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Building a Killer Wedding Bar (cont.)
Limit Your Hard-Alcohol Offerings
Rather than presenting your guests with everything from Cosmos to margaritas, focus on a few well-made drinks. Doing so cuts costs and makes the wedding more memorable. “[The bride and groom] are often afraid they’re going to leave people out, but that’s never been the case,” says Jon Gasparini, co-owner of the San Francisco bars Rye, Rosewood, and 15 Romolo. “People are generally pleased to have the decision made for them, and they end up remembering the wedding more.”
When he caters weddings with his mobile bar service Rye on the Road, Gasparini likes to serve a version of the Manhattan made with maraschino liqueur and a brandied cherry, alongside a lighter vodka-based drink with freshly muddled herbs or fruit. He holds cocktail tastings, in the fashion of wedding-cake makers, for prospective brides and grooms. But his services don’t come cheap: Getting high-end bartending from an outfit like Rye will run you at least $4,000 for a 150-person wedding.
If you’re working with a traditional caterer, you can be specific about what types of cocktails you want served and exactly how you want them made. Some couples choose drinks that match their wedding colors (although CHOW agrees with Death & Co co-owner David Kaplan that it’s better to do cocktails with natural products, such as red drinks with Campari or pomegranate molasses). Keep in mind that if you want something like a Mojito that requires on-site muddling, your caterer may need to hire an extra bartender, which will cost you.
Buy Good Stuff
If you’re doing cocktails at your wedding, don’t try to cut corners by offering cheap tequila or generic vodka. “People do order vodka by name brand, and you definitely don’t want some cheap-label vodka sitting there at the bar,” says Melons’ Sloan. Rather, offer fewer options and better quality.
Go with Vodka
Many CHOW staffers don’t like vodka much, and some serious drinkers will tell you they think it’s kind of lame. But a lot of people do like it, and it’s easy to mix. So if you want to offer a variety of drinks, vodka is your best bet. With it you can serve martinis (if you’re purchasing the booze yourself, don’t forget to buy vermouth), vodka tonics, vodka sodas, Cosmos (don’t forget the orange liqueur), and more.
Serve DIY Cocktails
This method is not for the faint of heart, and you should definitely check with your venue and caterer first to confirm that they allow it. But one way to cut costs and get cute is to whip up the cocktails yourself beforehand and offer them for self-serve at the bar. Death & Co’s Kaplan recommends mixing a giant container of sangría, Manhattans, or even Mojitos before the wedding, then letting guests dole out the drinks over ice, like an old-timey punch service. In the case of Mojitos, guests would need to top off their glasses with club soda, which would go flat if you added it ahead of time. (Death & Co offers punch-service catering, too, if you’d rather not muddle 25 pounds of mint before the most important day of your life.)
Limit the Cocktail Hours
Sloan strongly discourages serving any alcohol, even champagne, before the ceremony starts. “It can be hard to round people up and get things to start on time, and then you’re cutting into your reception, because the venue wants you out at a certain hour,” he says. If you feel you must offer a little something, serve wine, beer, and champagne rather than the entire range of booze you’ll have later. If your guests get drunk early on, you run the risk that they’ll trap you in “I love you, man!”s at the receiving line and you’ll never get to eat dinner. Keep the postceremony cocktail hour to an actual hour. All of this will save you money and ensure that things run smoothly. Don’t worry—your guests will still get drunk and have fun at your wedding.
Also to MrMoose. Its cheap and tacky to pour Banker's Club into Grey Goose bottles. A good bar or a good caterer would never do that. Perhaps its hard to differentiate between the tastes of the two but many people can feel the difference. I often have had awful hangovers and gotten sick to my stomach after drinking a mixed drink made with bottom shelf stuff, but have never had an issue with top...+READ
Also to MrMoose. Its cheap and tacky to pour Banker's Club into Grey Goose bottles. A good bar or a good caterer would never do that. Perhaps its hard to differentiate between the tastes of the two but many people can feel the difference. I often have had awful hangovers and gotten sick to my stomach after drinking a mixed drink made with bottom shelf stuff, but have never had an issue with top shelf. Be honest so that people can make an informed decision.-COLLAPSE
Hmmm... 4000 for 150 guests isn't expensive! Sadly, its quite cheap! I've seen places charge 30-40 per person for 2-4 hours of bar service. Usually the list of available alcoholic products for these exorbitant prices includes Banker's Club and Joaquin's.
My absolute favorite was one hotel where a single gallon of fruit punch (non alcoholic) was priced at 50 dollars! (plus tax and a fee to serve...+READ
Hmmm... 4000 for 150 guests isn't expensive! Sadly, its quite cheap! I've seen places charge 30-40 per person for 2-4 hours of bar service. Usually the list of available alcoholic products for these exorbitant prices includes Banker's Club and Joaquin's.
My absolute favorite was one hotel where a single gallon of fruit punch (non alcoholic) was priced at 50 dollars! (plus tax and a fee to serve it). At that rate it would easily be 5 dollars for a tiny cup of punch (which I'm reasonably sure is the same stuff sold for 1.99 a gallon at the grocery store)-COLLAPSE
In terms of vodka you can do what every catering hall does which is pour cheap vodka into bottles of Absolut or Grey Goose. It is a proven fact that no one can taste the differnece in a mixed drink. 20/20 did a story once where they had a blind taste test Smirinoff came in first Gray Goose in last.
For my wedding in October we are planning to serve several wines, and a selection of punches that use different hard alcohols and flavor palates, rather than have a full "to order" bar set-up.
Help! my daughters wedding is in September 09. it will be outside on a sunday afternoon. we would like to offer beer and wine only but would like to be mememorable and not the standards....any suggestions without breaking the bank. Don't know much about wines and less about beers.
Be advised! This past January my friend and now husband purchased their Booze at Costco...with the understanding( that almost everyone has) that any excess could be returned. Needless to say the week after the wedding the poor groom was doing his best to peddle the remaining booze to friends- apparently "CA law" does not allow Costco to buy back any booze. Just a heads up!
Look every wedding is different. I think when you are considering a hosted bar, beer and wine only, or cash bar you should think about your personal priorities and the perceived value. If it means more to your family to have wine offered with dinner or having a champagne toast then it may not be the end of the world to do cash bar for mixed drinks.
Overall people drink like fish and any and all...+READ
Look every wedding is different. I think when you are considering a hosted bar, beer and wine only, or cash bar you should think about your personal priorities and the perceived value. If it means more to your family to have wine offered with dinner or having a champagne toast then it may not be the end of the world to do cash bar for mixed drinks.
Overall people drink like fish and any and all celebratory events. It really is amazing. I prefer the charged by consumption style bar over the per person hourly rate only because I don’t feel like you are paying for air if it turns out to be a mild crowd.
The only ways I know to get that bill down at weddings is to; invite less people, close the bar during dinner, do a champagne toast with only half a glass, do kegs over bottled beers, and band shots!-COLLAPSE
As lame as a cash bar is, I'd rather shell out for a stiff drink than sit through a "dry" reception any day of the week. Oof.
Better to have hors d'oeurves and cocktails only, with no main course, than to have a cash bar.
After 4 years of bartending weddings at an upscale, historic inn, and with a private caterer, I've got a couple tips to add.
First, be weary of "pay by consumption". A lot of places will let you choose a flat hourly rate (or per person fee) or their "pay by consumption" option. The flat hourly rate can seem like a lot ($350 - $500/hr for top-shelf or $15/person), but if your invite list...+READ
After 4 years of bartending weddings at an upscale, historic inn, and with a private caterer, I've got a couple tips to add.
First, be weary of "pay by consumption". A lot of places will let you choose a flat hourly rate (or per person fee) or their "pay by consumption" option. The flat hourly rate can seem like a lot ($350 - $500/hr for top-shelf or $15/person), but if your invite list contains some decent drinkers (or even people who might just decide to get down ONLY at weddings!), you could easily shell out big bucks for your booze. Keep in mind - when people aren't paying for their drinks, they have a tendency to lose them, spill them, decide to get new ones, etc. If you are paying by consumption, you're paying for each unfinished drink! I have bartended dozens of weddings that topped $10k on consumption booze, when the flat fee would have been $5-$7k. I've also had to tell wedding planners the bar tab was maxed out by 7pm, and they had to make the decision to either close the bar or keep going beyond the predetermined limit. Unless you know you've got a bunch of teetotallers or you're having an afternoon wedding, seriously consider going the flat fee route.
Second, never, ever do a cash bar. I only bartended a handful (they were only offered at our inn under special circumstances), and I ended up hearing a litany of complaints and insults directed toward the "cheap" bride and groom. Most people don't bring cash with them to weddings, and others get angry at being asked for $5 for a bottle of beer. If you need to cut costs, have either a dry wedding or serve only wine/only beer. But do not have a cash bar.-COLLAPSE