Holy crap open bars are expensive

larrygaga

Guess I'm going to find a place where I can bring in a keg.

ElcaB

True story. We are fortunate enough to have found a venue that allows us to supply our own alcohol. 

JMalettas

 Definitely pricey, but definitely worth it!

larrygaga

I mean the three places I've looked at was the crappiest low level brand of booze, for 5 hours, for 160 people: 10,000 bucks. 

Wow.

I want to get a fancy draft keg, and nice wine, and have maybe one cocktail. I know it's cheaper this way. Good lord.

I think I would do it if it weren't for the fact that out of all my guests, only about a third will have more than one or two drinks.

pinkcow13

Yup, they are definitely expensive. As far as our guests go, they will definitely over indulge at the open bar lol!

AddieCake

Guess you have no choice but to have a cash bar, then!

emmaaa

That's what we did. Our venue allows us to provide our own alcohol. We are getting a few kegs and some nice wine. We are not doing any liquor.

cupcait927

If we hadn't gotten luckily with our venue location, we'd be in the same situation. We're getting married at a small winery and doing a consumption bar. $5 per glass of wine, $1.75 for all other drinks and we can bring in our own keg for beer. A lot of our guests won't drink more than a couple of drinks but if we hadn't gotten such a good deal on alcohol, we would've had to find a place where we could bring in our own. Not having liquor definitely helps.

ohannabelle

My daughter's caterer charges a flat 350. bartending fee if we provide the alcohol. I've done the math, and everything should add up to 900, max. (50 guests, full bar.)

I think I love this caterer. 

Emmy1493

Liquor is always going to run up the costs. We were lucky that the IL's paid for that. It would have been a dry wedding if not as I do not do cash bars. We really aren't big drinkers anyway, but I am glad we did have something there and that guest did not have to pay anything.

climbingsingle

Cocktail hour and wine comes with our package (which is already ridiculous!) and we're doing a consumption bar. I'm hoping that will cut down some of the cost. We were looking at an extra $6000 and that was just for call brand liquor! 

lyndausvi

We picked a place where we can bring in our own alcohol. The store we purchased the alcohol from allows us to bring back any un-opened bottles.

larrygaga

Yeah, for the places I looked at we weren't "legally" allowed to bring home the extra stuff we bought. Leftover food too. The alcohol they were offering was like bud-light and Smirnoff. Thanks, but no thanks. 

MuppetOverlord

Wow. I paid between $700 and $800 for around 60 people for 4-5 hours for a limited bar.

I suggest limiting it to domestic beers and wine and soft drinks. I also had 2 signature drinks.

JMalettas

 We had to use our venue's liquor, & paid for consumption. Except for the wine, which was per bottle opened, at $25 each. I believe it was $3.75/per drink otherwise. Which was cheaper if you did open bar. If we'd gone the cash bar route, they charged $5+ per drink, for guests. I suppose they figure they'll go through more with an open bar, so they can charge a little less. Our bill was actually a little lower than we anticipated, although, compared to some of the prices a few of the PPs have thrown out, our bill was insanely high. I'm assuming cost varies per venue/per city, etc. 

 *J

theartistformerlyknownas

Urg. You ain't kiddin'. Our venue (Detroit Golf Club) only offers consumption, which is good for the hefty chunk of our guest list that doesn't drink... but they charge for EVERYTHING - soda by the can, coffee by the gallon. I think our coffee bill might be higher than the bar tab. And the beer is by the bottle, $6 each for Labatt, and $32 per bottle of wine, which isn't a heck of a lot cheaper than the full bar. Soooo we figured we might as well just go balls to the wall and get the upgraded brands (Jack, Captain, Bacardi, Dewars, Johnny, Absolut, Stoli, Skyy, Canadian Club) and make it the best damn party ever. I also thought maybe people might drink FEWER drinks with good booze than if it was just crap beer... I know I'll always tend to down Blue Light like water but I'll take my time with a Capt & Coke. So maybe it'll even out, 6 beers versus 4 mixed drinks? Or whatever, I'll sell a kidney or something.

thisismynickname2

Yowza.  This is partially why we're having a smaller than average wedding. 

We really care about quality food, quality booze, and dancing.  We're having our reception at an upscale restaurant, so a 5 course meal (includes a wedding cake as dessert) comes with a few different tiers of bar packages for 5 hours (and champagne toast!).  

It's going to come out to $150 or so plus tax per head, but it's such an all-inclusive number (linens and all that jazz, dance floor, bartender, menus and escort cards etc) that we couldn't pass it up.  

JCbride2015

larrygaga said:

I mean the three places I've looked at was the crappiest low level brand of booze, for 5 hours, for 160 people: 10,000 bucks. 

Wow.

I want to get a fancy draft keg, and nice wine, and have maybe one cocktail. I know it's cheaper this way. Good lord.

I think I would do it if it weren't for the fact that out of all my guests, only about a third will have more than one or two drinks.

Wow-- that is for JUST the alcohol? Well liquor?  Eek. I'm right outside NYC and that sounds high even to me. 

iloveotters2014

we soooo lucked out with our venue. (The Crofoot just outside of Detroit MI). We couldnt afford a full open bar package but their Beer, Wine and signature drink package was 18 dollars PP.

We didn't know it at the time but it included 12 types of beer, 12 types of wine and 2 signature cocktails. We did a summer vodka soda and a kentucky mule.

No one felt like they were missing out on anything It was a blast!

iloveotters2014

lolo883 said:

Urg. You ain't kiddin'. Our venue (Detroit Golf Club) only offers consumption, which is good for the hefty chunk of our guest list that doesn't drink... but they charge for EVERYTHING - soda by the can, coffee by the gallon. I think our coffee bill might be higher than the bar tab. And the beer is by the bottle, $6 each for Labatt, and $32 per bottle of wine, which isn't a heck of a lot cheaper than the full bar. Soooo we figured we might as well just go balls to the wall and get the upgraded brands (Jack, Captain, Bacardi, Dewars, Johnny, Absolut, Stoli, Skyy, Canadian Club) and make it the best damn party ever. I also thought maybe people might drink FEWER drinks with good booze than if it was just crap beer... I know I'll always tend to down Blue Light like water but I'll take my time with a Capt & Coke. So maybe it'll even out, 6 beers versus 4 mixed drinks? Or whatever, I'll sell a kidney or something.

Woah! I had no idea that the Golf Club was consumption based! But the venue is so beautiful I bet your party is going to be FANTASTIC

kat1114

Wow, I feel lucky after reading all this. Our reception is at a venue that allows you to bring your own alcohol or bartender. Originally, I was just going to buy the alcohol and hire a bartender, but I found a bartending company that quoted me $14/person for open bar, including premium liquor. The only disappointing thing was I'm not super impressed with their beer selection, but at $14/person, I think I can get over it.

theartistformerlyknownas

iloveotters2014 said:

lolo883 said:

Urg. You ain't kiddin'. Our venue (Detroit Golf Club) only offers consumption, which is good for the hefty chunk of our guest list that doesn't drink... but they charge for EVERYTHING - soda by the can, coffee by the gallon. I think our coffee bill might be higher than the bar tab. And the beer is by the bottle, $6 each for Labatt, and $32 per bottle of wine, which isn't a heck of a lot cheaper than the full bar. Soooo we figured we might as well just go balls to the wall and get the upgraded brands (Jack, Captain, Bacardi, Dewars, Johnny, Absolut, Stoli, Skyy, Canadian Club) and make it the best damn party ever. I also thought maybe people might drink FEWER drinks with good booze than if it was just crap beer... I know I'll always tend to down Blue Light like water but I'll take my time with a Capt & Coke. So maybe it'll even out, 6 beers versus 4 mixed drinks? Or whatever, I'll sell a kidney or something.

Woah! I had no idea that the Golf Club was consumption based! But the venue is so beautiful I bet your party is going to be FANTASTIC

OMG I'm SO SO SO excited. They just finished some renovations (new carpet, refurbished the marble and hardwood floors, painted) and it looks incredible. And I suppose all the costs even out in the end... the actual rental fees for the space are really reasonable, and the plated dinner price isn't awful, so I don't totally mind the fact that we're shelling out so much for the bar. The event coordinator's bar sales estimate is $5k but we're budgeting for 8-10. :-p

larrygaga

I'm still debating if I want to get married in detroit or go up north where I'm originally from. It's cheaper up north, but the venues are uglier. 

theartistformerlyknownas

Please just don't have your reception at Zehnders.

larrygaga

lolo883 said:

Please just don't have your reception at Zehnders.

HA

I was actually considering castle farms. I am getting married in winter so I need something indoors ya know. 

theartistformerlyknownas

larrygaga said:

lolo883 said:

Please just don't have your reception at Zehnders.

HA

I was actually considering castle farms. I am getting married in winter so I need something indoors ya know. 

OH YES YES YES please do this!!!!! That place is so swoon worthy. You could always just do engagement pics in the city. (Just don't try to get on Belle Isle for like a month before or after Grand Prix, apparently. Damn private rent-a-cop security is more concerned about protecting their damn pylons than most city cops appear to be about actual crime.)

wandajune6

I've taken so much crap for our venue choice that you're reminding me of why we love it!

Bar only is $26/person. Bar + entry level food is $32. Premium dinner with bar is $40. Then you can upgrade as much as you want. We're doing a lot of upgrades plus passed apps and we're still coming in around $50/person. We're doing a buffet that won't have a huge number of options but we can account for every food allergy and eating preference (i.e. vegetarian, vegan and kosher).

It's not the most beautiful venue we've seen but we both like it and it's great for our crowd. Plus, we can pretty much do whatever we want. Probably a bit too far from Detroit though!

iloveotters2014

lolo883 said:

larrygaga said:

lolo883 said:

Please just don't have your reception at Zehnders.

HA

I was actually considering castle farms. I am getting married in winter so I need something indoors ya know. 

OH YES YES YES please do this!!!!! That place is so swoon worthy. You could always just do engagement pics in the city. (Just don't try to get on Belle Isle for like a month before or after Grand Prix, apparently. Damn private rent-a-cop security is more concerned about protecting their damn pylons than most city cops appear to be about actual crime.)

BAHAHA - I literally laughed so hard I spit coffee out on my desk when you said Zehnders

also, Castle farms is LOVELY - but if you are looking for something in the city the theaters are nice too! I work above the filmore theater downtown and I've seen some really nice weddings here!

larrygaga

Okay so maybe I made a huge stupid. If a place says 13/pp for 5 hours, is that 13/pp for each of the five hours? 

I have 160 people

So to figure that would it be 13X160 and that would be sum for 5 hours? Or would it be 13x160 and then times 5?

NYCMercedes

How much is the food, OP? If the food is the same price, then that comes to $125 per person. Guess I'm jaded, living in NY.

iloveotters2014

larrygaga said:

Okay so maybe I made a huge stupid. If a place says 13/pp for 5 hours, is that 13/pp for each of the five hours? 

I have 160 people

So to figure that would it be 13X160 and that would be sum for 5 hours? Or would it be 13x160 and then times 5?

I've never seen something like that be per hour.

Ours at the Crofoot was 18pp for 5 hours. we did an additional hour for cocktail hour.

so for you it should be 13x160