Stock our own alcohol or use the caterer's package?

In addition to having to pay for a bartender will they also charge you a corkage fee? Our venue did and it was $25 per bottle. If you have a big guest list and lots of drinkers, that could add up fast.

In general it will be cheaper to stock your own, unless the package is super cheap that they offer. I would do an estimate of what you need and figure out the price including the fees for the bartender, and also get an estimate from them of what it will cost.

There will be no corkage fee, so that's a big plus.

If we have leftover bottles we can just consume those ourselves in the future/bring them to dinner parties.

Do I need more than one white and one red option for wine?

I think it is cheaper to buy it yourself. Typically when you purchase the alcohol from the venue it is either per head or per glass and the price per glass is always increased for profit. You should go over your individual circumstance to see what the price difference would be and if it would be even worth it to you to have to go through with buying your own alcohol. It might be worth it to not deal with what some people would consider a headache. We have purchased two kegs from a local vendor and will be purchasing wine from Total Wine for our reception and the caterer is providing a bartender for the evening. We didn't have a choice regardless because that is just not something our venue offers, but I think I like it better this way anyway.

We have to stock our own liquor and then use a bartender service. We were very adamant on finding a venue that let us bring in our own liquor. It will be saving us money.