how much did you spend on alcohol at your wedding?

Question

and how many guests were there? and how many hours open bar? mainly wondering costs of open bar. thanks!

Answer 1

We had 175 guests with an open bar. Instead of just saying that we wanted the open bar to last from one time to another, we put down $1000.00 and when that ran out, the open bar closed. We bought 2 kegs with this money also, which we had to buy from the caterer of our venue, so it was a little more money. Our cocktail hour started at 5:00 and I think the open bar closed at 9:00 with a cash bar to follow. I hope this helps. We did not have a lot of kids at the reception, so most of the guests were of drinking age.

Answer 2

The cost will be different depending on the location (state and facility). My wedding reception was in the summer of 2006 in Upstate NY. We had one hour of open bar before dinner, closed it during dinner. (Which is typical, as long as you provide champagne/wine for the dinner toast-which is usually included in the price of the dinner). We then had two hours of open bar after dinner. After that we ran a tab on the bar because a lot of people were leaving within the hours following dinner. By running a tab you eliminate having to pay for people who have left, or elderly people who won't be drinking or drinking as much. Overall, I believe we spent about $800-1,000 on drinks, but that's what we were planning on anyway. We had approximately 150 people there, but some were under21 so we didn't have to pay the cost for their drinks. Hope this helps!!

Answer 3

I spent about $1200 on my alcohol, however I had a cocktail reception at a place that allowed me to bring my own liquor. I had to purchase a 1 day insurance policy/liquor lisence for $250 and brought whatever I chose. I had 5 kegs, 6 cases of wine, 4 handles of tequila, 7 handles of vodka, 1 hadle gin, 3 handles whisky, 4 handles of the captain, 1 handle of jaggermiester (big mistake it was gone in 10 min.) and all the mixers. Needles to say nearly 75% of the 200 guests were partying!

You can save so much by just bringing your own alcohol. If you are at a venue that doesn't already have their own liquor lisence ie a restaurant or country club. I use to work in catering and at some locales they would charge $395 a keg !!!! the same keg you can buy at a supermarket for around $80 (at least here in Ca.).

Answer 4

Truly, whatever it costs. We are having a destination wedding, with 30 guests, and we are paying for champagne toast and a pay per drink bar after that--the guests can have whatever they want, but since it's at 11:30 AM, I doubt the guests would drink enough for a true open bar to be worthwhile.

For our local reception later (clam bake), 200 guests, we'll contract with a local company who will supply the beer and we'll also offer wines and softdrinks and whatever else.

I would just never invite anyone to something and ask them to pay for their refreshments. I think that is in very poor taste.

Answer 5

If you are concerned about cost- it will be much more afforadable to have a "white" bar (beer, wine, champagne). We are doing this at our wedding and the cost is $7 per person with all they can drink. We are having 195 guests and the bar is for 5 hours.
Whatever you do - do NOT have a cash bar...tacky tacky tacky

Answer 6

The open bar added $5 to each plate cost from the banquet hall. For example if we didnt want it the cost per person for dinner would be $20 but with open bar added it was $25.

Answer 7

we got a bit of a deal on our licquor package. Per person for the basic package averaged about $6 per person, normally it was an additional $6 to upgrade,but we were able to do it for $3 so it came out to be $9 for 220 people. It's an awesome package with grey goose, belvidere, couvasier (sp) hennessy, cognac, and a whole lot more.....they are even doing a signature drink for us too. They are open for 6 hours....even through dinner which also includes wine.

Answer 8

We bought our own liquor. We have about 100 guests and total liquor costs (1 case each of red and wine wine, 2 cases of champagne, 4 cases of beer, 1 bottle of vodka, gin, Tuaca, port and bourbon) is about $400. Our caterer is taking care of mixers and serving it, which is an additional $70. All this will be available throughout the night. And because we expect to have a lot left over (a lot of my family aren't big drinkers), it's all ours to take home!

Answer 9

Your costs would greatly depend on the drinks offered. If you are sticking to beer and wine that would be a lot cheaper than a full bar with someone pouring the drinks.

Answer 10

We had 150 guests, but many were children. Probably about 90 "drinking age" guests.
We brought (our own) 2 bottles of wine for every table, and gave everyone of age 2 drink tickets for free. If anyone wanted more booze than that, they had to pay for it (at cost - we didn't make money). SO it cost us like $300 for the wine and maybe $400 for the free drink tickets.