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Wedding Reception Forum
dovesweet07
member
Open bar question
So I know my family/friends will pretty much require an open bar (not that they everyone is a heavy drinker, but its kind of a cultural thing - we're russian, haha). I was wondering if would cost less to just do the regular open bar per person or pay based on consumption. Obviously this would depend on the amount consumed, but since we're having a Sunday wedding, i would think the consumption wouldnt be as high. Please share your opinions/experiences :-)
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Re: Open bar question
Personally, I prefer a flat rate, unless it's a guest list full of light drinkers who would probably come in under that rate by consumption. I like the fact that I won't have to keep an eye on the bar all night and be worried about how big the bill's going to be. The peace of mind is well worth it.
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At our reception venue, open bar was going to be $16/head for beer/wine/soda (we're not interested in serving mixed drinks).
$16x200 guests = $3200, our goal budget max. If we get close to our bar tab (ex $2500) the bar staff will come ask us how things are going and we'll have the decision then to let it go beyond (say it's only 8pm) or cut it off (11:30 pm).
Odds are we'll never even come close says our coordinator. Without mixed drinks he thinks a group of "drinkers" will spend is less than $2000.
That's our scenario, hope it helps
But I thought she'd WAY underestimated how much people would drink. She thought about it some more, spoke with my parents and some friends, and decided the per-person price would probably end being the better deal. Plus she would know exactly what she was paying in advance.
I don't think there's a one-size answer for this -- depends on your crowd, the cost of the drinks, the cost of the per-person price, etc.
I think evite.com has a calculator where you can figure out how many drinks to budget for per person. It's something like 5 drinks per 4 hour reception - 5 on average for everyone, including kids and non-drinkers. Heavy drinkers will make up for non-drinkers.
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Personally, I'd prefer the flat rate, that way I'd know exactly what I'd be shelling out before the wedding, instead of getting a bill afterwards.
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