Bartending/Bartenders

Any suggestions ladies?

Why not have beer, wine, sodas, etc. for cocktail hour, plus a bride's drink and a groom's drink? That may be cheaper for you than having to buy so many different types of liquor. I would think/ask about tips: will you allow them to have a tip container, or will you tip them at the end of the night? I might also discuss how you'd like for them to handle a situation where a guest who has had too much wants more drinks.

Don't allow shots of any kind. That will not only get your guests trashed, but will also cost more.

We did our own bar. I have a list of the booze and amounts that I bought for an entire weekeend for 62 guests. If you would like, I can post it. We only needed one bartender.

Have you considered a signature drink that is premade that you could put in a lovely beverage dispenser and guests can help themselves? Examples: Sangria; Bay Breezes I used one for Sangria. I also used two for sweet tea and lemonade.

Are you going to allow your bartender to put out a tip jar. Under normal circumstances, at an all inclusive venue, where tips are included, I was say no to this. However, since you are paying your bartender straight up, I would allow them to put out a jar. Our bartender made $300 in four hours from 62 guests.

Amy....We wish we could have gotten away with well booze. Sadly, I have a Jack Daniels, Gentleman Jack and 18 Year Glenlivet Scotch(DH's drink of choice)kind of crowd. But, hey, they drove to Vermont for the weekend party, so WTF, I had to serve it.

I second Amy on the kegs. We bought bottles only because I am a Coors Light gal and only drink out of the bottle. I don't even use a glass.

If you go with kegs, and you are having a less formal kind of event, I would make it self serve. This way it cuts back on your bar line. I put my bottles of wine coolers, Mikes Hard Lemonade(Black CHerry is awesome) in a wine cooler thingie. It was plastic and it looked like glass.

I was thinking this!

- No shots allowed what so ever

- Tip jar allowed (already told the bartenders they could)

- I've already bought 6 1.75 L bottles of Bacardi Rum as well as Smirnoff Vodka. Use those bottles for a signature drink mix which I already figured one out.

- First signature drink mix is through Smirnoff, it's Blue Raspberry Lemonade Vodka, sooo good and perfect for summertime

- Just have to think of something else with bacardi rum as my second signature drink

- Both signature drinks will be served only during cocktail hour but beer (coors light, miller light, and budlight) along with wine (sutterhome moscato, chardonnay, and white zinfandel) will be served all night from 5:00pm - 9:30pm, reception is over at 10. All of it will have to be bottles, all the people we've invited like bottled anything.

- Thinking about having wine coolers as well, seagrams, smirnoff ice, mikes hard lemonade (bottled too). CONTINUED!

If I have those beverage dispensers I think people will go through them like there is no tomorrow so if I just stick to bottles and once they are gone they are gone, that's that!

Yes there will be underage ones there but with the underage ones they are either young (like 11/12) or 20 and have a child and very responsible so I know I don't have to worry about them but either way I'm not doing self serve. What would be the point of bartenders if that was the case??

It sounds like you have it covered to me.

Well for my venue the only thing I would need insurance for is if I was doing a self catering thing and using the kitchen they have on site. For my bartenders they would only need their license if it was cash bar but I'm doing open bar (limited tab) so I don't need anything for that!

Thanks for all the suggestions ladies, you gave me some great ideas on how to save some money, but still be able to provide alchol, and make it a little easier for my bartenders as well!!

Just because I'm serving alcohol doesn't make me reliable for anyone getting drunk. They should all know better, especially my crowd of guests. I still plan on having the bartenders ID if a person looks under 21. I'm not stressing myself over this bar, I can tell you that right now. I'm not purchasing something (insurance) if I don't need it. Once an alcohol is gone, it's gone. A lot of the people we are inviting don't drink to get drunk. The only one I could see this coming from is one of my groomsmen (21st birthday is the day before the wedding) BUT he lives not even 5 mins from the venue! People should know they need to take caution when it comes to the alcohol. My guests aren't partiers, that's one thing I know for sure.

Well my guests know there is a hotel not even a mile from the venue, if they know they will be drinking and won't feel safe they need to book a room. My bartenders are bartenders as a side job. All of this is common sense to people. I'm not purchasing insurance. point blank period. these bartenders know when to cut people off. There won't be enough alcohol to get anyone drunk anyways. you want to get druk, buy alcohol before the wedding leave it in ur hotel room & when u get back to ur room at the end of the wedding ur more than welcome to do what u please!

As a matter of fact I went to a wedding 2 years ago where the bride had open bar (beer & wine) the entire time the wedding was going on from start to finish, not ONE person left out of there tipsy, drunk, unable to drive not even the groom and these people are the same age of the people invited to my wedding, and no hotel was close to their venue! and it was a saturday late afternoon wedding.

While I agree that it SHOULDN'T be your responsibility, it's not something to ignore or shrug off. Purchasing insurance is A LOT cheaper than the possible alternative.

Well they actually asked me if it was okay to put out a tip jar since it's not cash bar.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm defensive I just look at it this way. You're getting free alcohol, food, and dessert out of me. Shouldn't you be respectful enough to watch how much you drink? I can't even get drunk at my own wedding after everything we've paid for, ya'll aren't getting drunk either LOL!!

& plus between all my groomsmen I'm good to go LOL. FH's best man (and older brother) is a bouncer at a nightclub as well. None of my groomsmen are small except FH's little brother. They all weight atleast over 250. Try and get drunk and act stupid now? LOL