Texas-Dallas and Ft. Worth

any ideas... bar logistic(kinna long)....

want to have an open bar but don't want to pay the per person package ...want to have the per consumption but want to have control of it....not how much guest drinks but don't want to be overcharged...when my best friend got married she had an open bar and she opted for the per consumption not the per package as a lot of  the guest are non drinkers, she ended up getting charged more than she hope for...equivalent of about 1 1/2 bottles of wine and 2 drinks for each of the guest including the kids....mind boggling how it ended up that way but apparently that was the count from the bartender...after that,  when a family member got married she came out with free coin, color coded to soft drinks, beer, wine and mixed drinks...she had a Heaven on earth theme wedding, so had an Angel by the bar giving free coins...she only paid the hotel for the amount of coin they got....her bar bill about $600 for 110 guest...
Now, here is where I need y'all ideas...I want to save money and have the same open bar but don't want to be charged...don't want to do the drink ticket cause I don't want to limit the number of drinks the guest can have....just want to pay for the actual comsumption....how will I do this with a Cowboy Cassanova/Moultin rouge theme....Silver  Dollar coins????? what to call it....thank you!

Re: any ideas... bar logistic(kinna long)....

  • edited December 2011
    Set a limit on consumption.  Don't leave it open ended.

    Have them come to a designated person when you get close to your cut-off limit and give them the option of "upping" the limit if it is still early in the evening.

    We did this with a limit of $750 for close to 100 people and we did not have to increase it.  I will never have a way of knowing for sure how much was actually consumed, but thats the risk you take.  

    I wouldn't do coins or tickets or anything like that, personally.
  • carmen9311carmen9311 member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    i agree to set a limit. you may want to ask the venue what the best option would be. for example, with my venue, if you pay upfront for an open bar they charge tax and gratuity but if you're paying the night of you're just paying for the actual drink. weird, i know. so there are loopholes and things and i'm sure you can work with your caterer or venue to figure out what will work best.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    Are you asking for an alternative token to drink tickets? I'm sorry I'm really struggling to read through your posts the way they are typed. If you are trying to stick to the western/cancan them and you just need an alternative to drink tickets to redeem for a beverage then wooden nickels would be cute.

    However you say you don't want to limit the number of drinks? Don't use any kind of token/ticket system.

    Set a max price per drink, and a cut off to everyone when the consumption reaches X amount. Ask that they notify you when it reaches within $150-200 of the amount you designated, so you can decide then whether you'd like to bump up the amount or not.

    Do beer wine and two signature drinks (one for you, one for FI) as another alternative to cut on costs.
    ~DFWs Resident Snark~
    I'm not so good with the advice... Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
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  • edited December 2011
    We had this issue. FI cousin left it open all night and got charged $20,000 (no joke). We decided we love our guests but not willing to pay a price of a car for them to drink. We set a limit of $6,000 and then after that it's cash bar. I heard it can be seen as tacky, but what the alternative.

    If you are wanting a token system I say go with silver dollar coins or the wood coins. Anything they can have in their hands easily.
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