Hosted Bar

licia9880

I just found out how much it will be to have a hosted bar for our potential 100 guests....$6500 for 4 hours! Does this seem high? I really don't want to have a cash bar but I don't know how to factor this into our budget. I guess I wasn't really expecting this. Anyone else have this experience with your venue? For those of you who bought at Costco, how much on average did you spend on alcohol per person? I'm almost wondering if it would be better to find an alternative location based on that alone.

prlady

Where are you getting married? My caterer-Vanessa-from Beaches and Backyards is bringing a bar set up with her. We are providing the alcohol and mixers. We are going to the local Safeway because they give discounts on volume purchases that are actually cheaper than Costco. (Plus if you're in the mainland, you can order here in the States..customize what you want and it will be waiting there at the specified date) If you need any other info..you can message me and I will give you my email address.

Good Luck Doll

Margo

jaymers99

Is the quote for a HOSTED bar or for an OPEN bar?  An open bar is where you pay a set price per person and get unlimited drinks (this may not be desirable if you have a lot of children/non-alcoholic drinkers).  With hosted bar, you get charged for what guests actually order and drink.  My reception was at a hotel, and we had a hosted bar for about 230 guests.  We set a limit at $3500 (meaning the catering manager would let me know when we hit that and then we could decide if we wanted to leave it open or close it down).  We left the bar open all night and never hit the limit.  Could just be that my guests weren't heavy drinkers...

mdjs

We spent about $600 on alcohol and mixers for 50 people.  We bought at Safeway and Costco.  We also had a bar set-up with Vanessa, but since it was included with our catering service, I'm not sure how much of our total bill went to the bar.  I'm sure it was only a few hundred dollars though.

55pawsh

Yikes... $6500 for four hours does seem high, but like prlady mentioned it will depend on where you're getting married.  If outside alcohol is allowed, I would def go w/ purchasing your own and hiring a bartender.

I do a lot of events for graduate students and typically buy beer and hards from Costco and hit up safeway (10% off six packs) or Tamura's for the wine.  Both places have great drinkable wines for around the $8-15 price point.  Usually for events of 250, we spend about $1000-1200 on alcohol and mixers.  HTH good luck!!

charlottethebride

Hi Margo

If you'd be happy to share your info on Safeway I'd love to see it! Do you have a pricelist, details on how to order etc?
Was going to order our alcohol from Costco but always looking for the cheapest option!!! ; )

Thanks,
Charlotte

kaesha

I spent about 200$ for 30 people for 5 hours.... the Kahului Costco and Hawaii Liquor Superstore. Having said that, instead of offering a full bar, we did wine, beer, champagne and 3 signature cocktails... that helps cut down the cost a lot too.

daveandjess2010

We spent about $1500 on beer, wine champagne and juice/soda at Costco, and ended up with a case of wine and two cases of beer left over.  We had 80 guests and the bar was open for 5ish hours.  A handful of our guests were pretty heavy drinkers, but then there were local people who drove and had to work the next day, so I think the non-drinkers balanced out the boozers.

Vanessa from Beaches and Backyards did our bar setup as well.  We added that on a couple months out, and I think it was about $350 for one bartender, ice, cocktail napkins, etc. for the cocktail hour and reception.  Plus the bartender was really nice!

Tanq&Tonic

$6500 is definitely a lot.  As mentioned in PPs, check the details of hosted versus open bar.  We're doing a 1 hour hosted cocktail welcome at a restaurant/bar the night before the wedding, and they are estimating $14 per person, per hour, open bar.  We're only doing it for 1 hour, but if you multiplied it out, it comes pretty close to your tab. 

If you love your venue, consider what jaymers posted -- set a limit for alcohol, and then be consulted as you hit it.

AKWinterBride

Our caterer is also hosting our bar.  It is a flat rate per person for wine, beer, and Mai Tai's.  We are payin 42.90/per person for this, so in all it's going to be around $2600.  One less thing to worry about!  The prices get high pretty fast when you are looking at alcohol, we are having a very limited bar and it's still expensive.  But, I think we may stop by Costco and get some more booze, as I know my FI and I are going to get a special bottle of champagne for ourselves. 

licia9880

Thanks for all the advice. A set limit sounds like a great idea. I'm going to run it by the coordinator at the resort and be hopeful its an option.

snharris79

Where are you getting married? It does seem like a lot for an open/hosted bar. I am getting married at Gannon's and I sure hope my bar bill doesn't cost that much. There are only 35 people attending my wedding, so I think I am safe.

licia9880

We are getting married at the Royal Kona Resort on the Big Island. The prices for everything else are much more reasonable than other resorts we looked at, so I guess it evens out. The is just under $17 p/hour p/person for the open/hosted bar for the first 2 hours, and then they give you a break after that. Seeing the total just gave me a shock!

Good news though, the coordinator said we could set a limit and then switch to cash if/when we reach it. I think this is going to be A LOT more reasonable since many of our guests tend to be wine and beer drinkers, not liquor.