Supplying Alcohol Question

Hazel_B

One of the great things about having an outdoor wedding is we get to choose what alcohol we have and save a bit on the costs. We run into problems when figuring out how much we need.

Any tips or suggestions?

Heather8505

Here you go-

http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp

Everyone that I have seen post this has said it was dead on for theirs

feelslikeadream

OMG we aren't doing alcohol but I played around with the calculator and it was easy and totally simplified everything if we would have served alcohol.

That is a great tool!

Hazel_B

Thanks! I like being able to differentiate how heavy drinkers are. I had been using one at my local liquor control board and they tend to think that everyone is a heavy drinker. FI thought the numbers were insane.

flipside1794

OMG, it said that we need 1625 bottles of beer! Wow. I guess that's what happens when you invite friends from college. What a great tool!

angelsong21

I was going to say if you're buying wine, World Market (or Cost Plus World Market depending on where you live) has GREAT prices on wine, and they do case discounts too.  They can usually recommend good wines in the lower range ($15 and under) that are still decent and very good for the price point.  Beer is another story though -- no case discounts there.

medusia00

Thanks for the Link! I was looking for something like this too

subdola

The best thing we did for ourselves when we bought alcohol was to find a place that agreed to let us return unopened bottles.  We then over-bought just to be sure we didn't run out and we had no problems returning what we didn't need a few days after the wedding. 

cassi8619

A lot of liquor stores have wedding packages and will price match. ABC liquor and Total Wine both do this. After listening to what both stores I had to say I checked with a friend of mine who has done bartending and liquor analysis' for weddings and he said they both sound about right

cassi8619

Oh, also, instead of a traditional engagement party or bridal shower you could turn them both into a "stock the bar" party. This is really good if you and your FI already live together and have all the appliances you would have normally registered for.

Callmebetty

we used a calculator but still over-bought.  I was anticipating people drinking wine and then we decided to add a martini...soo...all the vodka got put away and we have like...2 cases of wine leftover.  I agree with PPs who suggest getting it someplace you can return it.  We thought about returning ours, but figured we would drink it eventually.  

herecomesthebride1986

That is AWESOME!

mia082683

I'm not sure where you are, but around here there's a liquor store chain - Kappy's... They actually figure out based on how many people you're having how much of whatever alcohols you want to buy you'll need.  We told them our numbers and had them send us a spreadsheet.  Then we bought the wine at Trader Joe's much cheaper and bought the liquor from Kappy's.  Kappy's delivers the liquor and the ice for a small fee along with all the mixers and takes back anything that's unopened.  Trader Joe's will also take back any cases of unopened wine.. We're going to overbuy on everything and hope for the best!