providing a bartender, they should also be able to provide you an alcohol estimate. Check with them to see. Hands down I''ll bet you''ll always save more buying it on your own - especially at a place like Costco or BJ''s. We''re also doing this, but not til October so we can''t give any advice yet!

 

[princesss]

Date: 3/15/2010 12:56:29 AM
Author: jaylex

Date: 3/15/2010 12:29:55 AM
Author: ladypirate
How long is your reception for? I''d plan on at least 1 drink per hour per person and probably closer to 2. Also, some places will let you bring back unopened bottles for a refund.

What time of day is your reception at? What season is your wedding?

During the day, especially if it''s hot, many people will drink white wine, but prefer red when it''s cooler or in the evening. Also, consider having a couple different types of beer available (maybe a keg of a light to medium beer and a keg of a medium to dark beer). I would definitely skip the white zin (it''s actually a rose, not a true white) unless you have guests that will drink it. If you do it, definitely offer a true white wine as well for those who don''t like rose.

As far as signature drinks, it''s really up to you. Maybe rather than doing a spiked iced tea, do something with chambord (a raspberry liqueur)? You could do a variation on a kir royale and mix it with champagne, which would be tasty and very classy. If you didn''t want to use champagne, you could also just do chambord and soda water with lemon (sort of an alcoholic italian soda).

Another option that would be super cute with your last name is to offer Arnold Palmers (half and half iced tea and lemonade). You could offer them both virgin and spiked with vodka. If you wanted to, you could even try it with raspberry iced tea, but I don''t know how that would taste. You could also maybe call them ''Mr. and Mrs. Palmers'' for the reception.

If you''re going to do a blue drink, it''ll probably have blue curacao in it, which is a sort of orange flavored liqueur. You can mix it with anything you like and it will end up blue (or purple, if you use anything that is red colored like grenadine).

Hope that helped!

OMG that helped so much! I can''t believe i didn''t think of Arnold Palmers! That is one of my summer time faves! What an AMAZING idea! Thanks, LP!
Great idea on the two different kegs.. and nixing the white zin, maybe even the white wine. like I said, we''re rookies... and fiance doesn''t like wine unless it''s red. If I took a white wine and put food coloring in it, I''m sure he''d drink it. He''s just stubborn lol.


More info:
Our reception will prolly be from 6 to 11.. next May.

Ok. so Mr. and Mrs. Palmers, 2 kegs, red wine, and something with blue curacao. i love it!

Fiance really likes white russian''s so I thought we could possibly serve those with cake? Our cake will be chocolate w/ kahlua and chocolate with raspberry.. is that too much kahlua? lol

Okay, so I forget what they''re called, but you could mix lemonade with Firefly Sweet Tea vodka (if it''s available where you are) to make alcoholic Arnold Palmers. Delicious!

 

[ladypirate]

I wouldn''t nix the white wine altogether--especially if you can find some place that will take back unopened bottles. Some people will definitely prefer white (especially in May when it is warm!). Maybe do something nice and crisp like a Sauvignon Blanc?

And I love Princesss'' idea for the alcoholic APs!

 

[jaylex]

Date: 3/15/2010 12:11:47 PM
Author: ladypirate
I wouldn''t nix the white wine altogether--especially if you can find some place that will take back unopened bottles. Some people will definitely prefer white (especially in May when it is warm!). Maybe do something nice and crisp like a Sauvignon Blanc?

And I love Princesss'' idea for the alcoholic APs!

Ok. White wine is back on the "to-buy" list lol.

Thanks, girls!

 

[iheartscience]

Google for a drink calculator. I used one for my wedding and it was pretty accurate. (I got a little crazy and overbought just to be on the safe side, though.) You can type in # of guests, light/moderate/heavy drinkers, whether you''re having just beer, beer and wine or beer, wine and liquor, etc.

 

[jaylex]

Date: 3/19/2010 11:48:59 PM
Author: thing2of2
Google for a drink calculator. I used one for my wedding and it was pretty accurate. (I got a little crazy and overbought just to be on the safe side, though.) You can type in # of guests, light/moderate/heavy drinkers, whether you''re having just beer, beer and wine or beer, wine and liquor, etc.

Thanks so much, thing! I''ll def. have to look that up!

 

[honey22]

Ditto the white wine, some people (me for instance) don''t drink red at all but love a nice Sem Sav Blanc, so do try and provide at least one white.