Wedding: Stocking the Bar

Before Derek and I even got engaged, we knew our future wedding had one BIG requirement: an open bar.

In the three years that we dated before getting engaged, Derek and I had the honor of attending several friends’ weddings together. In our limited wedding guest experience, we figured something out pretty quickly: the weddings with open bars were so much more fun than the weddings without them. If you put a little alcohol in your wedding guests, they loosen up, and fill the dance floor a little more. Wedding guests LOVE open bars, they flock to them.

Exhibit A:

Unfortunately open bars are generally on the pricier side, I’ve seen quotes of $30- $50 per head (on top of the price for food). We knew this going into wedding planning and weren’t thrilled with the numbers. We did our research and discovered a tiny loophole to that predicament: we needed to find a venue/caterer that would allow us to bring in our own alcohol. This was a big requirement when we were venue hunting, which was a little limiting, but not all together impossible. We found a few possibilities and eventually signed with Birdsong Barn.

By the way, we LOVED, LOVED, LOVED our venue. I can not say enough great things about Birdsong Barn! They are basically every bride’s dream come true. Not only could we bring in whatever caterer we wanted (no preferred venue list – yay!!), but we could bring in our own alcohol as long as we had a licensed and insured bartender serving the alcohol to our guests. Woo hoo!!!

The bartender was easy – we were able to contract one through our caterer (A Chef’s Touch) for $150 without a problem – figuring out how much alcohol (+ mixers) to buy was the tricky part. My dad had the good sense to keep the receipt from my sister’s wedding in June, which had a detailed list of all the drinks that were purchased through the night at their open bar. From that list we were able to put together a rough estimate of how much liquor, wine, and beer to purchase. My dad and uncle did a little alcohol research on alcohol prices in the area and discovered Winn-Dixie of all places was the cheapest route (who knew?)).

They had a mini-field trip to the liquor store and came home with quite a haul.

Here’s what they picked up for our 150 guests:

• 2 handles Captain Morgan
• 2 handles Jim Bean
• 2 handles Jack Daniels
• 1 handle Flor de Cana (Derek’s favorite rum!)
• 1 handle gin
• 3 handles Smirnoff vodka
• 2 handles tequila
• 1 handle of Crown Royal
• 2 cases Miller Light
• 2 cases Bud
• 1case Michelob Ultra
• 1 case Blue Moon
• 1 case Bud Light
• 1 case Yuengling
• 24 bottles champagne
• 4 bottles Cabernet
• 6 bottles Pinto Grigio
• 2 bottles Chardonnay
• 4 bottles Merlot

I don’t have a full list of mixers but here’s a rough idea of what was picked up at Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart:

• 6 2-liters Coke
• 6 2-liters Diet Coke
• 4 2-liters Sprite
• 3 2-liters Club Soda
• 3 2-liter Tonic Water
• 2 2-liters Diet Tonic Water
• Cranberry Juice
• Pineapple Juice
• Margarita Mix
• Orange Juice
• Grapefruit Juice

We also had tubs around the bar that were full of bottles of water and cans of coke, diet coke, and sparkling water. We bought the water and sodas in bulk at Sam’s Club too.

The very, very, very rough total of all the drinks + mixers + ice + bartender was just under $1000, which is still a lot less than we would have been paying for an open bar anywhere else (plus we got to keep all the leftover alcohol at the end of the night – #winning!).

I had planned on purchasing some craft beer for the bar, but ended up running out of time/ other things took precedent. In hindsight, I really wish I had because the only beer we bought that I cared for (Blue Moon) was gone before I made it to the reception. Darn. Luckily my AMAZING bridesmaids ended up storing some leftover Magic Hats behind the bar and told the bartender they were just for the bride (god bless them). I think I had three throughout the night and they were amazing. Seriously, the “special beer” behind the bar was the best idea ever. I owe my girls big time for that!

*photo credit: Ashley

Blue Moon was the only thing we ran out of. I think our venue encouraged a lot of beer drinking (barns and bonfires tend to bring out the beer drinkers in people) since that’s what I saw a lot of people drinking. The rum was also hit the hardest, while the wine looked like it hadn’t been touched.

*photo credit: Michael Stinson

(We weren’t drinking straight from all the bottles the whole time! Just “Brother Jack” <– full story HERE. )

All in all, I’d say we did a great job stocking the bar. Our guests were happy, there were no complaints over drinks, and the only thing we ran out of was Blue Moon. We overestimated on everything (including mixers!), but it’s always better to be over prepared than underprepared. Plus, giving away the remaining alcohol the next day (mainly to our amazing helpers) was easier than giving away leftover desserts. Easy peasy.

Did you stock your own bar for your wedding? Any tips you can share in the comments for future brides looking to do the same thing?