The Open Bar Question: How much does it REALLY cost?

We estimated about $1500 for alcohol for roughly a 40 person wedding-7 being kids. Our event manager suggested we do a 'By Consumption' package which is saving us a ton

We are buying our own alcohol and hired a private bartender. May be something for you to discuss with your venue?

Girl, I'm the same as you! I budgeted $1000 too! our venue has a bartender included with all the cups, ice and garishes and we dont have to tip (but probably will). And our venue isnt charging tax. We just have to supply the mixers and alcohol. The calculations below are for 200 guests...my ppl are more liquor and wine folks than beer folks sadly. Currently looking for a liquor man tho lmbo. Fiance and I have decided to not do champagne so that will save us loads!

I'm planning on doing the following

1. Wine - 3 buck chuck from trader joes or groupon wine delivery: ~$3/bottle - 100 bottles = $300

2. Hard liquor - I'm scouring the flipp app and selecting different 750ml bottles that are on sale for under $10 each. i'll buy the bottles here and there up until the wedding. Or, I'ma go to Costco and try to buy in bulk - $10/ bottle - 40 bottles for $400

3. Cider and beer - you can usually get beer for about $1 ea. Especially if you buy by the case. I'm thinking 100 bottles of beer = $100 then cider costs about $3 each can so, 50 cans for $150

Adding everything up ($300+$400+$100+$150) = $950...oh and we're buying our mixers (soda, juice) from the dollar store. I figure 50 jugs of juice should be about $50...so that's how we're budgeting our open bar.

Lastly, I'll probably add in signature drinks that we'll mix like margaritas for cheap during the cocktail hour. That way we can slow how much folks drink later in the evening. Jose cuervo mixes cost about $10 ea so, we're gonna buy different flavors, put ice in pitcher dispensers that we already own, and have them set out... that should come to no more than $50-$100. So if we do that would bring us to ~$1100, $1300 if we tip and account for sales tax :-p

I'm having this same issue. From the advice i've gotten (since my venue won't allow me to bring my own alcohol) is to use either drink tickets (2 per person), then a cash bar, OR offer only beer and wine to keep costs down (plus maybe a signature drink), OR to have an open bar for a set time (say the first hour or two), then switch to a cash bar. I'm not sure what we are going to do yet, but it will definitely be one of these three!

Our bar is included with the venue but my DOC said it would come to about $5K (Chicago, IL). We needed to know because FFIL is paying for the bar. It is a 6 1/2 open bar, Champagne & strawberries, martini bar (cocktail hour only), 2 signature shots, premium liquor (I think there were 30 or so different ones), 6 beer choices, and 2 wines for the reception for 200 people. Well vs Call vs Premium liquor can make a HUGE difference in the cost. One of the other venues we were considering was about $3k for well liquor, 2 beers, 2 wines and would allow us to bring a bottle of Grey Goose that they would serve just for my dad...apparently he's a vodka snob in his old age lol.

Our venue does not allow outside food or beverages and we're required to go through them.

They charge by headcount and by the hour.

TBH, I personally was anticipating like 2k (FH was way smarter and he anticipated about 5k). Our quoted amount was over 5k for just wine and beer (2 types of wine, 2 beer, no spirits). Our RSVP/headcount have all come in and we're looking at under 4k for 5 hours.

My venue allows for bring your own bar and bartender and only allows wine and beer so I am hoping this helps cut my cost down. I have a guest count of 150 but my most of my fiances family do not drink and the younger ones might have a glass or two. My family are the heavy drinkers but my wedding is on a Sunday so I doubt they will go overboard.

The best wat to handle this is to do drink tickets, or you could just do beer, wine and a couple of signature drinks that will keep the cost down. My cousin did this at her wedding so that it did not cost them so much.

Open bar is CRAZY expensive. We are either just letting guests pay for their own and let them know in advance that they need to bring cash, or we will buy a bottle of wine for each table which would be $550 total. We are spending so much on food, venue, everything! so we expect guests to be fine with paying for their own alcohol, or just have fun without it.

Thankfully, my MIL is paying for an open bar as her gift to us! She has about $4,000 budgeted and she paid for my brother in laws bar recently. It's super expensive especially if you are paying per head!

Open bars are expensive... I have been a bartender for 5 years and we did a lot of private events (christmas parties, weddings, receptions and so much more) and it is always a hefty price tag. I would budget about $3,000 to be honest and be happy if/when it comes in lower. We are doing an open bar but they don't provide bar services through the vendor or caterer. We hired an outside bar company $510 for labor and travel and setup and ice and mixers. Then we are providing all of our alcohol. We bought wholesale from ABC and this is roughly what we got based on our count from our bar services and guest count (based on 100 guests and open bar for 5 hours):

Bottled/Canned Beer = 6 cases total (1 case = 24 beers) I would get 3 different flavors at the most, 2 cases of each.
Wine = 3 cases total (1 case = 12 regular 750mL bottles OR 6 magnum 1.5L bottles) I would get 1.5 cases white wine, 1.5 cases red wine.
Liquor = 2 handles (1.75L bottle) of each: vodka, gin, whiskey, rum + 1 (1L) bottle of vodka & whiskey as backup. (NOTE: Bottles that are not opened can typically be returned.)

Champagne = 1 case (12 bottles)

Our bar price is $24 per person, we are locked in that price with our contract, so it won't change throughout the years (we signed in August of 2018, our wedding is in 2020.) This includes beer, wine, etc.

If you have a very strict budget, do only wine and beer, or maybe add 1 signature cocktail. There are several online calculators that can help you determine how much of each you will need. Tell the venue that you are limiting it to XX bottles of wine, XX beer, etc.

So glad my venue's price pp includes an open bar! whoa!

This is why I specifically wanted a location that we can BYO drinks. The upcharge on alcohol in the restaurant industry in general is huge and how they make the majority of their profits.

WE are not doing an open bar or consumption bar. We decided to go with a cash bar and list that is is a cash bar on our invitations. It would be way to much money and out of our budget. We are invited about 150 people as well. We also decided on this because we feel it will limit the amount people drink at the wedding and we wont have to many drunk people there by the end o the night.

My open bar is $75/person over 21 for 5 hours. Depends on how many people show up I guess.

It's definitely a know your crowd thing. We had a consumption bar for 164 guests total and it was $7,000 (this included mimosas for my and BP when we got ready at the venue and no outside alcohol was allowed). That being said, I come from a stereotypical Irish family and I got married on St. Patrick's Day. If your crowd are not big drinkers, you'd probably be fine closer to $3,000. If they are typically drinkers, then I would try to budget $5,000. You can cut costs by offering beer and wine only or beer and one and maybe one or two signature cocktails if you want to offer some liquor. You would still want soda if you do beer and wine for anyone who wants a soda instead of alcohol. Good luck!

We are paying $1,800 for an open bar of premium liquor for 43 people.

We are having an open beer and wine bar. It cuts the cost a lot. I'm a professional bartender for a major hotel that hosts weddings every weekend. Hard liquor is overpriced at events. 1.5 ounces of hard liquor often costs more than a 16-ounce beer or 7-ounce glass of wine.