Providing own liquor question

[So_happy]

Okay, several wks ago I was deciding between a $22/pp or $18/pp full open bar. We ended up going with the more experienced caterer with the surprisingly lower open bar package.

Since then, I''ve blown our budget on my gown (bought another for $700) and FI and I have expanded our guest list from 75 to 100! This puts things in a very tight situation and we are re-committed to looking at the smaller things to try to save some money. The way we see it, we''d rather me have the gown of my dreams and more of our dearest friends there than vellum paper in our invites etc. (lol)

To make my point, even if BYOB-ing is only going to save us $500 (which is what I''ve estimated), we are re-commited to the project in a big way as now that $500 will really help balance our budget some! Thus, I would love your help designing a fun semi-open bar that is uncomplicated to stock yet has some diversity without having every little thing one would hope for. This is a cocktail reception so I do want COCKTAILS but I guess I don''t want to buy a bottle of Jhonny Walker black label and only one guest uses it because it is there and then that bottle just sits there for the rest of the time. We found a liquor store that will deliver and pick up stuff and also credit back unused bottles so thats fantastic news.....

But what would be a fun selection of beer, wine, and spirits that are considered the basics and can possibly be used for many different kinds of drinks? (FI and I love our Malibu so we''ll have that for sure

).

If we get 100% attendance, we''ll have 100 guests. Sunday eveining 7-11pm reception.

 

[Jaders731]

So_Happy...

I cant really help too much on the cocktail itself.. but my absolute favorite red wine is the Pepperwood Groves Merlot.. and it comes in at a whopping $6.99 a bottle.. I love it.. As far as wine goes.. you can find some absolute great wines for under $10 a bottle.. and A LOT in the $7 range... you just have to look. Not sure where you are located.. but I know I can find the Pepperwood Groves Merlot at Winn-Dixie and Publix. I have also seen it in Wine stores in New York.
I would not however suggest any of their other varietels... ick...
Also.. another red that is fantastic and under $10/bottle is the Tapiz Cabernet (although any of their varietels are SUPER YUMMY.. their malbec makes me drool!!) Wow.. I just realized just how much I sound like a lush.

Also... if you can find local "homegrown" winery''s.. they also have cheap wine.. my Grandfather lives near Orlando and there is a GREAT (read: cheap) winery called Lakeridge Winery.. they have GREAT wine.. yummy too.. and super cheap... (less than $10 a bottle... ) They also ship!!!

Whatever your location... you should see if there is a local winery.. and that will help if you can find wine cheaply... Also it will help contribute to your local economy.. which I love!!!

Remember.. networking is always good too.. Since my Fi and I got engaged.. I have found out that my mom''s neighbor is a Budweiser distributor... HELLOOOOOOOOOO??? LOL.. sooo needless to say.. he is helping out with our rehearsal dinner! Think about who you know and who they know.. with a wedding.. it can NEVER hurt to ask for help!

Hope that helps a little bit!

 

[Kismet]

Vodka, gin and run would be staples for a lot of mixed drinks. Vermouth and scotch would be good too. Ask the liquor store for their input as to quantity of booze as well as mixers, ice & garnishes. As to brands, buy what you like to drink because I assume you''ll get to keep the opened bottles.

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/14/2007 8:21:05 AM
Author: Jaders731
So_Happy...

I cant really help too much on the cocktail itself.. but my absolute favorite red wine is the Pepperwood Groves Merlot.. and it comes in at a whopping $6.99 a bottle.. I love it.. As far as wine goes.. you can find some absolute great wines for under $10 a bottle.. and A LOT in the $7 range... you just have to look. Not sure where you are located.. but I know I can find the Pepperwood Groves Merlot at Winn-Dixie and Publix. I have also seen it in Wine stores in New York.
I would not however suggest any of their other varietels... ick...
Also.. another red that is fantastic and under $10/bottle is the Tapiz Cabernet (although any of their varietels are SUPER YUMMY.. their malbec makes me drool!!) Wow.. I just realized just how much I sound like a lush.

Also... if you can find local ''homegrown'' winery''s.. they also have cheap wine.. my Grandfather lives near Orlando and there is a GREAT (read: cheap) winery called Lakeridge Winery.. they have GREAT wine.. yummy too.. and super cheap... (less than $10 a bottle... ) They also ship!!!

Whatever your location... you should see if there is a local winery.. and that will help if you can find wine cheaply... Also it will help contribute to your local economy.. which I love!!!

Remember.. networking is always good too.. Since my Fi and I got engaged.. I have found out that my mom''s neighbor is a Budweiser distributor... HELLOOOOOOOOOO??? LOL.. sooo needless to say.. he is helping out with our rehearsal dinner! Think about who you know and who they know.. with a wedding.. it can NEVER hurt to ask for help!

Hope that helps a little bit!

Jaders~ Thank you for your recommendations!! This liquor store I found has tastings once a week I think so I should probably start there for the wine selections. And, how cool is that to have a Bud distributor in your extended family network!! Yay for you I was especially excited by your idea to go looking thru local wineries (sp?)! I will look into it. We''re in Rhode Island so not sure if we have anything good but sure would be a neat idea....thank you!!!

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/14/2007 8:59:32 AM
Author: Kismet
Vodka, gin and run would be staples for a lot of mixed drinks. Vermouth and scotch would be good too. Ask the liquor store for their input as to quantity of booze as well as mixers, ice & garnishes. As to brands, buy what you like to drink because I assume you''ll get to keep the opened bottles.

I went to Bevmo and used thier estimation formula. I came up with a (hopefully) healthy overestimate of

4 cases of wine/champagne,
(6) 1.75 liters of spirits, and
(2) 15.5lb kegs of beer (if we go the keg route...otherwise bottles sound nicer).

The caterer will provide ice and garnishes but not mixers so I''ll probably need to ask the liquor store about that. What are three middle-of-the-road brand names of Vodka, Gin, and Rum by the way? I don''t want to buy cheap brands but also don''t want to go top shelf either but do NOT know what is considered "in the middle"

.

And, what kind of drink is made with vermouth and scotch?

 

[Kismet]

Heh, not scotch and vermouth together. I was thinking vermouth for martinis and scotch either straight up or with a mixer. For myself I buy Bacardi rum, Smirnoff vodka and since my husband is picky about his Gin, Tanquery 10, but Beefeater is a pretty standard brand.

We had a 100 people at our wedding and if you want, I can give you a run down of what we ordered when I get home. I''m pretty sure I still have that receipt filed away.

 

[Kit]

I think this may help you. This is how our hotel (our wedding site) groups the various brands together:

House Bar: Bowman''s vodka, gin and Rum; Early Times Bourbon, Clan Macgregor Scotch

Call Bar: Smirnoff vodka, Beefeater Gin, Jim Beam Bourbon, Seagrams 7 Whiskey, Dewars white label scotch, bacardi white rum

Premium Bar: Absolut vodka, tanquery gin, jack daniels bourbon, crown royal whiskey, chivas regal scotch, bacardi white rum

Top Shelf: Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Maker''s Mark Bourbon, Crown Royal Whiskey, Johnny Walker Black (or Glenlivit single malt) scotch

Top shelf is obviously the best but I think that most people would be pleased with these premium bar selections, and depending on your crowd''s palette, they might go for the call bar stuff. I am not sure there is a huge tase difference between the call and premium selections here...others may disagree. You will notice a taste difference going from call/premium to top shelf though.

Personally I think Absolut is nasty but I applaud their successful advertising campaign

 

[Kit]

Another thought: it sounds like you aren''t too familiar yourself with liquor. If you have a few friends or famliy members whose favorite drink is a vodka tonic, or a pal who loves bourbon, just ask them to make a recommendation for you. That way you are catering to your guests needs. They will also be able to tell you more than any distiller can. Alot of it is just taste preference unless you are talking about super high end brands. In general, people who drink mixed drinks may be less picky than those who take theirs straight because you can taste more of the flavor of the liquor when its just on the rocks or neat than if its combined with sodas, tonic water or juices.

You are going to save so much money going through a distributor anyways! Good work on that one.

 

[Kit]

Okay one more thought: (haha!)

I can''t remember if you have trader joes in RI but even if not, it might be worth driving up to MA to get your wine through them. They will really work with you to recommend a good wine that you like, and their prices are excellent. Another good place to try is total wine, again not sure if they have those in RI, but they have a supermarket sized selection of wines and they will probably work with you on tastings, etc. At TJs we used to regularly find decent bottles for $5 or $6, typically from Argentina, that were great. Now FI is buying wines at Whole Foods

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/14/2007 10:29:12 AM
Author: Kismet
Heh, not scotch and vermouth together. I was thinking vermouth for martinis and scotch either straight up or with a mixer. For myself I buy Bacardi rum, Smirnoff vodka and since my husband is picky about his Gin, Tanquery 10, but Beefeater is a pretty standard brand.

We had a 100 people at our wedding and if you want, I can give you a run down of what we ordered when I get home. I''m pretty sure I still have that receipt filed away.

Oh, Kismet, how lovely of you!!! I''d do much better with an estimated dollar amount!! I''m happy to have my amounts estimated but that really doesn''t have any meaning for me until I can put dollars to sense So, yes, please pass any info along

 

[So_happy]

Kit~ How detailed you are! I love it I think FI and I personally recognized more of the name brands in your call list than the others...don''t know what the means about OUR level of taste (

) but I think since we''re comfortable with those names, that we''ll probably use that list as our guide!! Btw, how does one develop the ability to KNOW how to classify brands like that? I''m not being flip; I''m actually very impressed! Or is there some national standard? (don''t laugh at me if that question was sooooo naive!!!

)

You all are being so detailed and that is what I need right now (and will help me voice my needs later when I go to the liquor store......as you can probably tell....I usually mumble and fumble when talking about this stuff!). Any more/different suggestions on liquor are very very appreciated. Additionally, if you have any recommendations for a good list of mixers, knowing that I''ll be buying only the most common 5 or 6 types of alchohol, would be fantabulous!!!

Caterer says juices are included, but I want to make sure that doesn''t mean "just" OJ. I''d like pineapple and cranberry to add diversity to these cocktails

 

[Kit]

SH,

I think your call idea is a good one. Unless you want to go with top shelf, then I think that most people aren''t going to notice the difference between tanqueray and beefeater. The categories are based mostly on price. Therefore you will be saving the most while not going super cheap and nasty--aka sending your guests off with a nice hangover as a thank you for attending your wedding. LOL!

I think that there is a 1.50 or 2.00 difference per drink between the call and top shelf liquors. I think that our hotel classified them like this but perhaps there would be differences among hotels--I don''t really know to be honest.

For mixers, off the top of my head I will say you want tonic, club soda, cranberry juice, oj, coke, ginger ale and that will cover a lot. Oh also dry and sweet vermouth. I am not sure how many people will order Manhattans though, but why not just get a bottle? It''s cheap. Be sure to have plenty of lemons, limes, oranges and perhaps even cherries. Kids love those. And olives, maybe cocktail onions if you are feeling really crazy...JK.

With this you can make: v&t, g&t, martinis, cosmos, vodka cranberry, rum and coke, bourbon and coke, bourbon and ginger, scotch and soda, and various things on the rocks. Some people drink seven and sevens which I believe is Seagram''s 7 and 7-up....sounds bad to me but hey.

Not sure if you like maragaritas, if so you''ll need a tequila and an orange liquer, plus a mix of some kind.

Maybe you could browse through a book of martini recipes and pick out a couple that you think are cool. The base for nearly all of those modern ones is vodka and then you could purchase the additional liquers/mixers you need for those and have a little martini menu at your bar. Esp since it''s a cocktail reception. Just a thought.

 

[So_happy]

Wow, Kit, thank you! I am "So Happy" for your assistance!! I aim to price some of this out tomorrow to get a good estimate running around in our heads The caterer charges $8pp for insurance, bartender, juices, soda, glassware, and garnishes and we have to pay at least that to them for we really do NOT want the liabilty to fall on us....we''re VERY happy to have a certified, concerned bartender taking care of our guests and making sure no one leaves too tipsy. And since they charge $10pp more for a full bar (for only 3.5 hrs), I''m hoping going this route costs way less than $1000 (what we would pay going thru the caterer with 100 guests x $10pp).

Sounds possible, eh?

Oh, and...wowzer.....those mixers/juices really DO make a nice selection of drinks. Depending on the prices of all this, I think I''ll keep martinis as a splurge drink option!! That sure would be nice, though

I''m literally copying and pasting all of the suggestions listed in this thread into a Word doc so I can go tomorrow and make a list. Any thing else I should add???

 

[E B]

so_happy,

I'm not sure if this helps, but this is what we're estimating we'll need for 90 people. It's probably too much, but better to have too much than not enough. Through BevMo, the total is around $600 (we're just using it for an estimate, it doesn't deliver to Texas).


BEER:
5 cases Shiner Bock
5 cases Amstel Light

WINE:
20 bottles white
20 bottles red
(We're having both chicken and beef)

LIQUOR:
(2) 1.75L Smirnoff Vodka
(2) 1.75L Bacardi Rum
1.75L Jack Daniels Whiskey
1.75L Tangueray Gin
1.75L Sauza Tequila

MIXERS:
48oz Orange Juice
64oz Cranberry Juice
48oz Grapefruit Juice
1.75L Sweet and Sour Mix
1.75L Margarita Mix
25oz Grenadine

cherries
limes

Various soft drinks

 

[So_happy]

Ebree! Yes, nice list. Now, did you go through those choices and see how many diff drinks could be made out of all that? For some reason, I''m fixated on that particular part of this lol. And no pineapple juice? Would that increase possiblities? Hee hee. I''m driving y''all crazy I''m sure, but since I''m not going to offer everything under the golden sun, I want to feel confident that at least our guests have xx number of options. (I''m a statistical research grad student if that sheds light on my obsession with numbers lol).

oohh....and I do see you have the margarita option in there.....VERY nice which margarita mixer do you recommend? I''ve seen this huge green jug at the store...is that it? or are they all the same?

Ebree, Kit, kismet, and Jaders..........thank you SO much for this!! Any other suggestions or sharing of your own choices in this regard???

 

[E B]

Date: 2/15/2007 1:06:46 AM
Author: So_happy
Ebree! Yes, nice list. Now, did you go through those choices and see how many diff drinks could be made out of all that? For some reason, I'm fixated on that particular part of this lol. And no pineapple juice? Would that increase possiblities? Hee hee. I'm driving y'all crazy I'm sure, but since I'm not going to offer everything under the golden sun, I want to feel confident that at least our guests have xx number of options. (I'm a statistical research grad student if that sheds light on my obsession with numbers lol).


oohh....and I do see you have the margarita option in there.....VERY nice which margarita mixer do you recommend? I've seen this huge green jug at the store...is that it? or are they all the same?


Ebree, Kit, kismet, and Jaders..........thank you SO much for this!! Any other suggestions or sharing of your own choices in this regard???

Don't worry about having everyone's favorite drink in stock. With a decent selection, everyone can easily find something to drink. I could get vermouth or crown, but how many people will choose that over vodka, or rum? With the list I made, I tried to anticipate what our friends (the liquor drinkers) would want.

Now that I'm remembering, I should probably add apple pucker to our list for appletinis (my favorite alcoholic drink!). I hadn't thought about pineapple juice...do lots of people like pineapple drinks? I wouldn't have even thought to include stuff for margaritas if FH's mom didn't love them. The tequila/mix is really for her (and anyone else that wants one, I guess!).

 

[So_happy]

Ebree~ The only thing I think pineapple goes with in your list is the cranberry juice and one of the spirits (I think). What is that...a Sunrise maybe? Hmmmm.......no worries! I''m just spacing out. Your list really is great. That pucker stuff is pretty neat.........and doesn''t one only need vodka to mix with that stuff?

OR..........I''m thining of that new line of mixers that you can find in the grocery store....they have a tall curvy/wavy bottle and come in 6 or so diff flavors???? I think THAT stuff is only supposed to require one type of alchohol and voila a manhattan or cosmo or apple martini is born

Aiyiyiyiyi.........I''d say I need to drink more but that just doesn''t sound right does it?

 

[basil]

I agree with the recommendation to try Trader Joe''s for good, cheap wine. There are a bunch of locations in Mass, but not all of them carry wine, so check the website beforehand if you go. I used to get a great red wine there for $5.49/bottle. My parents served it to their friends (without them knowing it was $5.49) and they loved it so much that they ended up buying a few cases for their daughter''s wedding. Worse comes to worse, you could always get two buck chuck! (which was $2.99)

Where in RI are you getting married? My fiance and I want to get married in RI but we haven''t been up there to visit any of the locations so I''m always looking for good recommendations!

 

[Kismet]

Here''s the details of our bar tab. The negative amounts are what we returned. These are, however, 1998 prices so I don''t know how relavant they are to you. We greeted people at the door with a glass of Pinot Gris, we had an open bar for 5 hours, we had the Merlot & Chardonay with dinner and a champagne toast. We kept all the opened bottles and a few of the unopened bottles of wine. (Sorry about the formatting but the forum strips out all the extra spacing & tabs.)
5 ltr absolut vodka 94.95
2 ltr beefeater gin 37.98
1 ltr dewars whisky 22.99
1 ltr glenlivet scotch 24.99
1 ltr bacardi rum 11.10
1 750 ml jack daniels bourbon whiskey 15.49
2 375 ml vermouth 7.98
1 ltr Seagram''s VO whisky 16.49
2 case Labatt Blue 38.00
3 case Amstel 71.97
2 case Sam Adams 45.98
2 case Pete''s Wicked Ale 47.98
3 case King''s Estate Pinot Gris 413.28
3 case Geyser Peak Chardonay 359.69
18 750 ml Blackstone Merlot 179.82
18 750 ml Segura Brut Champagne 143.82
20 ltr coke 27.80
22 ltr tonic/club soda/ginger ale 30.58
36 ltr Poland Spring water 41.46
5 quart Cranberry juice 11.95
3 quart OJ 5.97
2 quart Grapefruit 3.98
6 3lb bag ice 40.50
1 quart bloody mary mix 3.49
2 3lb bag ice 12.00
1.5 case Geyser Peak Chardonay -179.82
4 bottles Blackstone Merlot -39.96
12 ltr coke -16.68
15 ltr Poland Spring water -17.25
1.5413 case Labatt Blue -29.27
2 case Amstel -47.98
1.75 case King''s Estate Pinot Gris -241.29
4 ltr absolut vodka -75.96
1 ltr beefeater gin -18.99
6 750 ml Segura Brut Champagne -47.98
2 quart fruit juice -3.98
2 quart Cranberry juice -4.98
12 ?? -11.40
974.70

​

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/15/2007 7:33:49 AM
Author: basil
I agree with the recommendation to try Trader Joe''s for good, cheap wine. There are a bunch of locations in Mass, but not all of them carry wine, so check the website beforehand if you go. I used to get a great red wine there for $5.49/bottle. My parents served it to their friends (without them knowing it was $5.49) and they loved it so much that they ended up buying a few cases for their daughter''s wedding. Worse comes to worse, you could always get two buck chuck! (which was $2.99)

Where in RI are you getting married? My fiance and I want to get married in RI but we haven''t been up there to visit any of the locations so I''m always looking for good recommendations!

We are getting married at the Towers in Narragansett. Here is a pic (not mine) Narr Towers. It sits very close to the ocean.

Towers at night (where the windows are and lights up top? that is where the reception takes place. it''s a gorgeous way to see the sunset!! windows are on both sides. all mahogany floors inside. no carpets )

We LOVE it.

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/16/2007 9:24:58 AM
Author: Kismet
Here''s the details of our bar tab. The negative amounts are what we returned. These are, however, 1998 prices so I don''t know how relavant they are to you. We greeted people at the door with a glass of Pinot Gris, we had an open bar for 5 hours, we had the Merlot & Chardonay with dinner and a champagne toast. We kept all the opened bottles and a few of the unopened bottles of wine. (Sorry about the formatting but the forum strips out all the extra spacing & tabs.)
5 ltr absolut vodka 94.95
2 ltr beefeater gin 37.98
1 ltr dewars whisky 22.99
1 ltr glenlivet scotch 24.99
1 ltr bacardi rum 11.10
1 750 ml jack daniels bourbon whiskey 15.49
2 375 ml vermouth 7.98
1 ltr Seagram''s VO whisky 16.49
2 case Labatt Blue 38.00
3 case Amstel 71.97
2 case Sam Adams 45.98
2 case Pete''s Wicked Ale 47.98
3 case King''s Estate Pinot Gris 413.28
3 case Geyser Peak Chardonay 359.69
18 750 ml Blackstone Merlot 179.82
18 750 ml Segura Brut Champagne 143.82
20 ltr coke 27.80
22 ltr tonic/club soda/ginger ale 30.58
36 ltr Poland Spring water 41.46
5 quart Cranberry juice 11.95
3 quart OJ 5.97
2 quart Grapefruit 3.98
6 3lb bag ice 40.50
1 quart bloody mary mix 3.49
2 3lb bag ice 12.00
1.5 case Geyser Peak Chardonay -179.82
4 bottles Blackstone Merlot -39.96
12 ltr coke -16.68
15 ltr Poland Spring water -17.25
1.5413 case Labatt Blue -29.27
2 case Amstel -47.98
1.75 case King''s Estate Pinot Gris -241.29
4 ltr absolut vodka -75.96
1 ltr beefeater gin -18.99
6 750 ml Segura Brut Champagne -47.98
2 quart fruit juice -3.98
2 quart Cranberry juice -4.98
12 ?? -11.40
974.70

​

VERY helpful!! Thank you

 

[basil]

Hey So_Happy,

The Towers looks gorgeous! Narragansett is such a pretty place in general, though I''m from the other side of the bay myself. We also want to get married near the water...there are so many locations in RI that are next to the water too. I think we are going to start looking in the Bristol area because of sentimental reasons for me, but if we don''t find anything we like, we''ll start moving outwards from there.

I would love to pick your brain about your experience with caterers in RI, but I''ll stop hijacking your thread now

I live in western PA now, so I guess I''m a little homesick for the ocean these days...

 

[So_happy]

Date: 2/16/2007 6:57:38 PM
Author: basil
Hey So_Happy,

The Towers looks gorgeous! Narragansett is such a pretty place in general, though I''m from the other side of the bay myself. We also want to get married near the water...there are so many locations in RI that are next to the water too. I think we are going to start looking in the Bristol area because of sentimental reasons for me, but if we don''t find anything we like, we''ll start moving outwards from there.

I would love to pick your brain about your experience with caterers in RI, but I''ll stop hijacking your thread now

I live in western PA now, so I guess I''m a little homesick for the ocean these days...

I''ll do my best on teh caterer thing. I know who WE picked (Blue Rocks from Middletown, RI) and I know one other company I would recommend AGAINST anyone using (Pinelli Marra) . I also have a list of the "most preferred" caterers (also usually quite pricey) but dont'' have personal experience with them. However, this list is considered the "hot" list around the area and you pretty much can not go wrong with choosing someone on it. Note: Pinelli Marra wasn''t on this list lol. When I dig the list out from beneath the mountain of paperwork on my desk, I don''t mind posting it.....or let me know your email address and I can send it to you backchannel.