Vendors - what are they drinking?

100yroldblinddog · November 2015

Apologies if this comes off as hair-splitting:

I'm getting married at a hotel with a wedding package where everything is pretty well laid-out for you. When accounting for my vendors, my venue has a price for vendor meals (50% of whatever food selection we choose), but I'm not sure what to do for their drinks.

For my guests, I'm having an open bar (as nature intended), but not sure what to do for vendors. Do I budget for non-alcoholic drinks as I'm imagining would be the professional choice, or do I include them in my open bar tally like a cool lady? I'm fine with either, I'm just not sure what's normally done.

Thanks ladies!

artbyallie · November 2015

Ask the hotel, but I would hazard a guess they will not charge the bar cost for your vendors.

Jen4948 · November 2015

I wouldn't want vendors whose services I'm paying for to drink on the job, so I would budget for non-alcoholic drinks and not worry about being "a cool lady" to them.

MesmrEwe · November 2015

IMO, just have your vendors included with the rest of the guests. There's about a 99.98% chance they'll stay sober, but you also want to discuss this expectation with them when you discuss all things working your wedding (for example, you don't mind covering 100% of the NA's but you don't want your DJ getting drunk...).

SP29 · November 2015

I would put them in the non-alcoholic drink. I would assume (and expect) that someone would not be drinking while working. Not that I would honestly care if someone had a drink, or even two, I just think those two aspects shouldn't be mixed.

At my venue, the bar was included as part of the package price, along with the dinner and everything else. When the venue gave us a vendor price, it was the regular price minus the cost of the bar.

lyndausvi · November 2015

Are you paying by person or by consumption?

If it's consumption I would just figure they will be drinking non-alcoholic drinks. As a bartender working wedding vendors often ask for water or soda (but not at the same rate as a guest). Sometimes right before last call a few will ask for an alcoholic drink. It was like a "shift drink" to them.

If you are paying a fix rate per person I would negotiate vendors drinks are free or at least the underage price (if they have one), since they should not be drinking alcohol anyway.

100yroldblinddog · November 2015

lyndausvi said:

Are you paying by person or by consumption?

If it's consumption I would just figure they will be drinking non-alcoholic drinks. As a bartender working wedding vendors often ask for water or soda (but not at the same rate as a guest). Sometimes right before last call a few will ask for an alcoholic drink. It was like a "shift drink" to them.

If you are paying a fix rate per person I would negotiate vendors drinks are free or at least the underage price (if they have one), since they should not be drinking alcohol anyway.

@lyndausvi - I'm paying a fixed rate per person. I realize it probably sounds like an insane thing to ask about, but since we're paying per head, I wanted to be specific with where the budget is going. That's great advice about negotiating.

@SP29, I'm with you in that I feel pretty okay with the vendors drinking if they want to (trusting that they will be professionals/not rip it up). Especially the DJs. The DJs should feel comfortable getting a little cray. ;-)

Vendors - what are they drinking?

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