Open bar? Cash bar?

[Terri]

I know what the etiquette is on this: no cash bars, ever. However, cash bars seem to be more common -- and accepted -- in Canada, where alcohol costs are very high. We have assumed that we would have to do a (heavily subsidized) cash bar, much as I would prefer not to, but I am investigating ways in which we can provide our guests with their drinks without bankrupting ourselves. One of the options I am considering is wine, beer and a couple of signature cocktails in lieu of a full assortment of liquor. We can get a good deal on the beer because the wedding is in a brewery, and we can bring in homemade wine -- as long as we aren't selling it. So it might be doable. What do you think -- would you rather a full bar where drinks were $1 or $2, or a limited bar where drinks were free?

And what are you doing, and why? And how on earth do you figure out how much booze you need? I've seen calculators here and there, but they always include about ten different kinds of liquor, which throws things off.

[Justine]

Personally, I think that a cash bar is a no no. I think it is much better to offer just beer & wine and a couple of signature cocktails for free rather than a fully stocked cash bar. Most people will be fine drinking whatever it is you are serving. Your caterer should be able to tell you how much alcohol you will need based on your guest list. A lot of places will also let you return unopened merchandise.

[SaraH]

I agree with Justine.
We are doing beer and wine. I would say that 99.5% of our guest that drink like beer and/or wine. So, this option is the most cost effective for us.
I think the signature drinks are a nice touch.

[kristen]

I agree that you should not charge your guests for drinks and go with beer/wine/sig. drinks. You don't want your guests caught off-guard and not be able to drink because they didn't bring cash with them. Not to mention they already shelled out money for a gift, and are considered guests at your party. I'd say 99.99% of the people who would normally order a mixed drink will be just as content with beer and wine. If you have a few signature drinks, that'll add a nice personal touch!

[Terri]

Yeah, I want to have the open bar too. It will be really tight to work it into the budget -- Canadian liquor prices are much higher than those in the U.S. because of high taxes -- but I think we might be able to with some creativity. I may just nix the signature drinks altogether, depending on cost, since we could get such good prices on the beer (it's at a brewery, so their beer is on tap) and wine (lots of make-your-own places in the city).

[BigShot]

Agree with everyone. Go with beer and wine. Maybe, if the father of the groom likes his johnny walker, you make special arrangements to have it behind the bar or something. But other than that, everyone should be fine.

[tarakay827]

i agree that a cash bar is a no no and would say go with the limited bar.

We are doing a wine/beer bar and including some fun non-alcoholic drinks like Izze (in pink and green of course!) and we might do say 3 spirits like gin, rum, and vodka but we might not. We are going to talk to one of the 'party coordinators' at our local liquor store (it is a larger store not just a corner place) as they can help you figure it out.

[Kate]

I agree with everyone on the cash bar being a no no.

Personally, I will be having my wedding at a winery and will, of course, be offering wine served by the winery. I decided against beer and cocktails as that would require us to hire an additional bartender with our caterer to take advantage of their beverage license. However, in aching for a fun, fabulous, signature drink we've decided to serve sangria as well - this won't require the other bartender and will look GREAT in a big glass jar.

One of my potential guests, the mother of a potential groomsmen, had already approached me before I was even engaged regarding the topic of what alcoholic beverages I was to serve, in her not-so-humble opinion, at my wedding. She was outraged that at the last wedding she had attended, they decided that beer wasn't classy enough to be served.

We're still not serving beer and to be honest, I think the real problem is that SHE isn't classy enough. I mean really, that's not an opinion that should be shared with the host of any event. It's just plain rude. My opinion is that it's a hosted event - they eat free, drink free - why should they complain about ANYTHING!?

Please excuse my rant - and do what YOU want to do at your wedding that fits your budget. ;)

[Dana]

We are having an open bar, because my venue does not allow you to sell liquor. I did not figure out how much per person, but figured out per our budget how much we could buy. We are going to have beer, a signature drink and one gin, one vodka and one conac (probably spelled wrong). Our feeling is once it is gone it is gone.

[Dana]

I almost forgot we will have one white and one red white to choose from