Corkage Fees by Caterer

zachmay

We met with a reputable catering company recently and they told us that if we bought our own alcohol, they would charge us a corkage fee of $75 per keg, $25 per bottle of spirits, and $10 per bottle of wine. If they brought it in themselves, they would charge us 100% over the price of the keg/booze. This is mind-blowing as far as I'm concerned. Is this standard practice? Should I be concerned? What's everyone else's experience?

ruthh25

Exactly as Coopergirl said, most of the venues I've seen have a $12 corkage fee and I've seen up to $125 for a keg. It's to the point where I'm excited when it's only a $10 corkage fee - so ridiculous!!

pdxoxo

This is the main reason we decided to do just beer & wine at our wedding - I'm sure our friends (and family!) will bring some flasks on the sly anyway, and the fees for liquor were just ridiculous (AND the insurance is more expensive than just beer/wine.)

ruthh25

Update: The venue we're looking at charges $200 per keg and $15 per bottle of wine, UGH. However, thanks a few frantic hours on Excel, I found it's STILL cheaper to buy medium-quality wine and champagne at Trader Joe's and bring in a keg from Deschutes than it would be to buy wine through the venue, especially when you take into account the 19% gratuity. We can offer the beer and wine, our friends can sneak in their own flasks of whiskey

Ultimately I think it's a balance of the amenities the venue offers vs. the tacked-on price of the alcohol. We wanted a place where our guests can stay on-site and don't have to drive after the reception (we're getting married in Bend and 3/4 of our guests are from Portland), so this is one of the many "duh, it's a wedding, of course it's going to be expensive" costs we're trying to deal with