Holy crap open bars are expensive

theartistformerlyknownas

Some friends of my ex got married on Dec 23rd in Midland several years ago... then had a few hour gap and then their reception at Zehnders. Yeah NO, not driving 40 miles in a snowstorm (after driving 2 hours to the ceremony), then waiting around to eat shitty fried chicken, the day before we need to be on the other side of the state to celebrate Christmas Eve. Skipped that reception. So much nope.

Jells2dot0

Drinking in general is expensive I do love myself a good champagne or martini!

Back in 2004, when I had my traditional wedding, my bar package was $50/person- top shelf, really nice stuff. I then decided to add a martini bar and guess what? That was priced on a per drink consumption in addition to the standard bar!!! It really is insane, but everyone loved it!

JCbride2015

iloveotters2014 said:

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

Just call and ask because it could go either way.  A single drink in NYC Is often $13 so I'm just as jaded as Mercedes. 

theartistformerlyknownas

iloveotters2014 said:

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

Yeah even assuming a pretty high per-drink price (which it wouldn't be if you said it's shitty brands), that would be 2 drinks per hour for each of 5 hours. That sounds like alcohol poisoning if it's a lower average per-drink price. 

$13x160 will cover 160 people for the full 5 hours. They likely have an add-on price if you needed to extend additional time, the rate isn't per each hour. 

$13pp isn't bad. My coordinator estimated $20pp for the entire length of the reception (just for estimation purposes, using what past events have averaged out at. the actual bill will be consumption based).

jenna8984

Mine is per person per hour so that is a possibility.

wandajune6

lolo883 said:

Some friends of my ex got married on Dec 23rd in Midland several years ago... then had a few hour gap and then their reception at Zehnders. Yeah NO, not driving 40 miles in a snowstorm (after driving 2 hours to the ceremony), then waiting around to eat shitty fried chicken, the day before we need to be on the other side of the state to celebrate Christmas Eve. Skipped that reception. So much nope.

One of my best friends is from Midland! We all went out to Zehnder's when I visited her last summer. My parents kept talking about it and she kept telling me to skip it. She was right!

theartistformerlyknownas

wandajune6 said:

lolo883 said:

Some friends of my ex got married on Dec 23rd in Midland several years ago... then had a few hour gap and then their reception at Zehnders. Yeah NO, not driving 40 miles in a snowstorm (after driving 2 hours to the ceremony), then waiting around to eat shitty fried chicken, the day before we need to be on the other side of the state to celebrate Christmas Eve. Skipped that reception. So much nope.

One of my best friends is from Midland! We all went out to Zehnder's when I visited her last summer. My parents kept talking about it and she kept telling me to skip it. She was right!

@wandajune6 I love Frankenmuth - we got engaged there, on the little bridge over the river! - but I avoid Zehnder's like the plague. Frankenmuth Brewery is about 5638657x better. If you have room after all the fudge.

I went to college in Midland so I lived there for 4 years, and my sister lives there now so I'm up there often.  

iloveotters2014

lolo883 said:

wandajune6 said:

lolo883 said:

Some friends of my ex got married on Dec 23rd in Midland several years ago... then had a few hour gap and then their reception at Zehnders. Yeah NO, not driving 40 miles in a snowstorm (after driving 2 hours to the ceremony), then waiting around to eat shitty fried chicken, the day before we need to be on the other side of the state to celebrate Christmas Eve. Skipped that reception. So much nope.

One of my best friends is from Midland! We all went out to Zehnder's when I visited her last summer. My parents kept talking about it and she kept telling me to skip it. She was right!

@wandajune6 I love Frankenmuth - we got engaged there, on the little bridge over the river! - but I avoid Zehnder's like the plague. Frankenmuth Brewery is about 5638657x better. If you have room after all the fudge.

I went to college in Midland so I lived there for 4 years, and my sister lives there now so I'm up there often.  

The Brewery is awesome! I love their patio in the summer.

Zehnders is gross and the Bavarian Inn gave me an allergy attack (who puts cashews in bread)....I couldn't even eat the meal I had to be rushed to the hospital. But, they wouldnt let Fi (now H) leave until he paid the bill. Jerks!

JaniV123

we are holding our Reception at a Reataurant so we are basically being raped/robbed by restaurant prices lol but it will be definitely worth it 

hikebikebemerry

jenna8984 said:

Mine is per person per hour so that is a possibility.

I'm with @jenna8984.

At my venue (we are doing top shelf open bar) it's 13pp per hour. (After tax, before grat).

Just make sure to clarify with the venue.. that is a pretty big price difference!

lc07

We specifically chose a venue where we could bring in our own alcohol. We spent about $3,000 for 100 people but we had some pretty awesome stuff that we wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise and have an "in" in the wine industry. So the wine part was lucky and the venue part was smart planning. 

ETA: That did not include the cost of the bartenders ($250 plus gratuity). The bartenders were insured through their company but we bought additional insurance for another $250 or $300.

QueerFemme

I picked a park venue that let us bring in our own liquor. Downside is, they only allow beer and wine.  Upside is, we supplied two different beers in kegs, three different wines, as well as a red sangria and a white wine, raspberry lemonade spritzer.  It worked out awesome, and we had enough liquor (plus tons of leftovers) for 130 people for about $500 bucks

Cookie Pusher

We're purchasing the alcohol for our wedding ourselves. We're having a pretty generous limited hosted bar (wine, beer, and about a dozen hard liquors). We originally opted for lower-mid level alcohol to keep costs down, but now that we've had quite a few declines, we are looking to upgrade some of the selections. Based on the prices we already had ($1100 for 100 people, mostly moderate-to-heavy drinkers), we shouldn't be more than $1500 or so with the upgrades. We'll only be charged for what we open, so the actual cost should be less.

kla728

Our venue does pp based on food & alcohol so luckily this factor is a done deal... couldn't stress about it if I wanted to because I don't know how the pp breaks down specifically for cocktail hour, dinner or booze.  However, we splurged big time in this area because venue & food were our #1.  Sometimes when I look at the budget this line makes me cry a little inside haha but I know it'll be fantastic!

CamiSelene

Where I am, liquor is crazy expensive... My mom and I priced out the cost for every place in the the city that was available and our venue was the nicest/best deal out there. Every venue here does open bar costs as per drink, not per person though and you are not allowed to bring outside alcohol so the drink prices are a flat 6.50 per drink (for alcoholic drinks) which is absolutely insane! We're doing beer and wine and FMIL is paying for the wine.