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Who can help me... Pricing question

jmarshall

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
249
We are currently discussing the reception, current focus is revolving around the bar..... Anyone have an estimation of how much an open bar will cost per person per hour of reception?
 

TooPatient

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
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10,295
I can't be of too much help here because we aren't having one, but the winery did include a full bar in our original contract. For 20 people estimating 4 hours reception they had added about $2000 to the contract price.

Not sure if this is low or high. We're having wine paired with the dinner courses so (I hope) the estimate was for light consumption.

If you look back through the topics in this area you might find some more detailed answers. I know a lot of ladies here have done them and the price can be rather.... :-o


Sorry I can't be of more help!
Hopefully someone else with more knowledge of this will chime in!
 

vc10um

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6,006
At our Kansas City, Missouri venue these were the costs:

Per Person:
Beer and Wine Only: $13 for the first 2 hours, $5/hour each additional hour
+Cocktails: $17 for the first 2 hours, $7/hour each additional hour
+Premium: $19 for the first 2 hours, $9/hour each additional hour

So for our 3.5 hour reception with roughly 60 adults, it would've cost us $1200+ not including taxes and service fees (almost another 30%, IIRC) to do an open bar of beer and wine. Instead, because my husband's family doesn't really drink, we ended up spending about $500 because we chose to have them charge us by consumption. Still did beer and wine only. And we still picked up the tab. But it saved us a boatload. Now, that doesn't work for everyone, but we lucked out, for sure.
 

audball

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 2, 2008
Messages
4,946
This is something that varies WIDELY by geographic region and venue. Unfortunately there just isn't a going rate that can be expected. More upscale venues will likely have higher bar tabs. Some venues are just venues and don't supply alcohol leaving you to rely on a caterer who has a liquor license. If you can post some more information about where you're looking, some current (or former) brides may be able to give you a better estimation.

As for us...we're eloping so no venue/bar concerns. We'll be treating ourselves to an open bar at our wedding dinner...but the two of us and a few cocktails definitely won't compare to hosting they typical 100ish guests!

Good luck! I hope you're able to track down some more detailed information.
 

msop04

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
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10,051
audball|1377534345|3509966 said:
This is something that varies WIDELY by geographic region and venue. Unfortunately there just isn't a going rate that can be expected. More upscale venues will likely have higher bar tabs. Some venues are just venues and don't supply alcohol leaving you to rely on a caterer who has a liquor license. If you can post some more information about where you're looking, some current (or former) brides may be able to give you a better estimation.

This is all very true. My SIL got married in the same city (Birmingham, AL) as we had our reception... only two months after we did. Our venues were very different (ours: swanky, modern (smaller) wine loft setting, hers: traditional country club). They also had different policies regarding the bar... Ours was $38 "priced per person" for the first 150 people (then $32/person thereafter), while hers was a flat fee of $6000 for serving up to 300 people. It worked out for both of us, as we had about 120 guests and SIL had between 200-230 guests (about $28-ish/person). If her venue had the same policy as ours did, she would be out over $7500!!

That said, my sister had her reception in a fantastic country club near Knoxville, TN, and paid $24 per person. Don't I wish that was the price we paid!! :lol:
 

SB621

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
7,864
Are you getting married morning, afternoon or night? Also on what day?

For example if you are getting married on a friday night ppl tend to drink the most. If you are having a sunday brunch style wedding ppl probably won't drink that much at all. I think my wedding the bill was around $700 for 80 ppl on Sunday afternoon.
 

jmarshall

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 17, 2012
Messages
249
Saturday Afternoon
 

SMC

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
2,035
jmarshall|1377476838|3509717 said:
We are currently discussing the reception, current focus is revolving around the bar..... Anyone have an estimation of how much an open bar will cost per person per hour of reception?
I think the venue that you select should quote you several prices for open bar. It depends on if you're doing wine and beer only or if you're also offering cocktails & hard liquor. It also depends on the quality of alcohol you're offering.

I think mine was about $50 per person for open bar for 5 hours.
 
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