DIY Bar is it possible?

alyssa324 · December 2009

Sorry to be posting so much

We want to have a keg or two (or maybe even bottles to have more of a selection), wine, champagne and hard alcohol. The problem is I dont want to hire a bartender. Can I have hard alcohol with no bartender? Should i find a friend of a friend to man the station or let it be free. Or do i have to hire a bartender. Our families are all drinkers

I mean professionals. And most are Hard A drinkers. So getting rid of it would be the same as having a dry wedding. So what should i do.

Second I am not a big drinker so i know hardly anything about alcohol. So can I start buying bottles now and put them away until july. Or will they go bad? How about wine champagne or beer? How long in advance can I buy those?

Last I am not a wine drinker I couldnt even tell you a single name of one. Anyone want to help me out. Does any have some suggestions for a lower priced quality wine. Plus arent there different kinds?

oh boy I need help..

how much alcohol should I buy for 150 guest list?????

ahuette · December 2009

evite.com has a great drink calculator to help you estimate.

Depending on what type of permit your venue has - you can get your own banquet permit from the state control board for a party. From the control board website: A banquet permit is for a private, invitation only event (not open or advertised to the public). The liquor must be provided free of charge, or brought by individuals attending the event. Package deals are allowed that may include, for example, the cost of dinner, liquor, and entertainment. To assure participants receive an equal share, tickets exchangeable for drinks may be issued as part of the package price. No separate or additional charge may be made for liquor. You can get a banquet permit for $10 at any local liquor store or agency.   We have events at our work all the time and it allows us to serve beer/wine/spirits for free without a bartender needing to be present. Its super easy to get.

You can start buying wine and spirits now and it won't go bad as long as its unopened. Make sure you keep it in a dry temperate place, not too hot, not too cold. I would wait on the kegs. (Ps. The Ram has kegs of their speciality beers for a pretty decent price. I got one for my grad party and it was a huge hit for all the OOT family).

I'm not much of a wine drinker either, but we have a hosted happy hour at work once a week and by the "nice cheap" stuff. You can buy it all at Safeway.  The WInos may have some better options, but here is what we serve:

Columbia Crest Reisling $5.98 @ Safeway
Vendange  $5.98 @ Safeway
   Merlot (1.5 liters)
   Chardonnay (1.5 liters)
   Cabernet Souvignon (1.5 liters)

HTH!!

KST_ · December 2009

DIY bartending is really #1 dependent on your venue. Most venues I looked at don't allow it. They usually require a bartender to protect themselves against under-age drinkers. IF you are allowed, a few things you need to consider:

1) Safety - if your family are all HARD and heavy drinkers, you need to make arrangements to make sure everyone gets to their hotels safely. If you have a block of rooms or everyone is staying at one or two hotels, hire a transport van or whatever to get everyone home at the end of the evening. Bartenders are trained to cut people off so if you DIY, you're forgoing one of the safety valves.

2) Ahuette was right on how to store liquor and wine. The key is temperate! If you or anyone you know is going to Canada in the interim, I HIGHLY recommend loading up on liquor at the Duty Free. They often have some stellar deals (like we got three huge 1 L bottles of Absolut Vodka, many flavors, for a steal).

BrandyL10 · December 2009

You can totally do it. Like they said above, as long as your venue is cool w/ it. You could set a fifth of hard A according to your seating chart on each table. Vodka on the Vodka drinkers table, scotch on the scotch drinkers table, or just let people know what table their alcohol of choice is on. Then have a mixers station where people can get up and mix their drink. As for wine, just go w/ whatever. Maybe about 3 or 4 bottles of each color and leave them on tables as well. Had a friend who went to a reception like this and he said it really worked! And he was able to snag a few fifths that didn't get touched. SCORE! Good luck!

sarack · December 2009

i wouldn't do it. i'd be too scared of the liabilities. i agree with KST.

Kaye Smith · December 2009

Another hint - one of our friends travels (drives) to California pretty often - the Costcos there sell liquor - he's going there for Christmas and we're giving him some $ so we can start stocking up. He did this for himself last year and the price of liquor is almost 2 to 1 there at the costcos there as compared to the liquor stores here.

alyssa324 · December 2009

I forgot to say it is okay with my venue. I know it might sound tacky but there is actually a campsite (for only wedding guests) on the backside of the grounds. My guests can camp in tents rvs whatever. We are a huge camping outdoors family (on both sides) So most people will be camping. I did still reserve a row of rooms at a local hotel too. My Fbil did his wedding last june this way and no one over drank but his was way out in eatonville. I do have alot of straight edge guests who will be fine with driving way too drunk people -ome if they need to. I would hate to have to ask though. So here is my second question how much will a bartender cost for 5 hours or so? CAn I still buy all my own liquor?Thanks girls you guys are such a help

SaraAnnAlvarado2010 · December 2009

We are DIY-ing the bar. No hard-A, primarily just a couple of kegs and some wine. My venue required that I list one person over 21 who would "keep an eye on things." So I listed one of my cousins. For the wine part, I think we could have some glasses pre-poured and then after that ask the BP to keep an eye on things. My family is Swiss, and FI's family is Mexican, so beer is going to take center stage for us!

With hard-A I would lean toward the side of caution and ask that somebody watch the pouring, you don't want people to be taking whole bottles, esp underage-ers.

therickson · December 2009

Trader Joes has inexpensive wine as well! 3 buck chuck... I just bought a case today for 35 bucks... (12 bottles)

MrsH8172010 · December 2009

I'm not positive but I was pretty sure you have to have a licensed bartender if you are serving hard alcohol and I think you also have to have a different permit for hard alcohol than if you were just serving beer and wine (the ones you get at a liquor store). Just make sure you check that out with your venue or research it.

SaraAnnAlvarado2010 · December 2009

Carissa I think you're right. I was thinking about this and I think you need someone with a Class 13 liscence to pour hard alcohol. I'm not sure either though....

BrandyL10 · December 2009

I don't think a campground behind the venue is tacky, that f**ckin biitchin!! That's an all night party! Don't konw much about the bartender situation, I think it would be fine if people just poured their own. Hopefully someone on here know the rates of one though.

carrieoz_76 · December 2009

I would also think about buying insurance, or seeing if you'd be covered by homeowners' insurance, in case your guests are harmed, or harm someone as a result of your alcohol. That much alcohol, that many people, and it may be worth it to protect yourself. The insurance isn't too expensive, and I think you can get it from wedsafe.com.

BrandyL10 · December 2009

Have these people drank together before?? Cause then I wouldn't worry too much. If this is a crowd that has partied together before, and knows the rules, then it shouldn't be too bad. If it were my wedding, I would trust my guests. Then again, I've thrown countless parties and camping trips where everyone drank and was responsible. So I may have a more carefree attitude about this than some others. Which their advice is good. I'm just someone who feels out the crowd and if you know your guests drinking habits well enough, you may be in the clear.

hayleymajayley · December 2009

We are doing DIY, I talked to someone from the Organic Table in Seattle and she was telling me that I was going to be legally required to have a bartender and she just would not drop it, even with just beer and wine! The price she quoted me was insane, but it was for like 8 hours, like 1200 bucks I think. Eff that! Later I remembered our best man has an alcohol servers permit, or whatever you get to serve beer in restaurants and one of my bridesmaids is a licensed bartender! Handy :] WOOHOO Trader Joes! We are definitely getting our wine there.

Archel · December 2009

It is also inexpensive if you go directly to the wineries to buy wine, but yes, I do agree that Trader Joes has some inexpensive (and usually decent) wine. We are DIYing the alcohol and are going on a road trip to California to get wine from wineries and hard A from Costco like a PP stated.

I would recommend you go with Cab Sav as your red and Chardonnay as your white - those are the two most popular types. Several weddings will only provide one variety of red and one variety of white, and especially if your family is hard A drinkers, this should cover you.

And yes, you will need someone with a class 13 liquor license. Class 12 just allows someone to be able to pour wine and beer, but class 13 allows someone to mix hard A as well. My venue is making us use the caterer's bartender for liability issues (which is fine with me, because I don't want the stress of getting outrageous liquor fines). So far, all the quotes for bartenders have been around $30 +/- $5 (per hour).

Here is the extremely helpful drink calculator: evite drink calculator.

DIY Bar is it possible?

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