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When planning your wedding, deciding whether to have an open bar probably isn’t something that is high on your list of priorities or you might just think that it’s a given that you have to have one as a kind gesture to your wedding guests for attending, before you make the decision have some consideration for how much this is potentially going to cost you.
When we were planning our wedding, as well as the usual decisions about the venue, the dress and the number of guests, we had some thoughts about whether to have an open bar, this was important as we were trying to have a wedding on a budget and knew that an open bar would increase the cost, in the end, we chose not to and put it towards our honeymoon in Barbados.
What are the 6 considerations of having an open bar?
The choice to have an open bar at your wedding isn’t one that should be taken likely.
It’s not a given that you have to have one if it doesn’t suit our budget, so are some further considerations before opting to pay for one for your guests.
How many guests are you inviting
I won’t be telling you anything groundbreaking here, but the more guests you invite to the wedding the greater the potential for your open bar bill to spiral.
What drinks are going to be served
No matter what is served at the venue, you are guaranteed that they are going to be expensive.
The number of bartending staff required
Not all venues have a set staff number working on any one night, so if you are inviting a lot of guests to your wedding and there isn’t a set number of staff numbers on any given night, there is a likelihood that you will be paying for these extra members of bartending staff.
Its impact on your overall wedding budget
If you consider that an open bar could cost you upwards of £2,000, you have to ask yourself if it is really worth it and could this money be better used elsewhere, such as an upgrade to your honeymoon destination or see how the other half live and fly first class.
Are you able to buy the alcohol yourself?
Some venues might allow you to bring in your own alcohol.
When meeting with your preferred venue or doing your research, it’s a question that is worth asking, they might not openly advertise the fact that they do, as alcohol is no doubt a big earner.
The potential for waste
Not all drinks that are going to be served are going to be drunk, but regardless of this fact, you would have still had to pay for them.
The alternatives to having an open bar
Cash bar
As the name suggests, a cash bar is where your guests pay for their own drinks.
The benefit of a cash bar for you is that you don’t have to worry about the cost of the open bar and if there is any wastage, it won’t bother you so much as you haven’t paid for the drink.
One disadvantage of having a cash bar is the sense of feeling that at a wedding there should be an open bar and there is going to be a minority that scoff at the idea of having to buy their own drinks.
Happy hour
If you’re adamant that you want an open bar, but not sure your budget will stretch to an all-night open bar, you could consider having a happy hour.
A happy hour is a happy medium between having an open bar and those that want to continue drinking buying their own.
A disadvantage of a happy hour open bar is some of your guests stock piling drinks so that at the end of the happy hour they have enough available where they are set for the night, which means more cost to you.
Limited drinks selection
If your venue has a fully stocked top shelf and a long list of beers that you sell you might want to arrange with them that the drinks that they sell on the night are limited to only a few select drinks, preferably the cheapest.
Limited drinks selections give you an idea of what people are drinking and what the cost is going to be to you, of course, you’re not going to have an eagle eye over all your guests all night.
A limited drinks selection isn’t going to please all of your guests, as there might be some that don’t drink what you have cohen to serve, but that shouldn’t be your concern.
Table drinks
As well as the usual ceremonial drinks, you could decide to set aside an amount to have all your tables have drinks and if people decide to go to the bar after this is finished then this is their choice.
Signature drink
Whether you create your own signature drink or the venue has a creative bartender, you might want to create a signature drink and have this as your free drink during the night, it might not be to everyone’s taste so not everyone is going to be drinking it throughout.
Serve mocktails
Mocktails can often taste just as nice or nicer than their alcoholic alternatives.
Paired with a limited drink selection, this might be the ideal alternative to a full open bar. It also gives people the opportunity to try a drink that is similar to that of its alcoholic equivalent.
Do you have to have an open bar at a wedding?
No.
Tradition and peer pressure have a lot to blame for what is expected at a wedding, though I don’t believe that an open bar is necessary at a wedding.
How much does an open bar at a wedding cost?
Don’t expect much change from £2,000.
Bearing in mind that not everyone that attends your wedding is going to be that person that takes advantage of an open bar and gets up for a refill as soon as they are finished, how much an open bar costs will depend on several factors:
You’ll not be surprised that drinks at a wedding venue can be expensive and you should expect to have to pay anything from £5 upwards for a beer and in excess of £6 for a glass of wine, cocktails are always going to be more expensive.
Using the prices as an example, if you were to have 100 guests and the post-ceremony lasted 3 hours and everyone had one beer an hour that would still cost you around £1,500, in reality, that is never going to happen and so a budget of nearer £3,000 might be nearer the mark.
Pros and cons of an open bar
Regardless of your thoughts up to now, there are pros and cons to having an open bar at your wedding and I’ve set these out below.
Pros
Improved wedding guest experience
It’s often the case that after having a few drinks the night really does get started, people lose their inhibitions and you quickly find that the dance floor fills with uncles and aunts, throwing a few shapes.
It can also make the guests feel looked, remember that you would have paid for a wedding breakfast so his needs to be taken into account.
No need to carry cash
While cash isn’t used as much today, if a guest knows that there’s going to be an open bar it often takes away the pressure of worrying about whether they need cash, and for some, it might be a deciding factor whether they come or not if they are on a budget.
Not having to carry cash is convenient for your guests to as it means that they aren’t having to carry their wallets or purses around, though they will probably have their phones with them anyway and could use apple pay or google pay if they want to.
Cons
Drunk wedding guests
You want everyone to enjoy the experience.
Unfortunately, this can be impacted by having a few drunk guests as instead of remembering the day, it’s them and their antics that people who attended will remember.
Cultural or religious considerations
If you have friends or family that don’t drink for cultural or religious reasons, having an open bar might put those from coming to the wedding, but people will still be.
Final thoughts
An open bar at a wedding is a nice to have not a must-have and whether you decide to have one shouldn’t affect the enjoyment that a guest has, they are there to celebrate your union after all.
If you choose not to, the money that you saved could be used elsewhere, whether that’s an upgrade to a honeymoon destination or it might be something as simple as buying something together that is going to last a lot longer.
A few of the considerations that I’ve highlighted above that should form your decision are:
- Your budget
- The number of guests
- Are you able to buy the alcohol yourself
- Potential wastage
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