open bar or pay by the drink?

sunsetrogers

We have the option of paying for an open bar or paying by the drink.  WE will pay...whichever way it goes.....but are unsure which would be the most economical.  We have some non-drinkers as well as some heavy drinkers in the crowd.  Anybody have any experience with this? 

bethbloom

I would think it would matter a lot based on the type of alcohol they're serving. If Uncle Bob would only order Jack Daniels or something, it may be cheaper if you have an open bar and offer not-top-shelf booze.

atlcatlover

I felt like the heavy drinkers would outweigh the nondrinkers in our crowd, so I chose to pay the flat fee per person for the open bar.  It also allowed me peace of mind to know with certainty what my balance due was going to be rather than worrying all night about the possibility of some huge bar bill.  I think it depends on your guests.

faith194

I wish our venue had offered a consumption bar--Every drink was 4 dollars and we certainly could have afforded that. However, they only offered hourly based on the people over 21(we knew our guests were not heavy drinkers, and only about 40% would partake).Anyway, like the pps said---Look at your guests and try to decide if they are going to drink a lot or if you have a situation like mine. Good luck!

ffmaid

Depends on the open bar price, the price per drink, and how many drinks average you expect. If close I would go with the open bar flat fee so that you do not have to worry each time you see uncle pete head to the bar

awed81

One thing that FI and I both noticed at the last few weddings we had been to was that lots of times our drinks would get picked up by staff or lost or forgotten before they were even close to empty. I would hate to think the host was paying by drink when I left by nearly full glass of wine in the bathroom or when an overeager waiter took FI's full gin and tonic. It seems like there are ALWAYS half full drinks left everywhere if people decide to dance, or eat cake, or whatever. I guess if you're not paying for your drinks yourself, you tend to be more careless with them. Therefore, we nixed the paying by the drink idea.

MrsNFB

You should try to figure this out for yourself like pp have mentioned. We chose a consumption bar because the package prices were way more than what we thought our guests would consume. It turned out we were right, having a consumption bar saved us about $2K (and we only had 75 guests)! I also want to comment on people leaving their half-full glasses all over the place. I do events for a living and truly have never seen this happen to such a degree as the pp. I think that 99% of guests know where their drinks are and finish them before they get another one.

awed81

Well I guess FI and I are that 1% then. Yikes.

sunsetrogers

Thanks for the suggestions!