How Far in Advance Can I Buy Alcohol for Our Wedding?

Alcohol doesn't go bad, so you will be fine buying that far in advance!

I wouldn't buy beer that early but wine and hard liquor you are fine with

I was adding stuff to my cart tonight on the Total Wines website for pick-up at my local store!

Make sure anything with a cork is stored upright or you risk getting a rotted cork. It ruins the entire bottle. I sadly speak from experience.

^ true that @ L&G! I forgot about beer.

Oh yeah, I wouldn't be buying the beer that early. Mostly just liquor and maybe wine.

@Alexis...I never knew that! Why do they make all those wine storage racks that store wines on their sides?

I know most corks are coated with an additional protective layer of something to avoid that (or are not made of cork at all, but a product that looks like cork), but unless you buy the same brand and already know what the cork is made from, I don't risk it. I know for whiskey and Bourbon it's simply from the fumes.

Here's a whole long thing I found about it lol:

Cork taint is a broad term referring to a wine fault characterized by a set of undesirable smells or tastes found in a bottle of wine, especially spoilage that can only be detected after bottling, aging and opening. Though modern studies have shown that other factors can also be responsible for taint – including wooden barrels, storage conditions and the transport of corks and wine – the cork stopper is normally considered to be responsible, and a wine found to be tainted on opening is said to be "corked" or "corky". Cork taint can affect wines irrespective of price and quality level.

The chief cause of cork taint is the presence of the chemical compounds 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) or 2,4,6-tribromoanisole (TBA) in the wine, which in many cases will have been transferred from the cork, but which also can have been transferred through the cork rather than from it. TCA can be naturally present in wood, wine, water, soil, vegetables, fruit, and also in cork. This compound is one of the chief factors responsible for the problem associated with mold liable to be found in cork. Very small amounts of this compound, on the order of nanograms, can be responsible for this defect. Corked wine containing TCA has a characteristic odor, variously described as resembling a moldy newspaper, wet dog, damp cloth, or damp basement. In almost all cases of corked wine the wine's native aromas are reduced significantly, and a very tainted wine is quite unpalatable, although harmless. While the human threshold for detecting TCA is measured in the single-digit parts per trillion, this can vary by several orders of magnitude depending on an individual's sensitivity. Detection is also complicated by the olfactory system's particularly quick habituation to TCA, making the smell less obvious on each subsequent sniff. TCA is a compound that poses absolutely no problems to human health.

We started buying our alcohol a bottle or two at a time several months before the wedding & stored it at home. We only had to pay for beer in the days before the budget. It really helped relieve the budget.

Depends I guess if you plan on returning it. Where we have to buy for our special occasions license they don't allow returns after 60 days.

No returns. That's why my parents are storing it.

No returns. That's why my parents are storing it.

I lived in MA and now in NH, def buy in NH it is waaaaay cheaper. Like way, way to the point people cross state lines to buy it.

I think for liquor and wine you are all set, but I wouldn't buy beer yet.

Agreed NH is Cheaper and if your parents are going to hold on to it i say go for it, but i also agree to hold off on getting the beer. I say wine and hard liquor right now if you want to get it

Liquor and wine you are fine with starting to get. Wait until the week of the wedding to get the beer

Sorry to contradict AlexisM082, but I happen to work in the wine industry and you NEED to store wines on their sides, not upright. Cork taint is definitely a thing, and it effects in some degree about 1 in 12 bottles. However, it's usually not noticeable and it's caused by a natural fungus found in the cork tree itself, and it's just a chance you take with all wines bottled with a natural cork. Wines with screwtops or synthetic corks don't come with this concern, though.

The other issue you need to worry about is oxygenation though - THAT is why you need to store wines on their sides. The cork NEEDS TO STAY WET, otherwise it dries out, and oxygen can seep into the wine bottle. Now your wedding wine tastes like crap, and if its a white wine, it starts to turn brown (think of a freshly-cut apple that starts to brown - it's the same idea).

If you buy your wines now, just be sure to store then at an angle and in a cool, dry place without direct sunlight. To get nit-picky, wines should be stored at 55 degrees or less for storage, and then white wines served at 40-44 degrees and red wines at 55 degrees (yes, reds should be very slightly chilled).

If you're planning on getting sake I would be wary of buying it too far in advanced. It can go bad if stored for too long.

Wine and hard liquor are fine to buy in advance, just store them in a cool shaded place. Back of a closet is fine. And yes, wine bottles should be stored on their side. That's why wine racks are set up for the bottle to lay on it's side. Like SB821 said, you want the cork to stay wet. Of course if it's a twist top or synthetic cork, you don't have that problem. But real cork, you don't want it to dry out.

Beer, I wouldn't buy that sooner than a week or two at most.

Did you get an answer to your question because I have the same concern? I don't want to buy too early, but don't like waiting until the last minute.