r/wedding • u/lala_whocares • 1d ago
Help! Open bar vs consumption bar?
This has been so hard to figure out since between two of our venues one offers just consumption and one offers open for a certain amount per hour. How do you know what will be the cheaper option? Our families aren’t big drinkers but there are a handful that will probably have close to 8 drinks as the outliers. How do you decide which one is the most cost friendly?
Edit: we are planning on 100 people give or take. The drink package we like for open bar would be $41/pp for 3 hours or $45/pp for 4 hours. If we did consumption it looks like each drink would max be $14
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u/topazandpearlevents Planner 1d ago
In my 10-ish years of catering experience, people are almost uniformly shocked at what people drink from an open bar. Think about it:
- Even if you’re not a big drinker (like me), you may have a drink during cocktail hour, a glass of wine during dinner, then maybe another drink afterwards.
- People may not like their drinks, or abandon them for a moment longer than they should, and they’ll get cleared.
- People often double up on drinks toward the end of cocktail hour so they have something at their table while they wait for dinner to be served.
- Consumption is sometimes measured by the weight of the bottles left over, not a tally of actual drinks made. So if you have a bartender with a heavy hand, you may be paying for more “drinks” (in the official oz measurement sense) than “cocktails” or whatever.
I almost always recommend the open bar simply because you know what you’re getting and you don’t have to think about it during your wedding. I know if it were me that I’d be stressing all night about what people are consuming. The only time I wouldn’t recommend an open bar is when a full half or more of the guests are for sure non-drinkers for things like religious reasons.
Either way, I’m sure you’ll make the right decision!
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u/lala_whocares 1d ago
Thank you, very helpful
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u/Just-Yak-8959 1d ago
Definitely all of the above! I went open bar, knowing there weren’t many heavy drinkers, but I wanted to go into it knowing what my cost was and not having to stress about any pre-paid amount of consumption running out and looking cheap if guests had to pay.. or conversely ending up with a bigger bill myself. $45/pp seems very reasonable for open bar and is similar to what I paid!
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u/fallingevergreen 1d ago
Our open bar was better value — we had consumption on Friday welcome party and open bar for wedding, and the consumption bar was the same price for 2 hours as open was for 4 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Icy-Yellow3514 1d ago
We had a similar result. Our welcome night tab was insane compared to the wedding reception's open bar. It probably tracked close to yours, when factored down to attendance.
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u/definitely_right 1d ago
I can't decide for you, but here are some data points and factors you should consider (or ask your venue about):
For open bar, what assumption does the venue make in calculating the cost per head? (e.g. $50/pp assumes each person will drink 3 beers and a cocktail)
How well do you know the crowd? Does that assumption for the open bar line up pretty well with the drinking habits of your guests? Sounds like they don't generally drink much, which reduces the value of the open bar.
What do your guests drink? If they are mostly beer drinkers, open bar isn't a great value in my opinion. Open bar is generally a better value if your guests are liquor/cocktail drinkers mainly.
How late do you expect the party to go? If the open bar is per guest per hour, you could always have a cutoff time (e.g. after 10PM it converts to a cash bar) if your venue allows this.
What are the venue's policies on bringing outside alcohol to serve? Some places may allow you to bring your own wine/beer. If this is an option, you can dramatically reduce costs by purchasing through Costco or Sam's.
Generally, my family are pretty good drinkers at weddings so I opted for open bar.
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u/azaleafawn 1d ago
When people are offered an open bar they will drink way more regardless of what their norm is. Even if they aren’t drinking necessarily, they will set down drinks and forget them, and stuff like that. Paying per person is likely a better value than consumption
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u/natalkalot 1d ago edited 1d ago
We did not even consider anything other than an open bar - and I was kind of amazed at how "little" it cost, comparatively. Sorty I know that sounds stupid, but for 200+ guests it was an awesome okay price, and no - we were not able to throw money around and we paid for the wedding ourselves,
The biggest thing is that we did not have to worry about anything. Any leftovers went to my mom's home the next day where she was hosting lunch and gift opening for the attendants and close family.
Plus, I do not know how you start counting who is going to drink a certain amount, that seems odd. Mind you when they want to estimate to order how much you need for a certain amount of guests, that is figured upon.
Good luck!
By the way, we had an open bar for cocktail hour- then it was closed during dinner and programme, there were bottles of red and white wine on the tables. When it was announced to people to be seated, it was said guests were welcome to take their drink from the bar to their seat if they wanted.
Dancing began about 7.30 p.m. , with open bar back on. Dancing went until about 1 a.m., so did the open bar.
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u/digital121hippie 1d ago
we where surprise at how many people we didn't consider drinkers at all still had a cocktail or two at our wedding.
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u/justaprimer 1d ago
Others have given good advice about figuring out which is most cost-effective, but I just want to raise another consideration -- for an open bar, you know how much it will cost ahead of time. But for a consumption bar, there are no firm numbers or guarantees.
So, how important to you is having the bar be a set cost in your wedding finances? Can you budgetarily manage if the consumption bar tab is unexpectededly high?
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u/TequilasLime 1d ago
Based on those prices, you're gambling that your guests will drink less than 3 drinks each, if you go consumption. The 4 hour amount works out to 3.2 drinks pp. Think most will exceed that? That's one pre dinner cocktail, a glass of wine with dinner and one evening beverage.
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u/alastrid 1d ago
Edit: we are planning on 100 people give or take. The drink package we like for open bar would be $41/pp for 3 hours or $45/pp for 4 hours. If we did consumption it looks like each drink would max be $14
Yes, most people will definitely have more than three drinks over three or four hours, especially if that includes the glass of wine you have with dinner.
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u/scarletbeg0niass 1d ago
If you do a consumption bar, are you still covering the tab at the end of the night? If so, I would expect people to drink a little more than they typically would at a party, family event, etc. If not, I would expect people to drink less if they're covering the cost of their own drinks. But I definitely agree with the comments about people getting multiple drinks, drinks getting cleared by accident, someone not liking a drink and ordering a different one instead, etc.
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u/VeterinarianOld8631 1d ago
We did consumption because the cost of open bar was kinda ridiculous ($110 pp for 5 hours)and the prices of individual drinks were between $6-$10 for depending on beer/wine or cocktail. For us we have some heavy drinkers but most of my family doesn't drink, so it seemed crazy to spend $110 for someone to have a couple sodas. For us, even if it costs the same as the open bar we have more peace of mind just paying the consumption. We basically will have a bar credit that we paid ahead of time and if it goes over that we will pay the difference after our wedding.
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u/AngleComprehensive16 1d ago
Even if you know the guest, some may bring +ones who may drink more than you expect
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u/bitchybarbie82 1d ago
If you do three drinks per person, on average, that’s $42…
That’s $4200 and that’s not including the handful that would drink8 or more.
It would definitely end up being cheaper to do the $45 a person
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u/soupturtleback 1d ago
We saved 8k doing consumption and we had some heavy drinkers
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u/lala_whocares 1d ago
Wow that’s an insane difference. Was the open bar price insane? For open bar for their gold package- so including Tito’s, captain, Bacardi, exc for 3 hrs it would be $41/pp. If we did consumption with this set up it would be $14/drink
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u/soupturtleback 1d ago
It was 22 for the first hour and 15 pp for subsequent hours. The 8k includes service fee and taxes
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u/skiforfreee 1d ago
For the venue I'm looking at, consumption bar drink prices range from $7 to $12 from beer to cocktails. The open bar drink package is $55 a person. So for easy math I figured each person would have to have 5 drinks to pay for the open bar price. I can count on one hand how many people I'm going to invite would drink more than 5 drinks. So for me doing consumption makes more sense
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u/Expensive-Salad-5851 1d ago
Keep in mind consumption can look very different with an open bar than what your predict. Aunt Jane rarely drinks, but it’s an open bar so she tries a martini, doesn’t like it, gets another cocktail and then abandons it on the way to the bathroom. Now it’s still cocktail hour and she’s had 2 sips (2 drinks) and is getting her 3rd cocktail to mingle.
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u/TinyLawfulness3710 1d ago
This is exactly why consumption is never ever cheaper. Waitstaff and bartenders do this intentionally because they know they will get more money, and all cognitive barriers are down when guests are intoxicated and think the bar is unlimited. A flat rate per person for open bar is always cheaper. Add to that, the waitstaff clears glasses as soon as someone leaves fr the restroom or dance floor. The couple is spending more money this way, not less.
Alcoholic vs nonalcoholic doesn't matter as far as price because the couple still has to pay for every soda, lemonade, mocktail,etc.
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u/Legally_Blonde_258 1d ago
I made a Google sheet categorizing all of our guests into non-drinkers, light drinkers amd regular drinkers. Depending on how well you know your guests' consumption patterns, you can use that to calculate a rough estimate of the expected cost of a consumption bar. The better data you have (cousin Jim only drinks Heineken), the better estimates you can make.
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u/kdollarsign2 1d ago edited 1d ago
Can you compromise on the consumption bar and offer two "signature" cocktails included? We did two hard punches in a makeshift tiki bar, along with a champagne toast and canned ice coffee after dinner. (Our venue was a little laissez faire however, and we could bring in coolers of beer.) As far as I know, everyone was thrilled... most of the events I go to these days have three or four specific cocktails included, and guests would pay out-of-pocket beyond that.
I'm sure it will depend on the venue how they price this but at least it's not a free-for-all at the bar and you can manage what they are selling.
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u/whatsnext-2024 1d ago
make sure to check what your open bar includes! we wanted specialty cocktails, but that was a more $$ open bar “add-on” — the regular open bar price just came with liquor & mixers (so like tequila soda v. margarita). we ended up doing consumption for that reason! my parents got the tab at the end of the night & paid the next day
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u/ThickAsAPlankton 1d ago
Is that $41/$45 per person before or after tax and gratuity?
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u/lala_whocares 1d ago
Before!
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u/ThickAsAPlankton 1d ago
So add in tax and gratuity and any other fees, such as an event fee, to get the real cost per person.
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u/BeachEfficient1103 1d ago
Can you buy a keg & a few bottles of wine and when it's gone it's gone?
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u/Coffee4Redhead 1d ago
How long time does this have to cover?
At $45 per person, vs $14 per cocktail, you are assuming everyone only has 3 drinks. If you average at even 3.5 drinks per person you are saving $400.
But if you are only have a short reception and everyone is leaving after 2 hours, then the pay per drink rate is probably cheaper.
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u/Muted_Dinner6877 1d ago
we did consumption bar but limited what drinks we would cover so it wouldn’t be outrageous. it actually worked out fine. shots were paid for by guests themselves but we paid for beer, wine, and nonalcoholic
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u/Novel-Warning545 1d ago
I work in events. Consumption is always cheaper with alcohol. You have to know your guests’ appetite for alcohol and we normally block out top shelf liquor that costs an arm and a leg. If anyone wanted it, they had to purchase it themselves.
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u/Glittering-Heart-293 1d ago
My daughter’s venue was a winery. They asked us to get the liquor license. My husband bought all the booze. The caterer supplied the bartender. We had bus shuttles to take invitees to and from a hotel so those who liked to drink had safe passage. It worked out beautifully.
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u/Ok_Path1734 1d ago
If you are from Wisconsin, an open bar during the whole reception would be financial ruin for you. Maybe 90 minutes before the dinner and have Beer and Soda free after dinner and the guests if they want mixed drinks or shots then would be a cash bar after dinner.
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u/Novel-Warning545 1d ago
Having been to Wisconsin weddings, y’all drinking is borderline concerning but also impressive
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u/ramblinjd 1d ago
We did consumption because the venue we ended up with did that as default and it worked good. 30 people for 2 hours ended up being only about $1500, while a similar open bar would have been probably double that.
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u/pbandjfordayzzz 1d ago edited 1d ago
We saved thousands by doing a consumption bar. And it seemed like everyone around us was wasted anyway.
My rationale was that even if we went a little over, I’d rather pay a little extra for people to have fun rather than be paying extra for people to not have fun.
You really have to crunch the numbers to see where the breakeven point is and know your crowd. But 5-10% of people being non-drinkers + another 20-30% (or more) that will leave before the bar closes will make a difference.
Are you providing a shuttle or how many people do you think will be driving home that night? Does your open bar package include table wine? (Ours didn’t and having that was non negotiable). Are people actually heavy liquor drinkers? I know for me, I do like a good cocktail but if I am going to be drinking the whole night, I’ll drink mostly beer and maybe one cocktail or one glass of wine.
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u/Expensive-Salad-5851 1d ago
On a side note- one of the best things I did was ask to have a lot of my favorite non-alcoholic drink handy and only serve me alcohol when I asked for it. They were on it, if I asked for wine, they brought wine and Diet Coke. Came back to my seat at the table, fresh Diet Coke, standing at another table talking with guests, Diet Coke appeared. Standing in the reception line greeting guests, a little table with Diet Coke appeared behind me. The wait staff during cocktail hour was also really good on hunting us down and making sure we were eating and had a bite of all the appetizers that were floating around. If you know you might have a drink and forget to balance it with non-alcoholic drinks and food, let them know and they will help you take care of yourself.
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