Raising the Bar

One of the most expensive parts of any party, especially a wedding, is the liquor. Though removing all adult beverages from the affair is a quick way to reduce costs, it can also severely reduce the goodwill and celebratory nature of your guests. So how to keep costs down?

1. The Champagne Toast. Do you need/want this? Some people love this tradition and want to keep it, no matter what the cost. Others are just fine allowing people to toast with their cocktail or meal drink. A happy medium is finding a cheaper substitute for champagne (as cheap champagne gives an instant hangover and is easily spotted a mile away). Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) is a bit on the sweeter side while Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) is usually more on the drier side.
You can also use something like Welch's sparkling grape juice to really keep the costs down and allow any children or non-drinking guests to join in the toast.

2. The Full Bar. Here's the secret no one tells you: you don't need the full bar. Sure, it's a nice gesture. And yes, who doesn't love to get bombed at a celebratory affair on someone else's tab? But long story short: people will drink whatever you put in front of them - whether the choice is only white or red or they have a full bar to pick from - and they'll be happy so long as you don't run out. It is far better to get 5 kegs of Bud Light and 15 cases of one red wine and allow people to drink their faces off on those choices than to have a time limit on when they can drink. It just reminds them of money and obligations and responsibilities and no one wants that at a party. They just want to be carefree with you and enjoy the moment.
A compromise that some people find useful is providing beer & wine for their guests and allowing the venue to sell any other beverages at their prices to guests who might prefer something else.

3. Bar Staff. Keep it simple and you can keep your bar staff to a minimum (and therefore the staffing & tipping costs down). If you can have bottled beer, twist-off cap wine bottles and a pre-made cocktail (that only needs to be poured over ice or garnished) you can get by with 2 bartenders for 100-150 people and 3 for 150-250. (Another option is to potentially have your servers walk around with pre-made or opened drinks on a tray to help with the initial flood of people at the beginning of the evening.) Keeping the drink list simple also makes the bartenders' set-up and clean-up a lot quicker, thereby limiting the hours you'll need them. And bottled beer (vs keg) cuts down on required glassware as most people will drink bottled beer from the bottle.
One note: bartenders usually like to have a tip jar, either on or below the bar. Some people don't like their guests feeling any pressure to tip, while others have no problem allowing a tip jar for the staff.


4. The Liquor License. One oftentimes forgotten necessity is the liquor license. If you're serving in a venue that doesn't serve alcohol as a form of income, they may not have a liquor license. Unfortunately, you can't cut corners around this. However, you can ask the venue or caterer to fold this into their costs so it's one less issue you have to deal with.

5. The Specialty Cocktail. Unnecessary, but another great compromise to the full bar vs only beer & wine issue. It can also be a playful way to incorporate some personality into the bar: you can play up an homage to the season and your family heritage (glog for a swedish winter wedding) or tip your hat to the locale and its history (mint julep for a summer southern wedding).


Regardless of how you go, hang in there. it can be super stressful but it makes that first married sip that much sweeter.