How long does the Virginia ABC liquor license take to be approved?

Well aren't you a lucky duck! I just so happen to be an employee of Virginia ABC! Lol! I work the retail end, though, not central office where the approvals come from. So while I'm unable to provide a definite number of days, I know the process doesn't usually take overly long. This time of year, though, they may be a bit bogged down with applications. I'd give it another few days before really freaking out. And maybe in that time, I can do a little behind the scenes research for you, find out the name of someone you can contact directly in Richmond to speak to about your license. ETA: Spelling is hard.

My sorority was able to get one in about a week and a half for a function.

Thank you both so much for reassuring me! I'll definitely provide an update here in a few days. Hope it gets approved soon!

Our application still shows up as pending online. And no response from our contact. I had FH call the main ABC number, and he got directed to the same voicemail box. FH left a message too, but I'm sure the contact is being bombarded by tons of messages from many different couples since it's wedding season.

My venue had a a horror story about that! They didnt get it in time for the wedding! But i think they waited until a week before

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Hi ZeldaBride - sorry to dig up such an old post, but we are also coming down to the wire on our Virginia ABC license. Our wedding is this Sunday, September 5th.

We applied online on Tuesday (8/24). When applying online it says it needs to be done 12 days before your wedding (check). However, when they reached out for supporting documentation, it said it would take 10 business days, which wouldn't be in time for our wedding.

Is there anything I can do to help the process? Or maybe you can talk me off the ledge here - do they typically process faster/prioritize events that are closer

View Quoted Comment What ended up happening?? I just applied for my va abc license and my wedding is in about 2 months, but the website says is takes 60-90days on average so I’m pretty curious about this timeline.

View Quoted Comment We applied 12 days (7 business days) before our event and it was approved 4 days (it took 6 business days) before our event, so you should definitely be fine.


I think they try to prioritize ones that are coming up soon so yours may take a little longer than our experience, but I wouldn’t be worried about it.

Hi everyone, I am a little panicked because I submitted my banquet license on (March 28th) for my wedding on May 21st. Every time I check my portal- it still says it is submitted... I am worried my application wont go through in time and we would have all this money wasted on our alcohol.

View Quoted Comment Hi! Question, did you get your license? How long did it take?

View Quoted Comment Did it get approved?

Lol my fiance and I are having this exact panic attack right now and after googling found this page. We just submitted our application for a May 28 wedding... always thought it was something you needed 10 days out/max a few weeks out but 60 TO 90 DAYS!? Here's hoping ABC is on top of it? Good luck to you all and keep us posted on when yours gets approved! Would love to know if there are any ways to contact/expedite but hopefully they prioritize by date of events. Eek!

View Quoted Comment We finally got it. I had to call our regional office because they switched to a new system and our license got back logged.

View Quoted Comment That was my exact panic. I was trying to stay on top of everything. I saw the 60-90 days and about threw up… Normally it takes a few business days. If you don’t hear back within a few weeks (12 days ish) I would call the regional office of your area

Good morning! I have an update! After having a full panic attack on Saturday after submitting our application and seeing the 60-90 days turnaround time, when we get married May 28, we have been approved and have the banquet license in hand. No idea what the deal is with the 60-90 day thing, but for us it apparently took .5 business days? PHEWWWWWWWWWW. Hope everyone else has the same luck. Now to go deal with the other 398873 planning things on fire… Good luck all!

View Quoted Comment Hi! It did but I had to call because they lost my application

So glad I found this thread. I'm over here nearly in tears and about to throw up because I hadn't thought it would take 60-90 days and my wedding is Aug 4th. I'm glad to see it's possible to get it within a few-ish business days and I'm going to call tomorrow. Wish me all the luck! I need it!