full open bar vs. pay per drink

tellabelle

Has anyone had a reception where they ended up paying per drink rather than doing an open bar for the entire evening? Does this actually bring down the cost because you aren't paying for EVERYONE to drink for 5 hours. I have some pretty big drinkers coming to my reception and I'm nervous about not knowing what the bill will be at the end of the evening.  Thanks!!

sunkissed212

I think it depends on the crowd as to which one would be a better choice. If you have a lot of non-drinkers, then definitely the 'pay by drink' option would probably be a better choice. But, if you've got a lot of average or big drinkers it's probably better to go with the package price.  Our bar package is $22/pp. If drinks are an average of $4 each (beer prob less, wine maybe a little more) that's about 5 drinks per person. I'd say on average, I probably have 5 drinks when I go to weddings (and I'm not a huge drinker, but at weddings, it's free!)

If you have a lot of big drinkers as you mentioned, it would probably be better to just go with the package price. Those people will probably make up for the non-drinkers and then some

*Rebecca and Chris*

I would think per person would be better than per drink.  Don't forget about the people who get a drink, put it down, start dancing, and then get a new drink instead of getting the other one again.  I know I've done that before...

I went to a wedding at a club a few years ago and it was per drink, and it ended up being about $9,000, which was about $4,000 more than they estimated.  Could really bite you!

stebbe81

Like previous posters said I would go pp.  My mom did per drink for a birthday lunch she had for my grandma and about 20 of her friends and the bar bill was over $2,000.  Like the others said the final bill could end up shocking you!  I think its better to know what you are getting into ahead of time then getting a nasty surprise.  

emarston1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_full-open-bar-vs-pay-per-drink?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:88Discussion:d926749c-5408-4990-9f05-ff2ee871b46fPost:fe7666cf-e82f-4fde-a636-a04342be96f8">Re: full open bar vs. pay per drink</a>:
[QUOTE]I think its better to know what you are getting into ahead of time then getting a nasty surprise.  
Posted by stebbe81[/QUOTE]
This.  I would much rather know ahead of time what I am getting into than have it be a total guessing game and have a huge surprise at the end of the night.

corinne2010

I didn't even know that venues give you the option of paying per person or per drink. We are paying about $26pp for the bar. I couldn't imagine paying per drink. 90% of our guests are pretty big drinkers and I'd hate to see that damage at the end of the night!

Knottie1435582995

I definitely wouldn't pay per drink.  We paid $24 pp for the upgraded bar.  I'm about 99% sure we would have paid a LOT more than that had we paid per drink, but that wasn't even an option at our venue.

A friend of mine in Illinois did a bar per drink.  If she had done per person, the bill would have been $4500, but the bar tab was over $11,000.  I'd hate to see that happen to someone again.

Julz629

I'm not a big risk taker, so I would definitely pay per person.  If it's in your budget, I would do that just so you don't get slapped with an astronomical bill at the end of the night.

cmkuno

I went through the same thing, and we decided to go with the par package per person price. Basically, it just came down to peace of mind.  Perhaps we'd save a little paying by the drink, but we could also get screwed!  And FI and I didn't want to spend our evening watching people drink and worrying what the bill would be at the end of the night.  

Also, I was concerned about how honest they would be when they tallied up the actual alcohol consumed at the end of the night.  I've heard horror stories about waiters drinking on the job and charging it to the couple, so I didn't want to take that risk.  

cwimer6154

I completely agree about the per person option, way better choice.  We are able to bring our own liquor to our venue which is saving us an absolute ton of money.  Because we're able to do this, we're paying less than $10 per person for a full open bar with liquor, beer, wine and champagne.  This also includes the bartenders, mixers, ice, glasses, etc.  If you have that option, then I would do that in a heartbeat.