Quote:
Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
I have a question for our resident wedding coordinator.
We've already established that having a cash bar is tacky (which I agree with), but what if cost is an issue? If the couple would like to serve alcohol at there wedding but are afraid it might end up costing them an arm and a leg (of which they have none to spare), how is the cost of an open bar figured? Does the bartender tabulate all beverages ordered during the course of the recption and bill the couple after, or does the bartender/caterer/reception hall, etc determine a set fee prior to the engagment?
I'm not planning a wedding here...not even close  , it's just a random questions of which I am very curious as to what the answer would be.
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Well, I didn't mean to set up residency, just wanted to add in a few thoughts
but okay, I'm elected....LOL!
An open bar can be figured in countless ways - it all depends on who is providing the alcohol, bartenders, servers, etc. One thing that I find in about 99.9% of my weddings is that regardless of said prior things, there is probably going to be a corkage fee -- this is an added fee, usually anywhere from 10-20% per bottle of alcohol (but sometimes can be up to 50%!!) -- this can be charged from the caterer, the facility location, or BOTH! This is where it PAYS (literally) to read your contracts carefully. When a facility offers a "preferred caterer" list, then that probably means that you will only be paying once -- but double check!
A common scenario regarding the cost of a bar is this -- the facility requires you to purchase all alcohol from them. In exchange they give you the quote/unquote "discount" pricing -- but check the contract because they probably will make up for that (and more) with the corkage fee -- you don't want to be serving $20 a bottle wine (that would have cost you $24 if you bought it yourself) and paying $11 per corkage (per bottle)! They will also require you to have a licensed bartender (ie, not your brother Joe who used to be a waiter) to serve X number of people. So if you have more than say 60 people, then you will have to have 2 bartenders, etc. The facility in this case would most likely use bartenders on staff (how convenient for them) and you would probably pay around $40 per bartender per hour BEFORE you add in all the other expenses, including their tip (usually added in according to the total expense of the alcohol which is tallied up afterwards -- ie, you have NO clue what they will be getting!)
Caterers can be just as costly, however, they will work discounts in based on the number of services they provide (catering, cake cutting, alcohol, etc.) Just read your contract for the fine print and ASK about any misleading info that you are having trouble with.
Hope this helps some!
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