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Drinks at reception - working with vendor please advise

Lusitano8Lusitano8 member
First Comment First Anniversary
in Wedding Cakes & Food Forum

Hello Knot Community!

I could use some advise on the bar for our reception. We are getting married in April and have a venue that has in house food and drinks. We have paid a deposit for the date but not selected our final food and drink packages. We were planning to do the beer, wine and margarita package that our venue offers, as opposed to the more expensive full bar option. We want to have the bar for all 4 hours of the reception so that guest can enjoy themselves.

So when I looked at the type of wine our venue serves for the package it's only one white and one red and it's a very cheep wine. I looked up the case price per bottle and its 4$  per bottle. I'm not a wine snob but I thought for a bar package of 70$ (with tax and tip) per person we would get a higher quality bottle.

Have you ever had any experience with negotiating with your vendor/venue for a better price or substitute product. Of course I expect and upcharge per bottle, it just seams like such a rip off. I don't think any of my college friends can even drink 70$ worth of cheep wine!

Any thoughts or ideas would be helpful!

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Re: Drinks at reception - working with vendor please advise

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    southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    That seems like a huge rip off unless you have a really heavy drinking crowd. If you have a moderate to light drinking crowd, I would ask about a consumption bar. So you get charged a certain amount per bottle/per drink.

    What kind of beer? What kind of tequila for the margaritas?
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    beachyone15beachyone15 member
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    That seems like a ridiculous cost p/p. We used our venue's beer/wine package and it was $21 p/p. They included 3-4 house wines but told us we could order additional types (like a merlot and a moscato) at no additional cost. I think we ended up with 6-7 different kinds of wine.

    I'm curious how much the full bar option would cost for you.


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    atlastmrsgatlastmrsg member
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    When I heard about my bar package's sparkling options, I wasn't thrilled.  I told them that I expected xxx brand or better.  Given that I'd been really easy to deal with, and completely flexible about everything up until that point, they obliged.  

    I'd definitely find out what tequila they're using to make sure it's not gross.
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    downtondivadowntondiva member
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    How much more expensive would the full bar option be? 

    I suggest finding out what beers come with the package you're considering. Obviously you can't expect high quality microbrews everywhere you go, but as someone who loves beer, I know I'd be disappointed if I went to an event and all they had were low quality and/or light beers.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its First Comment

    I had inquired about serving a specific wine at our reception, we wanted to do local wines since we have a large variety of wineries in our area. We were told we could do that but they would have to obtain it & there would be an upcharge. We decided that it wasn't worth the upcharge and that our money was better spent on other things. Before changing the wines, buy a bottle of it or see if you can stop there & sample the different beverages. I've found a few wines that for $5.99 that are pretty good. Try it before you pay for more. Would be shame to pay more & find out the wine they provide is actually pretty good. On the flip side, if you try it & hate it, you'll be glad you did & paid for the upgrade.

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    Knottie92548810Knottie92548810 member
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    After working weddings and events for quite a few years, my advise to you... Always go by consumption. 90% of the time bar packages are a rip off. That's how they make their money.
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    hpubridehpubride member
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    We went with a limited bar of beer and wine but we negotiated to have "berry happy together" sangria as our wine option. It was delicious and they counted it as a wine instead of a signature drink option because they were able to make it in large amounts with real berries so it was not an inconvenience to them and it tasted better for our guests. Good luck! 

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