How much should we put on the bar at our wedding?

Question

Our reception starts at 6pm, finishes at 11pm and we are expecting a maximum of 90 guests. We are going to run a tab for beers that are on tap, wine and softdrink but we are not sure how much to put down. I'd say a third of our guests won't drink or will drink very little ie; designated drivers, breastfeeding mothers...etc. But I'm confident that the ones who will drink will probably compensate for the ones who don't. How much do you suggest we put on the bar?

Thank you in advance :)

Answer 1

Approx $5000.00  

Answer 2

for 90 guests i would budget about 4 drinks per person regardless of who is going to drink. a average price for a regualr beer or glass of wine is $6. so i would recomend about $2000 on the bar. If they drink less you will get that back. but i dont think they will.

people tend to consume more at weddings

mike

Answer 3

This is always a tough one and  5 hours is a long time to serve drinks.  My suggestion would be to serve only soft drink, champagne and light beer before the speeches are over. Then once the meals are being served the champagne is off and the waiters should ask each table if they would like a bottle of red/white wine or both and how many soft drinks and jugs of beer per table (might be cheaper). The wine can still be nice without spending a fortune.  If you give guests the choice to purchase their own mixed drinks then you might save lots that way too. You could cut off the bar at 10pm and let everyone have an open bar at their cost. Discuss options with your reception place but the main thing is to stick to your budget and make sure if you set a limit that the staff tell you or your Dad or whoever is paying when it's reaching the limit.  Remember that no matter if they are friend or family a 'free drink' is hard to knock back. If you give them a few hours of freebies and free food to what you can afford then I think it's more than ok.   Hope this helps and congratulations!

Answer 4

I would go for about 1 drink per person per an hour

Answer 5

oooo expensive!  you will get alot of folk that would take advantage of that so be careful, put aside about £1500 or approx $2500 for it then if you dont use it all ul get it back and if it gets used up tough!  My parter and I are workin with a budget and payin for the 1st 2 drinks for 52 people then for night everyone is payin for their own drinks. :)

Answer 6

If you open the bar to all comers,you are asking for trouble. Put on a limit you can live with and when it runs out, stiff.

Answer 7

do it for the first hour...so until 7pm. it could be less money.

Answer 8

It all depends on the cost of drinks as well.  A generally total of say $5000 and what is not used can be refunded or put towards the dinner bill.  

You can always be open bar for an hour or two, include drinks for cocktail hour wand with dinner and then swap it over to a cash bar.