Alcohol

drina0218

So we need to provide our own alcohol for the wedding and I was hoping to get a little advice from brides who've done this or opinions are always helpful. We don't have enough $ to stock a full bar so we were thinking beer and some signature drinks.
I think we are doing
2 beers (bud light & yeungling)
Red & white wine
Sangria (wine, triple sec)
Spiked Arnold Palmer (vodka)
Watermelon Mojito (bacardi)
Shot-still working on that one

Are these drinks good? Not enough "man" drinks? Better drink ideas? And with 130 guests, roughly 90 drinkers.. how much alcohol would you think to provide? In terms of my family, running out of alcohol is probably the worst thing imaginable, almost as bad if me or my FI decided to make a run for it at the last minute. I never thought alcohol would be such a hard decision to make! Also places to buy on the cheap would help!

ElcaB

I think this is a great list. I'd maybe nix the sangria since A) you're already serving wine, and you already have two sweet drinks. I'd suggest exchanging it for Captain/Barcadi & Coke or Jack & Coke. 

There are online alcohol calculators to help you decide how much to stock. Use them as a base and adjust accordingly, adding extra (because if you're like us, you won't have any trouble stocking your own bar with it after the wedding). 

What kind of red & white wine are you serving? 

drina0218

Thanks! I'm up in the air with sangria right now. I love it, but like you said there are already sweet drinks. So I'm not a huge wine fan, but I do love moscato and white zin because they are a little lighter and sweet. I think we might do moscato/chardonnay and probably a cab sauv. I've been looking online at the calculators and I'm getting different answers and it's confusing me!

atlastmrsg

Nix the sangria and build in a bourbon drink.  Bourbon is very trendy in the South right now.  Your drinks are really heavy on sweet or girly.  Many men like bourbon.  Not to mention, sangria without fruit, time to sit and infuse, and quality ingredients is awful and seriously headache inducing.

Or, instead of forcing guests to conform with what you think is good (watermelon mojito?), buy wine, beer, and three (or what you can afford--two, four) liquors (vodka, bourbon, and ____) and appropriate mixers like tonic, Coke, sour mix, limes, etc.  I'd rather walk up and order what I prefer (vodka or gin and soda or tonic with a lime) then be forced into some watermelon mojito thing that I don't want.  

If you're really attached to the mojito, make it a regular mojito.  Then you can use the rum in other drinks. You certainly won't work double duty with melon rum.  Melon rum and diet, anyone?  Not so much.

drina0218

@atlastmrsg bourbon drink ideas? I would honestly love to hear some. I ask because I'm not sure what works. Not trying to "force" my guests to "conform" to any drinks.. that's why I posted to ask for opinions. Melon rum? Never heard of it. I was just going to use regular bacardi. There are are sodas & juice available so my guests can ask for like a vodka cranberry/rum & coke like you suggested. I just hope they realize they can ask for that too. Definitely thinking about nixing the sangria now. Thanks. 

downtondiva

I'd skip the sangria and substitute something else depending on your crowd. If a lot of your guests are beer drinkers, I'd suggest adding a couple more beers, preferably imports. If they're more of a hard liquor/mixed drinks crowd, you might want to include another one of those that isn't too sweet or fruity.

lyndausvi

atlastmrsg said:

Nix the sangria and build in a bourbon drink.  Bourbon is very trendy in the South right now.  Your drinks are really heavy on sweet or girly.  Many men like bourbon.  Not to mention, sangria without fruit, time to sit and infuse, and quality ingredients is awful and seriously headache inducing.

Or, instead of forcing guests to conform with what you think is good (watermelon mojito?), buy wine, beer, and three (or what you can afford--two, four) liquors (vodka, bourbon, and ____) and appropriate mixers like tonic, Coke, sour mix, limes, etc.  I'd rather walk up and order what I prefer (vodka or gin and soda or tonic with a lime) then be forced into some watermelon mojito thing that I don't want.  

If you're really attached to the mojito, make it a regular mojito.  Then you can use the rum in other drinks. You certainly won't work double duty with melon rum.  Melon rum and diet, anyone?  Not so much.

I agree with the bolded.  I know everyone wants to jump on the speciality drink bandwagon, but most people just want the vodka and club soda or beer, or rum and coke.  Doesn't mean you can't have the ingredients for a special drink.

As a bartender I hate mojitos for a banquet.  They are so time consuming to make.  If you make them in the big batches I'm not sure people will know they can just order a Bacardi and coke.

drina0218

@lyndausvi‌ as a bartender, what sort of bourbon drink would you suggest? I don't want too many sweet drinks.. I just want drinks that my guests would enjoy, but I honestly don't know much about drinks. I'm a vodka seltzer drinker when I go out. I just tried to read up on popular/fun drinks and I'm so out of my comfort zone trying to make 100 people happy when it comes to alcohol. How would you go about letting guests know that they can order vodka/rum drinks along with special drinks?

Sorry for all the questions! I'm just a little overwhelmed.

emmyg65

Not a bartender, but my preferred bourbon drink is a Manhattan (bourbon, sweet or dry vermouth, and bitters).

You're doing fine with your alcohol plan, whether you stick with your original plan or modify it. That's a lot of options and most, if not all, of your guests will find something they like there. Personally, I would drink any of those options.

atlastmrsg

Bourbon Drinks:

Most people don't make it into something with a zillion ingredients.  Mix with ginger ale, coke, diet, water, or just serve over ice.

Juleps (you can add 1 oz. of Rothman's apricot liqueur for a very mellow, smooth julep--you don't taste it as sweet or fruity, just smoother, but now you're adding to the scaled down bar)

Manhattans

Punches are also trendy--just Google recipes

There are also trendy drinks adding St. Germain, lillet blanc, and others, but the whole point of having a scaled down bar is to not have to buy more expensive things like this.

And you said you hadn't heard of melon rum--that's how I've seen flavored mojitos frequently.  Watermelon mojito = melon rum + sugar + mint + lime + club soda.  That's where the "watermelon" comes from.  If you're making yours by adding watermelon schnapps or something like that, that's even more reason to nix it and just let guests pick what they want.

I'm a big fan of having a set number of base liquors--the vodka, ____, and ____, and just stocking lots of appropriate soft drinks, juices, etc. to mix.  

ElcaB

atlastmrsg said:

Nix the sangria and build in a bourbon drink.  Bourbon is very trendy in the South right now.  Your drinks are really heavy on sweet or girly.  Many men like bourbon.  Not to mention, sangria without fruit, time to sit and infuse, and quality ingredients is awful and seriously headache inducing.

Or, instead of forcing guests to conform with what you think is good (watermelon mojito?), buy wine, beer, and three (or what you can afford--two, four) liquors (vodka, bourbon, and ____) and appropriate mixers like tonic, Coke, sour mix, limes, etc.  I'd rather walk up and order what I prefer (vodka or gin and soda or tonic with a lime) then be forced into some watermelon mojito thing that I don't want.  

If you're really attached to the mojito, make it a regular mojito.  Then you can use the rum in other drinks. You certainly won't work double duty with melon rum.  Melon rum and diet, anyone?  Not so much.

I'm not trying to stir the pot here, but I don't think OP & FI are planning to force guests to conform to what they think is good. She's offering plenty of other options and I highly doubt they'll be "forcing" guests into some watermelon mojito thing they don't want. 

drina0218

@atlastmrsg Thanks, I really appreciate it! I will try a Manhattan this weekend and google some punches too. I definitely want my guests to know they can order drinks with base liquors also so I might ask bartenders to setup so the alcohol is visible and tell them that guests can have whatever drinks they request. I am definitely going to stock up on vodka, rum, & bourbon now! Definitely nixing the mojito (I don't want bartenders annoyed and struggling) & sangria.     

atlastmrsg

@drina0218 Manhattans are strong, so brace yourself if you're used to girly drinks!  Have fun.  I think you took good suggestions on here.

ElcaB

atlastmrsg said:

@drina0218 Manhattans are strong, so brace yourself if you're used to girly drinks!  Have fun.  I think you took good suggestions on here.

Got that right! Do you drink them? I was so excited to try one. One night, FBIL ordered one at the bar and I had the tiniest sip and almost died. They are not for me, but to each his own. 

emmyg65

Like martinis, they're 100% alcohol!

Tiffany101015

love this post! I'm planning on doing a sign next to my bar that lists the alcohol and mixers available. Planning on Vodka, Rum, Whiskey as the main 3. Also buying peach schnaps for my favorite- "sex on the beach". Planning on kegs for beer (cost reasons) and doing a lite and a regular of those.

drina0218

Thanks ladies, this is helping a ton! I'm a little nervous to try a Manhattan now lol. I'm a vodka drinker, but I will definitely give it a try. I wanted to do a martini, but they won't let us. We are allowed to do a shot for the bridal dance, but we can't technically serve shots for liability reasons. We did book a shuttle so no one drinks & drives, but I think it's just to be on the safe side.