Ohio-Northeast

Cheapest place to buy alcohol?

We're buying our own alcohol for our wedding, so we stopped by one place over the weekend & wrote down prices.  We just did a rough estimate of how much it would cost, and it comes out to more than $10/pp.  This seems like a lot to me, so I figure either the prices are high there or we're buying too much.  This is what we were estimating per 100 people (we'll have 250):Vodka: 8LWhisky: 4LGin: 2LRum: 2LScotch: 2LPeach Schnapps: 1LVermouth: 1LBeer: 10 casesRed wine: 1 caseWhite wine: 1 caseWhite Zin: 1 caseChampagne: 1 bottleAmaretto: 1 bottleBaileys: 1 bottleFrangelico: 1 bottleAre we buying too much??  Does anyone have any suggestions of cheap ways to buy alcohol?  Thanks!!

Re: Cheapest place to buy alcohol?

  • michelle1433michelle1433 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Try Colonial Wine & Beverage (Chesterland, OH I believe). Our alcohol came out to $7 a person and the company will let you return anything that was not opened!
  • edited December 2011
    That seems like a lot per 100 people.  Check with Minotti's, they will let you know how much you need and they also take returns on what you don't open.
  • natg504natg504 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Do these places take returns on anything?  The one we went to said they would take back beer & wine, but not liquor.
  • edited December 2011
    From working with Minotti's in the past I know that they do take liquor back- it's at least worth a phone call to see if they still do that.  I know the one in Westlake has VERY helpful people there.
  • edited December 2011
    If you have a friend or family member in the service they can purchase it for you at the PX.  Some of the stuff is half the price there.
  • edited December 2011
    We bought our alcohol at the Minotti's in Fairview Park and they will only buy back bottles of wine and full cases of beer--no liquor.  This was the policy in Nov/Dec of 2008.  Also, they have a pretty good guideline/worksheet of how much to buy.  I think we ended up spending about $6 per person.  HTH 
  • edited December 2011
    I second the suggestion if you have somebody you know with a current military ID.  It doesn't matter if they haven't served in a while as long as the ID is current.  We are going to the Commessary(sp??) and I think it's in the Westpark area.  There's no sales tax and I also believe it's discounted also.  Good Luck!
  • JoeyOzJoeyOz member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I looked at a place where we would have had to supply our own alcohol, and here is what they recommended: Though you know your guests and their drinking preferences best, below are the suggested minimum amounts of alcoholic beverages per 100 guests (750 ml. bottles). 3 bottles Whiskey 2 bottles Peach Schnapps 1 bottle Bourbon 1 bottle Rum 3 bottles Vodka 1 bottle Scotch 1 bottle Gin 1 bottle Kahlua Beer: 4 cases winter season; 6 cases summer season Wine or Champagne: 1 bottle per 8 guests
  • JKohioJKohio member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    A lot depends on the brands you buy, too, especially in the case of beer, wine and champagne. If it doesn't matter much to you, you can buy less expensive brands.We bought beer and wine (didn't do liquor) for our wedding through Heinen's. Planning for 150 drinkers, we bought $1k of alcohol and had tons left over. Our wine was approx. $7/bottle. We did GLBC for more than half of our beer and that was way more than, say, Budweiser.
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  • TBHCJSTBHCJS member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I would second the notion to contact Bob at Colonial Wine and Beverage. They were great to work with and $7/pp is what he quoted us at. We didn't have all the mixers that you had, so that could be what's upping your costs. He'll give you recommendations on how much you need for you #. The only thing we ran out of was whiskey, chardonnay, and cabernet, but that was later in the night and then we just bought a few from TOE.
  • LoopysevenLoopyseven member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We haven't ordered yet, but are considering getting it from some store online that FI found.  I can't remember the name of it.  They were super cheap (from what we could tell) and though they don't ship to Ohio, they do ship to WI so we could have it shipped to my parents and pick it up sometime when we're up there... Good luck!Jennifer
  • lgardnerlgardner member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I agree with the other postings regarding Colonial Beverage.  They are awesome to deal with, and very affordable!
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