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Building a Killer Wedding Bar
How to spend intelligently and offer great drinks
Do you serve just beer, wine, and champagne at your wedding? Or do you offer mixed drinks—and if so, which ones? Will people notice if you use crappy vodka in the Cosmopolitans? Can you hire your buddy to mix the drinks?
Typically, your caterer (or a separate beverage caterer, if you’re going that route) will run your bar. Most provide everything from glassware, garnishes, and nonalcoholic drinks to the booze and the bartenders. What they serve, however, is negotiable, as is the amount you spend.
CHOW spoke to beverage and food caterers to find out how brides and grooms can offer quality quaffs without paying a premium. Below are tips on where to cut corners, where to shell out, and how to add classy touches at modest expense.
Don’t Ask Your Friend to Bartend
Most venues have liability insurance that stipulates that you must work with a licensed and insured caterer. Your friend probably isn’t a pro, and even if he is, he might get drunk and chat up your cute cousin while your mother’s trying to get him to refill her champagne glass.
Buy Your Own Booze
Caterers mark up alcohol—especially wine—nearly as much as restaurants do. But many caterers are comfortable with the idea of you buying the booze for them. Ask first, and if it’s not a problem, shop Costco, BevMo!, and other big national chains for deals. If the store offers delivery service for a fee, take it. “You don’t want to be unloading the wine in your tux,” says Sheldon Sloan, director of sales for South San Francisco–based catering company Melons. Buying your own garnishes, nonalcoholic drinks, and mixers, on the other hand, won’t save you much, so let the caterer take care of those. In any case, don’t forget to designate a friend with a car to haul away any excess liquor at the end of the evening. It’s something people often forget, and it can be a hassle.
Buy the Right Amount
Calculating the correct quantity of booze for a reception is an inexact science influenced by the duration of the wedding, the age of the guests (a 24-year-old guy may drink more than your great-aunt), and the time of day (evening events are boozier than afternoon ones). But here’s the rule of thumb: On average, a wedding guest consumes 1.5 cocktails per hour, or half a bottle of wine during the course of the party. (Red wine is more popular than white, in general.) If you pass out sparkling wine or champagne to each guest during the toast, factor in one glass per person, or a little less if it’s available only upon request. Beer is trickier, and varies widely based on your guests and the type of wedding. For instance, outdoor summertime affairs tend to be bigger beer bashes, and younger guys and Brits will often drink more beer. Think about your guests’ drinking habits, and make an educated guess. One further note: Unless you’re doing a casual barbecue-style reception, saving money by buying a keg is controversial. “The hand-pump ones are too foamy, and the jockey boxes are just horrible and ugly,” says Sloan.
Lessley Anderson is senior editor at CHOW.
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.
Better to have hors d'oeurves and cocktails only, with no main course, than to have a cash bar.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.