Beer and Wine vs. Liquor

dorhutchison

Can anyone explain to me why Beer and Wine is significantly cheaper than having all three (beer, wine and liquor) options? Our venue is by consumption, and from our calculations wine (based on a bottle/5 glasses) and the base liquor, they are about the same price. So I am confused how beer and wine is the cheaper option? I've read numerous blogs, and people always offer it up, that beer and wine will save you in the alcohol department. Can I get some guidance here please? 

Thank you! 

southernbelle0915

dorhutchison said:

Can anyone explain to me why Beer and Wine is significantly cheaper than having all three (beer, wine and liquor) options? Our venue is by consumption, and from our calculations wine (based on a bottle/5 glasses) and the base liquor, they are about the same price. So I am confused how beer and wine is the cheaper option? I've read numerous blogs, and people always offer it up, that beer and wine will save you in the alcohol department. Can I get some guidance here please? 

Thank you! 

Would you expect to pay the same price if, say you were offering 2 menu options - chicken and veggie lasagna - versus 3 menu options - chicken, veggie lasagna and beef?

Also, usually when you offer beer, there are about 2 options - and one is a crappy domestic. And with wine, there's often a red option and a white option. When you add liquor into the mix, there's whiskey, vodka, rum, gin, tequila, etc. Plus all the mixers to make the types of drinks people would order. It's more expensive to provide all those options and more expensive to staff it. 

Any idiot can pour beer or wine into a glass. But making mixed drinks means having more skilled staff - actual bartenders. 

For all those reasons (and probably more I'm not thinking of), it's more expensive to add liquor into the mix.

aurianna

southernbelle0915 said:

For all those reasons (and probably more I'm not thinking of), it's more expensive to add liquor into the mix.

I actually giggled at the unintended cocktail pun.
It so needs to be Friday.

poodledoodleooo

 PP is right, cocktails are more work because there is more variety. That said, your particular venue might not offer much savings depending on the prices and how it is set up. I would talk to your venue coordinator before committing to adding cocktails if you're looking to save in this area.

Also, this is my personal observation, I feel like people tend to drink fewer glasses of preselected beers or wine over whichever cocktail you can choose, which could also affect the costs. I have nothing to base this on other than what I've just noticed, so take that info with a rock of salt .

marie2785

My venue explained it thus (it's a consumption bar) and bear with me, I do math for a living:

It's $5 for a beer or glass of wine, $7 for a liquor drink at my venue. 

I am having 125 people at my 7 hr long reception, with an average of 1 drink per hour, which equals 875 drinks. If 25% of those people choose liquor, it costs me $1533 for 219 liquor drinks, and $3280 for the beer/wine drinks, totaling $4813 for my bar tab. 

But lets say I say "no liquor, just beer and wine". Now all 875 drinks are $5 each, for a total of $4375 for beer/wine. So I save $438.

On top of that, I was told by the venue that they've run the numbers, and beer/wine only receptions tend to have significantly less volume ordered, so I could estimate at least 100 less drinks being ordered over the course of the night...which means I'm more likely to pay around $3875, a savings of $938. 

We're budgeting for the $5K figure though, and hoping for savings. 

novella1186

marie2785 said:

My venue explained it thus (it's a consumption bar) and bear with me, I do math for a living:

It's $5 for a beer or glass of wine, $7 for a liquor drink at my venue. 

I am having 125 people at my 7 hr long reception, with an average of 1 drink per hour, which equals 875 drinks. If 25% of those people choose liquor, it costs me $1533 for 219 liquor drinks, and $3280 for the beer/wine drinks, totaling $4813 for my bar tab. 

But lets say I say "no liquor, just beer and wine". Now all 875 drinks are $5 each, for a total of $4375 for beer/wine. So I save $438.

On top of that, I was told by the venue that they've run the numbers, and beer/wine only receptions tend to have significantly less volume ordered, so I could estimate at least 100 less drinks being ordered over the course of the night...which means I'm more likely to pay around $3875, a savings of $938. 

We're budgeting for the $5K figure though, and hoping for savings. 

yeah, this is not based on any kind of science, just on my own opinion, but I'm a drinker. I can't drink beer for weird health issues. So if I can only get wine, I will get maybe 2 glasses because 1) wine gives me terrible hangovers and 2) lots of wine also gives me a stomach ache. So I just drink a little. But something like a vodka tonic (my go-to drink) is fine for me, so I'd probably have like 5 of those. 

Can't speak for every wedding guest ever. Just saying, that's my thought process. And maybe why some guests order less of beer and wine, but more of liquor. 

Plus, I went to a wedding that was just beer and wine, and there was only 1 type of wine (which is fine) but it was super super sour and just tasted awful. I ordered one glass, realized how bad it was, and then switched to soda instead. So there's that. 

lyndausvi

Honestly, it all depends on your venue's beverage pricing and what your crowd drinks.

A lot of venues charge more for liquor that beer or wine, but that is not a hard fast rule.  We gone to places where DH's vodka is the same price as my wine or beer for that matter.    That is especially true if you have a well bar and not a premium bar.  Or you have fancier wines or beers.

My mom's family are huge beer drinkers, what you make up in per beer cost is quickly gone due to volume.   Having a liquor options might not increase the bill at all  because they will drink a lot of beer anyway.

Beer and wine can be a cheaper option, but not necessary if  your beer and wine prices are about the same as the liquor prices or if your beer/wine drinkers drink more than the average.

YMMV

charcoalandblush

Our the price difference at our venue is extremely small. The cheapest beers (maybe 3-4 varieties) are $5 each. House wine is $5 glass. Rail cocktails are $5.50 each. So unless people drink substantially more cocktails than beer or wine (entirely possible) the price difference is minimal.

160 guests x 6 beers/wines each = $4800

160 guests x 6 rail cocktails = $5280

$480 definitely won't break the bank when we're already spending 4 grand on booze. So it definitely depends on how liquor offered affects the number of drinks each guest orders.

What I never understood was the "If we offer liquor, guests will order one and then set it down and forget about it and order another!" I have never seen this logic applied to beer and wine. Why is this a liquor-specific issue? I feel like I could just as easily set my beer down and walk away.

RosieC18

It's probably different if you're buying alcohol from a vendor, but we supplied our own and beer/wine was definitely cheaper. On top of needing fewer mixers, we needed less variety. My 100 person wedding wasn't going to get through an entire bottle of vodka plus an entire bottle of whisky plus an entire bottle of gin etc. etc. Also, I don't know what kind of liquor my cousins drink so we would have to have plenty of each kind on hand in case that's what was popular. Plus, we/our families were much more likely to finish any leftover beer/wine than make our way through a fifth of Jack that no one drank.

We did have one big thing of vodka people could ask for mixed with the punch - our "signature drink" as it were. I didn't see many people drinking it and no one brought it home as far as I know. I hope the bartenders took it as a tip!

[Deleted User]

charcoalandblush said:

Our the price difference at our venue is extremely small. The cheapest beers (maybe 3-4 varieties) are $5 each. House wine is $5 glass. Rail cocktails are $5.50 each. So unless people drink substantially more cocktails than beer or wine (entirely possible) the price difference is minimal.

160 guests x 6 beers/wines each = $4800

160 guests x 6 rail cocktails = $5280

$480 definitely won't break the bank when we're already spending 4 grand on booze. So it definitely depends on how liquor offered affects the number of drinks each guest orders.

What I never understood was the "If we offer liquor, guests will order one and then set it down and forget about it and order another!" I have never seen this logic applied to beer and wine. Why is this a liquor-specific issue? I feel like I could just as easily set my beer down and walk away.

It is kinda a liquor-specific issue because people are more likely to try something they've never tried before, then decide they don't like it enough to finish it, put it down, go back to the bar and order something else they've seen somebody drinking.  It's the mentality of, "oooh, open bar, I can try yummy cocktails for free!"

MandyMost

adk19 said:

charcoalandblush said:

Our the price difference at our venue is extremely small. The cheapest beers (maybe 3-4 varieties) are $5 each. House wine is $5 glass. Rail cocktails are $5.50 each. So unless people drink substantially more cocktails than beer or wine (entirely possible) the price difference is minimal.

160 guests x 6 beers/wines each = $4800

160 guests x 6 rail cocktails = $5280

$480 definitely won't break the bank when we're already spending 4 grand on booze. So it definitely depends on how liquor offered affects the number of drinks each guest orders.

What I never understood was the "If we offer liquor, guests will order one and then set it down and forget about it and order another!" I have never seen this logic applied to beer and wine. Why is this a liquor-specific issue? I feel like I could just as easily set my beer down and walk away.

It is kinda a liquor-specific issue because people are more likely to try something they've never tried before, then decide they don't like it enough to finish it, put it down, go back to the bar and order something else they've seen somebody drinking.  It's the mentality of, "oooh, open bar, I can try yummy cocktails for free!"

This definitely happens.

We had open bar that was through a liquor wholesaler (essentially be bought the booze at regular prices through them, and then returned whatever was unopened at the end of the night). With wine and beer, we ended up paying for a couple of open bottles of wine that weren't drank, and also a couple cases of beer that were started and not finished. (Unfortunately, due to crazy laws, you can't take any of this home with you!). If we had done a full bar, we would have ended up throwing away a ton of money on opened-but-not-finished bottles.