Open bar wedding reception question...?

Question

I want to first state that I live in a part of the country where open bars are very uncommon, so keep that in mind...

My wedding reception will be held at a place where they do not sell alcohol, so we have to bring in our own and not sell it. We will have about 135 guests, most of them do drink, most don't very heavily.

We are planning on having 3 kegs of beer, 25 bottles of wine, 3 1.75 liters of Captain Morgan, 2 1.75 liters of brandy, 2 1.75 liters of whiskey, 2 1.75 liters of vodka, 2 liters of Baileys, 2 liters of Midori, and 2 liters of Amaretto. Do you think this will be enough for a six hour reception?? We'll have various mixes for the liquor also. And does this sounds like a fair enough variety - there will be no other alcohol available, not even for purchase.

Thanks for any help!!

Answer 1

Let me just say that people will drink more than you think they can. Our banquet planner told us repeatedly that "they wont drink as much as you think they will" and convinced us to pay by the drink instead of by the person. A $6,000 bar tab later, for 200 people and a 4 hour reception....he was wrong. Check with liquor stores in your area to see about their return policy. You might be able to buy more "just in case" and return it as long as seals arent broken, etc. Especially if you're having a 6 hr reception!

I wouldnt worry about having Baileys, Brandy, Midori, or Amaretto. Those are sweet liquors that people tend to drink alot of. Do beer, wine, vodka, rum, whiskey, and have plenty of mixers/juices.

Heres a link that might help you!
http://www.ehow.com/how_5506_stock-bar-cocktail.html

Congrats and good luck!

Answer 2

Just wanted to add that I've been to weddings where they had "open bar", but all they really had was a few types of beer (say a light beer, a regular beer, and one "fancy" microbrew) and then wine (a white, a red, and a zinfindel), Besides that alcohol, they had water and sodas, and a few juices. It made it a lot quicker when people went to order at the bar, no mixing drinks, no waiting for blenders. They just had a sign up of what was available. You could also just decide to do "theme drinks" - ie, have beer and wine, and then if you are honeymooning say in the Bahama's, the "special" drink would be Bahama Mama's. Or if you and your husband really like screwdrivers, just serve them besides the normal.

It makes your list of alcohol to buy much easier to make, and less "guessing" of what your guests will feel like that evening.

In terms of how much to buy ... you mentioned they don't drink heavily ... think about if you and fiancee were getting together with your friends, how much beer would they drink in an evening? then try to multiply that times the number of people that drink about the same, and add in a bit extra for the people that only drink on occasion ....

Oh, and are you also doing a champagne toast???

Did you try asking the reception hall for recommendations, or talk to a bartender and get their advice.

Have a great wedding!

Answer 3

3 kegs for 135 people is a bit much. We had 200 people at our wedding with the majority of them drinking a lot, and we didn't run dry on the second keg until the end. But if you think a lot of people will drink beer and have something to do with the extra beer you will have, maybe it's the cheaper way to go. That's also a lot of wine! With that much every 5 people would have to drink a bottle themselves. I think you could cut down quite a bit. What is all the Midori for? If you plan on drinking all the extras it might be just fine :)

Answer 4

I am going to take a wild guess.....your guests REALLY like beer? If so, then I think you will be ok. I found this website that had the liquor recommendations for 100 guests, for what I can tell though, unless your guests will only be drinking beer, get more vodka, it mixes with everything and it a common ingredient in numerous drinks (but it depends on the crowd you are serving) If they are more whiskey drinkers, get more of that, etc. This is especially good because even if you buy too much, just tell the bartender that any unopened bottles belong to you and have someone in charge of getting them back to you after the wedding.

Answer 5

For a six hour open bar that is NOT enough.

Make it ONE hour of open bar and that would be hardly enough.

Your are planning on purchasing only 25 bottles of wine for 135 people? A bottle of wine serves 6 glasses, that means that your guests can only have ONE glass of wine in six hours? Do the math.

My suggestion to you is to eliminate the brandy, the amaretto, the midori and the baileys and purchase MORE vodka, whiskey, rum and wine instead.. (2 bottles of vodka for 135 people...are you serious????). You can do lots of mix drinks with rum and vodka., and if you have beer and wine on teh side you will be fine.

You can have an open bar for mixed drinks and beer for one hour during cocktail hour, and then have WINE to accompany dinner during the reception. Then you can have a champagne toast or spakling wine toast.That is what is done normally in an organized and profesionally catered event.

I hope this helps

Good luck

Answer 6

I think it would be good if you could ask at a local beer or liquor store, as they would probably know better. Truly, just like with food or anything else you are offering to your guests, you want to have enough for everyone to be able to get what they want. Instead of trying to get each type of alcohol, maybe you could get the beer and wine and only 1 or 2 liquors, and offer a "signature" drink featuring those drinks? Like if your name was Sue, you could make a martini of some kind and call it a Sue-tini!...or you could make something with teh Cap Morgan's and call it a Honeymooner...that would be cute!

Answer 7

That really sounds like more than enough for you to have at your wedding. You mentioned not everyone drank, so there may be those who just have pop, water, milk, punch juice or whatever. there may be some who only have lightly mixed drinks.

If you want to make the liquor last a bit longer, have someone be the bartender and measure out the alcohol accordingly, and not overdo it. Only set out a few bottles, or set out the wine and beer during the first 3 hours and the alcohol later.

That should suffice for the evening.

good luck!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yourweddingonabudget/join

Answer 8

I think u should double up on the normal stuff like like the vodka, rum and whiskey..those kinda of things are common and will go fast and even if u dont used it all it wont get wasted b/c liquoir lasts almost forever...buy more keep and use whatever is left over for the honeymoon and after u are married...why so much wine though?..u cant mix wine with beer or liquor...that will make u sick...u might wanna buy so jagermister too..thats also very popular

Answer 9

I think you are providing more than enough liquor for the wedding guests that you are expecting. You should assign someone behind the "bar" to sort of keep an eye on things and to moderate the drinking, especially if people are driving. Remember, you are responsible for the people while they are at your reception.

Answer 10

Sounds right. Keep one thing in mind, though. The bartender must stay at the bar and should have someone to help him check I D's.
I was the man behind the bar at my daughter's wedding. I delivered a drink to one of the guests, gone maybe a minute, and when I returned I found two bottles of booze gone. I checked around and found one,empty, in the poolroom and the teens reeking of alcohal!
The parents were not happy when I made the teens leave the reception. We still don't speak and that was long ago!
It was a learning experience!