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Open Bar vs. Cash Bar

AshnBrian33AshnBrian33
10 Comments
in Pennsylvania-Central
Okay ladies, how are all of you handling this issue? As I continue to search venues one of the biggest costs is alcohol. A few places I love the most you must purchase alcohol with them which can be upward of $20/person which really increases the price. Are any of you doing a cash bar or have done? What has the feedback been on it? I was thinking of maybe doing a set amount of open bar, say $1,000 and when that is out then it goes to a cash bar.

Any thoughts are appreciated!
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Re: Open Bar vs. Cash Bar

  • althea1016althea1016 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Our venue gave us and hour open bar for the cocktail hour so I've been spreading the word that our friends should drink up then lol. After that the bar is closed until dinner is served and we set the limit at $2k and depending on what time it is we'll evaluate if its a cash bar or we'll just pay a little more. I learned the close the bar trick from a friend which helps in two ways. 1. We're doing the first dances and cake cutting before dinner and closing the bar will prevent people from missing these moments. 2. it'll be about 45 minutes that people aren't drinking so that should save some money. Having an open bar was going to cost more than food so your best bet is working with a set dollar amount.
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  • mb2712mb2712
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We are only doing beer, wine, and a signature drink.  This has cut down a lot on alcohol costs.  We are able to set a limit for consumption, and they are going to get permission to keep serving it.  Since there is a full bar, if someone REALLY wants a mixed drink, they can buy it, but we are providing beer, wine, and a signature drink.
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  • BrassyClarinetBrassyClarinet
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    we are having an open bar for 1 hour during cocktail, then just wine and beer, maybe a signature.  The rest is cash.
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  • writergirl28writergirl28 member
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We're doing a hosted consumption bar where we put X amount of money towards the bar and we can add to it as the night goes on if we need to. It saved us a lot of money since our venue charges almost $30 extra/person for the alcohol option we wanted and most of our relatives aren't going to drink that much per person in liquor!
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  • psuxray07psuxray07 member
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We're having an open bar.  Our venue doesn't have anything to do with the alcohol...so we're buying a bunch of liquor over time (well, my mom  offered to, lol).  But our wedding is small, about 65-70 people.  There will also be about 2-3 1/2 kegs of beer.  The number of people (most, but not everyone drinks), I think affected our decision on this.
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