What was the bar tab for your reception?

[DMBFiredancer]

I am trying to plan a budget for our wedding, but the place we like does not have a full unlimited open bar that you can pay ahead of time...it is only on a per drink basis. We don''t want to put a time/ money limit on the bar, but if its too crazy, we might have to.

We are planning on about 50-60 people - only about 15 are non drinkers, so lets say 35-45 drinkers (some pretty heavy)

its been hard for me to estimate just how many drinks people will have per hour...i guess its just something you dont know until the day of.

for this place, the prices are as follows:
Liquor:
House Brands $6.00 to $6.75
Premium Brands $6.75 to $9.75
Top Shelf $7.25 to $13.50
Martini’s $7.25 to $11.25

Beer:
Domestic Brands $4.25 to $5.25
Imported Brands $5.25

Cordials:
$6.25 to $26.00 per drink

Blended Drinks:
$6.25 to $8.95 per drink


for those who want to share....i''m just curious how many guests you had and how much the tab was at the end of the night so i can at least TRY to get an estimate to see how much we need to save up. in my mind i am thinking to budget no more than $2000 for that amount of people, but i''m just curious what your experiences are.

thanks so much!

 

[basil]

We''re buying our own alcohol, so I don''t know if this will really be helpful for you...I calculated out the number of drinks that the amount of alcohol the caterer suggested that we buy will end up serving. It comes out to roughly 10 drinks per person (!) I don''t think that many people will drink 10 drinks in a 5 hour period, and I know a lot who will drink 1-3 during the whole night, but I guess it''s better to be safe and have a lot rather than run out. If you don''t let people order the super premium martinis and cordials, I''ll be you''ll be fine with budgeting $2k...unless you know that your guests will be big drinkers.

 

[Independent Gal]

Well, the events lady at the restaurant where we''re hosting people said to budget for 5 drinks per person. That sounds like a lot to me, but better too high than too low!

 

[ringster]

Thanks for posting this - I''m going through this right now.

I''m looking at around the same prices and then they have bar package where it is $10/person/hour for house wine/soda which seems like a lot. So trying to debate which option to go with.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

The prices your venue is offering are quite high to me, but I don''t know where you are, etc.
We are buying red and white wine we get a discount on because the daughter of the Vitner is a friend
We are having prosseco which is like champagne but cheaper and I like the taste better
And we are putting out flavored sugar cubes to add to the prosecco in place of cocktails
We aren''t doing beer because our venue does not allow kegs which are cheaper and because it doesn''t really fit our wedding.
I can''t really give you an estimate that would help you though since half my family don''t drink so we just aren''t serving as much.

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 1/13/2008 4:44:28 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
The prices your venue is offering are quite high to me, but I don''t know where you are, etc.

i''m in LA near the beach....so those are pretty normal prices, unfortunately....its a restaurant that we are looking into.

 

[Dutchgirlll]

I guess it''s all depending on how long you have people spending on drinking. Within in my group of friends/family, I assume some of the younger people will easily drink 4 alcoholic drinks/hour or more. The rest will probably stay at 1/2 alcoholic drinks/hour, mixed with water or something like that.

But maybe drinking behaviour in my country is somewhat different than over there (I can''t imagine though haha). Here, if drinks are free, you''re going to get drunk, or at least a bit....

 

[Pandora II]

For the big events I run for work, I work on the basis of:

Pre-dinner drinks - 1-2 glasses a head
Dinner - half a bottle of wine a head
After Dinner - 2 drinks

Some people will drink more, but many will drink less, so it evens out. I have NEVER run out of alcohol yet and always have lots left over.

Most of my guests are not huge drinkers and so I'm feeling safe on that quantity. My wedding runs from 3.30pm till midnight just to give you an idea of drinks to hours.

I'm bringing my own alcohol.

For 120 people, I'm buying:

60 bottles of Prosecco
40 bottles of red wine
30 bottles of white wine

Lots of soft drinks - and I've told all our friends that if they want to drink vodka, gin etc to bring a hip flask and stick a bottle in their car for refills and then add it to the soft drinks on the QT.

 

[TravelingGal]

DMB, where are you holding your wedding? Sounds very much like the place I had mine.

The prices were the same as yours. We had about 50 people, with about 15 non drinkers, just like you. Definitely some partiers in the group. Our only criteria for the bar was no shots... would not pay for those.

Our tab was $1300. The shots tab (which various people paid for...and honestly I was surprised that people did shots) was $600. This is in the span of about 5 hours...so I guess our total, if we had paid for everything was nearly $2000. The coordinator when I spoke to her beforehand told me there was "no way" with the size of our party that we'd get anywhere near $2000. $1000 maybe, but not $2000. Obviously she doesn't know our friends...

ETA I see from another thread you are considering charthouse...which I think is a great choice.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 1/13/2008 2:59:02 PM
Author: ringster
Thanks for posting this - I''m going through this right now.

I''m looking at around the same prices and then they have bar package where it is $10/person/hour for house wine/soda which seems like a lot. So trying to debate which option to go with.

My bar package is 37 a person for wine, soft drinks, champagne, and beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I''m in PAIN at the thought of doing that for a daytime wedding. So we''re (scary as it is) going to co consumption bar. YIKES.

The estimate BTW for our guest is over 2000. *passing out*

 

[ringster]

Date: 1/13/2008 10:54:15 PM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 1/13/2008 2:59:02 PM

Author: ringster

Thanks for posting this - I'm going through this right now.


I'm looking at around the same prices and then they have bar package where it is $10/person/hour for house wine/soda which seems like a lot. So trying to debate which option to go with.

We talked about it today and are probably going to go open bar. His friends and family aren't much drinkers and my friends aren't either. It is my family though - they can put away a bit. There are probably about 12 out of 100 that can drink like fish.

We are going to see if we can have an open bar for the first 3 hours and then have it where they will have to pay if they want to get more drinks. Is that tacky? I'm seriously worried about what my relatives will drink.





My bar package is 37 a person for wine, soft drinks, champagne, and beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm in PAIN at the thought of doing that for a daytime wedding. So we're (scary as it is) going to co consumption bar. YIKES.


The estimate BTW for our guest is over 2000. *passing out*

 

[DMBFiredancer]

Date: 1/13/2008 10:27:38 PM
Author: TravelingGal
DMB, where are you holding your wedding? Sounds very much like the place I had mine.

]

yes! i actually found some of your posts when i did a search of the charthouse - i think we may live very close to each other here in CA if you are near the charthouse, too.

i''m sure they will be surprised to see how much my friends drink, too! thank you so much for your info -that helps alot.
was there anything you didnt like about the charthouse? we havent booked a date or anything yet - i still have so many questions for them, and we need to go talk to the lady there.

its a big step for me, this is the first west coast venue that i''ve actually gotten excited about after my phase of "his is way too much money to spend on a few hours of my life"
i was so ready to just go to the city clerks office to get married and call my parents and tell them to adjust their address book with my new last name.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 1/13/2008 11:50:40 PM
Author: DMBFiredancer

Date: 1/13/2008 10:27:38 PM
Author: TravelingGal
DMB, where are you holding your wedding? Sounds very much like the place I had mine.

]

yes! i actually found some of your posts when i did a search of the charthouse - i think we may live very close to each other here in CA if you are near the charthouse, too.

i''m sure they will be surprised to see how much my friends drink, too! thank you so much for your info -that helps alot.
was there anything you didnt like about the charthouse? we havent booked a date or anything yet - i still have so many questions for them, and we need to go talk to the lady there.

its a big step for me, this is the first west coast venue that i''ve actually gotten excited about after my phase of ''his is way too much money to spend on a few hours of my life''
i was so ready to just go to the city clerks office to get married and call my parents and tell them to adjust their address book with my new last name.

I liked it, but I am relatively easy going about wedding stuff. Just to let you know, if it''s the same gal who is the coordinator there, she is not a warm and fuzzy kind of person. However she was perfect for me because she was no-nonsense. It was either a yes or a no to my questions, with the majority of the answers being yes. Sugary sweet wedding venue people rub me the wrong way!

Oh, one thing I loved about the charthouse....$500 deposit only and the rest due on your wedding day, payable by credit card (so we were able to get points!). I hated to think of it this way, but something WERE to happen and the wedding not go off, I was only out 500 bucks.