Thread: Wedding drinks

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My son is getting married in a couple of months and I trying to figure out what it's going to cost me...the groom's father. I know that I am responsible for the rehearsal dinner and that's not much of a problem to figure the cost of but the tough question is the bar. He's told me he only wants beer and wine but I have no idea what that's going to cost. There will be about 100-125 people there and probably half of them won't drink much at all. The other half will probably make up for them. So here's what I'd like to know...How much red/white wine and how much beer. He wants a couple of types of beer but I don't have any idea what that's worth. I'm also guessing that a half barrel (served) is a cost whether it's consumed or not is still a charge as is the wine. Soda is probably something else I should consider. BTW, I don't have any intentions of throwing a beer party even though his 25-30-year old buddies would like me to. I want to be generous but not to the point that we'll have problems with drunks. Can anyone help me out on this?

maybe these links will help

HTML Code:

http://www.evite.com/pages/party/drink-calculator.jsp

HTML Code:

http://www.thatsawrapper.com/pt-drinkcalculator.htm

These days there are some real legal issues associated with drinking and it extends to those who provide it to guests as well. In this sue happy society, you have to be extremely careful about who you serve and how much.

When we got married years ago a friend who was a bar tender suggested we hire a professional bar tender to pump out the booze. He said a novice would over pour drinks and waste a lot of it. He was right. We took his advice and had a professional team dispensing the drinks and they kept everyone happy, but not TOO happy, if you get my point. Your Son has to realize you want to give him a nice getogether, but that your last name isn't Rockefeller. People can have a nice time, enjoy a few drinks, and still not break the bank or get sloshed.

I would think kegs are the way to go. Ask your Son what brand beer his buddies and he drink. Settle on one regular beer and one light beer. I have a brand preference myself, but if someone is pumping another brand and it is cold, I'm a happy camper. Soda should be the same, maybe Coke and diet Coke, an possibly Sprite. That will make most non drinkers happy. Wine is beyond my paygrade, so I can't offer any advice there.......I just usually buy a nice Merlot or White Zinfendel (sp?) and that does nicely.

So the bottom line is, set a budget and limit, don't think you have to be the provider of the best party these people have ever seen, watch who you serve and how much they drink, and you will be fine. I don't think I've ever been to a bad wedding reception, regardless of how much booze they had or if they had it at all. It is all about the Bride and Groom and not how much the guests had to eat or drink. Some receptions I've been to were done on a real shoestring with only cake and soft drinks and they were still enjoyed by all.......a few drinks either way isn't going to make or break this reception.

Don

Some liquor companies will let you return any unopened beer or liquor that you don't use. We have done that at Company Christmas Parties with great success. Cans are much wiser than bottles or kegs. Don't ice down all of the beer at first until you get a feel for the consumption. As far as people getting drunk, you have little control over that at this type of an affair. Your Son may be able to help control his drinking buddies better than anyone else, if he's not too busy himself? - - - - Good Luck and Congrats to the new Couple.

Our daughter got married August '09 at an "event center" where we had the wedding in the round, then transformed the space with tables for the reception with about 130 guests. The fees were segregated for the event space and bar bill, with catering arranged by us separately. We had an open bar - beer on tap, red & white wine, and the normal liquors (scotch, bourbon, vodka and rum as I recall) and we paid by volume, starting with full bottles and the bartenders eyeballing the partials at the end of the evening and prorating the bottle price. We had advised an ending time on the invitations, which was necessary with the rented space, but is a good idea, anyway (Reception, 3-10pm, for example). As I recall our bar tab was around $1200, and event manager made it clear that that did not include gratuity, which was normally expected to be 15% unless there was some problem that had been pointed out at the time and not addressed to satisfaction. I think I paid them around $1400, so it worked out to around $10.50 a person.

Like Don says, there are some reasons to hire experienced bartenders as they can watch for problem drinkers if you have any. This is probably not as much of an issue with only beer and wine, as I would say the issue of overpouring and wasting product is more of an issue with hard liquor. That said, the experienced bartender can still help keep things in control, and while you can't dodge the ultimate responsibility they do provide a layer of defensive argument in case of a problem - you trusted the professional to turn off the tap when necessary.

Best wishes for your wedding planning. It will be a night to remember for your family and friends.

Thanks to all of you. Good information.
Jeff

Look into places like the grocery outlet. They have fantastic deals on beer and wine, Costco is good too. Don's idea about beer on tap is a good one too. Hard etoh equals big bucks, and fast drunks. Lots of bottled water and soft drinks is always a good idea!

Ahhhhh yes. The rehearsal dinner and reception. For my son - didn't have too much problem with his rehearsal dinner and the expense was reasonable. We had a keg, cheap wine and soda - and a limit for time, with cash bar later. For my daughter - the reception wentout of control. Her mother (my ex) and I agreed on X invitations and Y for the amount for the bar tab. This was an economically bad time for me (see ex above), so I held my line when more and more people got added and the bar time limit was requested to be an open bar - so the grooms father stepped up. Needless to say, there were some folks that had some significant problems, including my ex. This was not a fun experience and what can happen without a time or cost limit

I have done around 100 weddings over 16 years so have been to a number of receptions. The ones that have a keg seem to work best when there is a responsible person serving. The safest way to go is to hire a bartender who is insured. I know of one situation where somebody had too much to drink and then got behind the wheel. He ended up putting his truck in the ditch and the sheriffs office began to investigate. The parents of the groom even got called at church that morning wanting to know how much alcohol they served. The reception was at a zoo that had its own bartender and they had nothing to do with those arrangements. That is how they stayed out of trouble.

As you figure this out, I would suggest that you figure out your budget and hire a bartender. Once you reach your limit financially, then it becomes a cash bar and the people can pay for themselves. I have seen that work well. But the safest thing for you to do is get a bartender especially if his friends want to party.