Determining Alcohol Amounts for Limited Open Bar

StarHex · July 2013

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this would be considered etiquette related, but this is where I lurk and y'all give great advice, so here goes. My wedding (Spring 2015) will be at a venue that requires us to bring in our own alcohol and hire bartenders to serve it. My plan is to start purchasing alcohol now and buy a little at a time, so that it's not a huge expense all at once. My problem is, I have no idea how to determine how much of everything that I will need. The place I'll be buying the alcohol from will allow me to return unopened bottles of liquor and wine for a refund (less a 10% restocking fee).

The guest list is 210 people, and the better portion of our guests are pretty big drinkers. The ceremony will be at 6pm with the reception to follow immediately (they're at the same venue, with the ceremony outside and the reception inside). We have the venue until 1am.

Here's what I want to host:

Two beers on tap (Bud Light and Shiner)
Wine (one red, one white)
One brand each of bourbon, scotch, rum, vodka, tequila, and gin, plus a wide variety of mixers.

I guess how this is an etiquette issue for me is that I would feel like a crappy hostess if we start running out of certain things before the end of the night. I'd hate for a guest to be drinking Jack & Coke all evening, only to be told we're out of Jack when they go up to order another one. How do I even begin to figure out how much of everything I need to buy? Am I over thinking this?

SMarie89 · July 2013

There are calculators for problems like this. I'd recommend this one (<--- link)

Also, if you're worried about not having enough - I'd overbuy and then just return. Personally, a 10% restocking fee would be worth it if it meant all of my guests had enough to drink.

StarHex · July 2013

SMarie, I absolutely agree that the 10% restocking fee is worth it for my guests to have plenty of everything. I just don't want to go crazy-overboard, know what I mean? Thanks for the link...that calculator is really helpful as a starting point. I'm still not sure how to break it all down. What I mean is, if the calculator says I need 25 bottles of liquor, I'm not sure how to divide that between the various types I'd like to provide. I guess there's just going to be a certain amount of guesswork involved.

MrsMack10612 · July 2013

Where are you located? (Stupid Knot doesn't tell us anymore)

I'm in MA and we have a chain of liquor stores that has a consignment program for these kinds of events.

We got all of our beer, liquor, wine, mixers, champagne toast et al from them. With the exception of the beer kegs, we were able to return any unopened bottles and only pay for what was used/opened. All told (less the keg deposits) we spent $1500 for 100 people with full open bar for 6 hours.

ETA: We had 5 different beers, 4 different wines, champagne, 11 liquors (mid-top shelf), 9 mixers, 84 bags of ice and other odds and ends.

SMarie89 · July 2013

I totally understand. I think that to divy everything up you're just going to have to think of what people in your circle enjoy. For us, that would mean vodka, rum, tequila, and whiskey. Our crowd is not much of a scotch or bourbon crowd. So if I were you and I was thinking of my crowd... let's say I had a choice for 20 liters of hard liquor I'd get: 7 vodka, 5 rum, 3 tequila, 3 whiskey, and 1 scotch/bourbon, 1 gin. Don't overthink it. Just take an educated guess. If you're really concerned about it, get a extra liter or two of the alcohol you know your guests will like best.

StarHex · July 2013

I'm in Texas. Unfortunately, consignment sale of liquor is against the law here, according to what I've read...it has to be an outright purchase. Most of the stores around here will let you return unopened bottles, but all of those that I've talked to charge a restocking fee from 10-20%.

Ten percent of whatever we don't use won't be that much money in the scheme of things. I might even end up keeping what we don't use for my own liquor cabinet and to give away as presents later. I mainly just don't want to go completely overboard, or have way too much of some things but not enough of others.

MrsMack10612 · July 2013

That's too bad. It really is a great way to do things. All our opened bottles went straight to our liquor cabinet.

I think it's important to know your crowd - we have heavy beer, wine, scotch drinkers, so we had less vodka, gin etc.

It's possible that wherever you get your alcohol from may be able to guide you as well, or talk to your caterer. They will also have experience in estimating this stuff.

krizzo17 · July 2013

One thing to be careful of - is there a time limit on returns? Your wedding is just under 2 years out, and I know most retail stores have a 60 or 90 day return policy. I honestly have no idea how this works with liquor stores, but definitely check first. Alternatively, get yourself a jar or container or whatever, and "buy" the liquor from there each week - that way, come wedding time, you'll have all the cash you need to buy as much liquor as you decide. I did this with my money for hair, makeup, and nails, and even ended up with some left over to bring on the honeymoon

annathy03 · July 2013

I think the calculator is a good starting point, and will help you get liquor now as you go. The breakdown of how much rum vs how much vodka will be based on your circle so you'll have to make a judgement call there, and keep in mind it may vary a little based on who accepts/declines so I wouldn't buy more than say 1/2 what you anticipate using before STDs go out and you start to get a feel of who can and can't make it, maybe 3/4 before invites. I would also not buy any of the beer until 2015 to make sure none of it goes bad.

PrimRoseMama · July 2013

I'd over estimate and just keep the rest. You can never have enough booze really, lol. You can always take the unopened bottles home and stock your bar at home. Either that or allow some family members to take the unopened bottles home.

We just did champagne toasts at our wedding. Then again, it was a brunch. So there was coffee, tea, mimosas, water, lemonade and champagne. For a lunch or evening wedding I could see wanting/needing more booze.

I'd wait to order the beer and wine until right before the event truthfully. Just get a gift card or visa card to put a monthly booze stipend on. That way you can gradually save up the money and use it to buy the booze in bulk.

MandyMost · July 2013

That sounds like a lot more than a "limited" open bar. Do you really want all of those types of liquor? What about creating a couple "signature cocktails", and then just stocking those liquors? People don't HAVE to get the signature cocktail---if it contains vodka, they could get a vodka soda or whatever. But you'll be "pushing" a certain drink, and have less variety to buy.

We haven't figured out the details yet, but we're doing a similar bar situation and I"m thinking:

2 beers (a light american beer, like coors or bud or miller, and a heavier seasonal beer for the fall)

2 white and 2 red wines

1 Champagne

2-3 signature cocktails. A "martini bar" I thought would be cool--one gin, one vodka. But I'd really like to have a whiskey or bourbon option, too.

Anyway, we'd only have 2-3 spirits to think about quantities for. I figure people can handle a night without tequila or rum, etc.

MrsMack10612 · July 2013

@mandymost - I think what you have planned sounds like a good idea, but consider if your crowd is the martini type or the rum and coke type.

You might like the idea of martini bar, but if your guests aren't the type who drink them, it might be a bust.

[Deleted User] · July 2013

You know the drinking taste of your guests better, but is skipping the gin & tequila and option? We skipped the gin because we didn't know anyone in our group that drank it and the tequila, well if you're not having margarita's then it's shots and I haven't seen good experiences with people doing tequila shots. It might be a way to save a few bucks to cut those two things or just limit yourself to 1 bottle of each.

sonthirathb · July 2013

I think because you are providing all the drinks you should not have to worry about having so many options. If you left out the tequila for example, a proper guest should not complain that it was missing. If I had to drink whiskey for the night and I normally drink tequila I would just drink it up and not think anything of it b/c in reality I am not paying for it.

CheleLyn · July 2013

We're supplying our own booze and bartender, too. We'll have about 100 guests. Between me and Jason and his parents, we pretty much know what every single adult person's preferred drink is. That being said, we'll have Bud Light and Coors on tap, vodka (for Cape Cods, Vodka 7, and Screwdrivers), and rum for the three people who will want rum and coke. There is one person who has said she will want Long Island Iced Tea and I just told her what I'm providing (btw, I've had issues with this friend all through my planning since day 1 so I was not surprised she would have a special request for the bar).

We did change venue because of the bar issue. Much as I loved the other place, I just can't see spending so much for booze. Changing venue allows us to provide only what we need and we can keep any leftovers. Also, even though we will be paying our private bartenders more than the venue would have charged, we got to pick bartenders we know...they actually are bartenders, not just people we know.

moonraffe · July 2013

I don't remember if this is an option in TX (do they do the state liquor store thing there?), but I would check your local warehouse store (Sam's or Costco) for the liquor. Both pretty much take anything back without a restocking fee and the liquor is a little bit cheaper. When my brother was married, this is how we stocked the bar. I would also consider boxed wine unless you have a lot of really big wine drinkers that are particular about a certain variety. The boxed wine is much better than it used to be (but I'm also not very picky-I prefer my wine to be cheap and easy).

kryan32 · July 2013

I second Krizzo's advice - don't buy the alcohol this early in the planning stages. Estimate how much the bar is going to cost and divide by the number of months you have to save, and then start putting that money away now - wait to buy the actual bottles until much closer to your wedding date.

NOLAbridealmost · July 2013

kryan32 said:

I second Krizzo's advice - don't buy the alcohol this early in the planning stages. Estimate how much the bar is going to cost and divide by the number of months you have to save, and then start putting that money away now - wait to buy the actual bottles until much closer to your wedding date.

This. You and your guests' drinking tastes can change dramatically in a year. It's also harder to return unopened bottles the longer ago you purchased them.

misssunshine17 · July 2013

Instead of buying, can you just tuck $10-$20 in an envelope every time you go grocery shopping, like picking up one bottle each time? I wouldn't buy this early.

drummerbonbon · July 2013

Also keep in mind that right now your guest list is 210 people. If your wedding isn't until 2015, your list might change. I'm not saying it will definitely change enough to affect the amount you buy, but it could affect the types of alcohol you buy. I second everyone else who has said to tuck money away week by week or during every grocery trip.

CheleLyn · July 2013

misssunshine17 said:

Instead of buying, can you just tuck $10-$20 in an envelope every time you go grocery shopping, like picking up one bottle each time? I wouldn't buy this early.

Good idea! Fmil were discussing last night when to start purchasing and return dates for unopens. I think this is what we'll do

kererie · July 2013

My two cents - overbuying is better than underbuying.

I've been to a wedding like this (only 110 people though) they bought 3 kegs, 100 bottles of wine (white/red) and 50 bottles of champagne

Everything was gone except for about 1/3 of the last keg and that was finished the next day at the "beach" party they hosted...

Determining Alcohol Amounts for Limited Open Bar

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