New Jersey

Prices (picks jaw off floor)


we just started looking at some venues this weekend and i guess this is a general statement - but its ABSURD what some of these places charge.  I actually went to one place and on top of cost for pp, if I wanted liquor, it was an extra $90 per person. So i asked the person showing us around -- so that means if a guest drinks 2 Vodka tonics EVERY hour, they are drinking a $45 vodka tonic, each time?

(pause) "Never thought about it.  But yes, thats correct."

I know you can be overcharged for weddings but that just seems BONKERS.


Re: Prices (picks jaw off floor)

  • edited December 2011
    yikes! i think our open bar is $15pp since thats the price difference between 21+ and 12-20 year olds.
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  • edited December 2011
    That's crazy!!!!  Our open bar is an additional $15 pp.  Our friends are also planning a wedding and we have heard some of the CRAZY alcohol prices they have been quoted.  For 100 people that's an additional $9000...ridiculous!!!
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  • mbcdefgmbcdefg member
    10000 Comments 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    Eeep!

    Our whole cost for cocktail hour, dinner, desserts and open bar wasn't even $90pp.

    ETA: the only venue I came across that even charged separately for liquor was Gran Centurions in Clark. Other than that, the other venues we considered had liquor built into the overall cost PP.
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  • edited December 2011
    I thought it was the law in New Jersey for venues to include open bar! :o
  • katetwkatetw member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Yikes! It's not the law in NJ to provide open bar -- our venue actually contracts with a liquor store and bartenders to bring in the booze. But their fee for that - coordinating it, getting the supplies, hiring bartenders, and using the space - is only $15pp. For open bar all night.

    I still think the overall cost for venues in NJ is INSANE (I'm not from the northeast originally) but what you were quoted for alcohol is unimaginable.
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_prices-picks-jaw-off-floor?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:d124fcd1-a2d4-4257-9563-7b95301fbeaaPost:51290ca2-5250-4409-858e-df7e4af8f803">Re: Prices (picks jaw off floor)</a>:
    [QUOTE]Yikes! It's not the law in NJ to provide open bar -- .
    Posted by katetw[/QUOTE]

    I wasn't being literal! Because open bar is considered essential to weddings here, venues tend to include it in their wedding packages.
  • NJhousewife22NJhousewife22 member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Open bar was included in our wedding package for for the rehearsal dinner it was $18 extra. $90 extra is ridiculous!
  • felicia220felicia220 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I am curious to know what venue charged that much for open bar, I mean I have heard of top shelf open bar costing a lot but not $90.  Also OP I don't really understand that "EVERY hour"  part.  If it is $90 a person and they have 2 drinks for the night then it would $45 a drink. But if it is every hour (considering a standard 5 hour open bar) that would be 10 drinks at $9 a piece.  Still crazy.
  • edited December 2011
    See if you can do a "host bar" that way at the end of the night you can just pay for what people drank.. 
  • uppereastgirluppereastgirl member
    2500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Aren't they drinking $9 vodka tonics each time, because the event is 5 hours long?

    If you loved the place you looked at that didn't include open bar, I'd ask what their other options are.  If open bar is only an option, that means you must have other options.

    There are lots of places that charge around or not much more than $90 per person including open bar, so you can definitely find places that don't charge $90 for open bar if you look around more..


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  • edited December 2011
    A non open bar wedding wasn't even a consideration for me but HOLY SH*T.  I would have never even imagined.
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