The Open Bar vs. The Cash Bar

This is often a touchy issue with couples planning a wedding and its easy to see why. If you’re not careful an open bar can end up costing around $20 per guest. If you have 100 guests, well that’s easily $2000 of your budget, no wonder couple love the idea of a cash bar (where guest pay for their own drinks) Wedding etiquette suggests that a cash bar should be avoided, but is there a compromise that can save the couple some money yet still allow them the option of providing drinks for their guests?

1. Carefully plan your open bar. Stick to champagne, wine and beer and avoiding spirits and shots as this can easily add up.

2. Limit the time that the bar is open.

3. If you will be buying the alcohol yourself do it at the right time of year when there will be specials on such as New Years Eve or before a national sporting event.

4. Find out if your local alcohol stores have any free vip customer loyalty memberships where you can pick up great discounts.

5. Negotiate the removal of the corkage fee.

6. Prearrange a certain time for bartender to stop uncorking bottles as you don’t want to end up paying for ten bottles of only partially used bottles.

Eliminate shots from the menu

A good way to reduce the cost of drinks at your wedding is to eliminate shots on the menu. Guests can go through shots pretty quickly which can inflate the alcohol cost. Mixed drinks and non-alcoholic beverages are the way to go to ensure that you stick to a decent budget. You might also want to consider having a restrictive bar, which means it would only be open at certain times, perhaps after the speeches or during the meal. This will ensure that your guests won’t be drinking on an empty stomach, so there will be a reduced chance of overly drunken guests.