Bar costs - Why can't I just do an open bar?

I haven't heard of an open bar option paying per person before, at least I don't think I have. Maybe it's because most Brits are binge drinkers and they know they'll drain the bar for all they can get ? you could just pay for wine and beer and tell guests to pay if they want spirits?

I don't think it's standard practice in the UK.

We are getting married in Spain and we are paying a per head price, for an open bar all night. We went to a wedding in Greece last year, and that coupld also did the same, it appears to be more common in the rest of Europe!

Mmmm open bars are not common here, from several years experience in the hospitality industry I have never come across it. A common thing we did get mostly for office parties etc was a tab being open and all the staff knowing that when it hit say £500 (The person who is organising the parties cash limit) people then would have to start paying for their drinks. Could this be an option for you? I know its not as fun or friendly as an open bar but it will mean you will wind up with a bill you know you can afford to pay rather than just leaving an open tab and it spiralling out of control.

A few of the weddings I have done as well there has been no tab behind the bar and apart from the wine on the table you have to pay for your own drinks so you can expect a few of your guests to be aware that they will be paying for some drink.

Most venues will operate a bar tab or a set limit which when reached the guests then start paying.

My OH is used to having open bars in Australia as his guests are not big drinkers but in the UK it could get quite messy as we like a drink especially when free ?

We are giving a discreet card/token to our guests to show bar staff who we wish to give free drinks and we will put $1000 to cover it and the rest will be paying in the evening for their drinks. If the drinks are so expensive your guests probably won't be drinking too much anyway, that was the first thing I checked on booking our venue as I have been stung many a time with expensive wedding bar tariffs.

As an aside, this could be law based.

We used to go to the holiday inn for our Christmas party, £60pp for a give course dinner and an open bar all night. When the legislation on binge drinking changed they were no longer allowed to offer us the open bar all night as it was deemed irresponsible, so now it is unlimited drinks while dinner is being served and then 10drinks tokens each - which I'd more than enough to still get everyone pi$$ed anyway.

Perhaps that is why you can't find this anywhere in the uk?

Interesting, I hadn't thought of the possibility of it being based in law.

Ahh well, I still have no idea how much to allocate per person for the account bar. Would £15 per person be enough? With 100 guests that put us at £1500, which I guess would be something I'd be paying for an open bar. I just get the feeling that it's going to run out, and there will be people who weren't expecting to have to pay and so did not bring any money!

£15 per head would only buy 3 or 4 drinks each.

I know this isn't the answer you want, but £15 won't go far. In a nice hotel you're probably talking two glasses of wine for that.

I think that you will just need to prior warn the people who are used to an open bar that this will not be the case at your wedding, I wouldn't imagine they will be annoted with buying a few drinks.

We put a set amount of money behind the bar and the venue advised us when it was getting low so we could decide to add to it or not.

We ended up paying £1,500 over about 3/4 hours - this was for 90 guests (£16 per head). We restricted the offering to glasses of wine and beer and single shots and mixers only. No silly shots, bottles or champagne.

None of our guests would have "expected" a free bar, it was a nice surprise for them. I would never go to a wedding or event and expect free drinks so would always make sure I had enough cash.

Why not just have a few free drinks....house wine, beer, soft drinks and maybe 1 or 2 cocktails.

My friend did this at her wedding and it work out great. Maybe ask parents/in-laws to have a quiet word with the people who are used to an open bar and tell them the situation. I am sure they would rather be forwarned and have money with them.

Having an 'open bar' was very important to us and we ended up dry-hiring a venue and getting in our own caterers and buying the booze ourselves. This worked out a lot cheaper than going for a venue with their own bar. I don't know if you've chosen a venue yet but maybe this is something you could think about. Like you, most of the people we invited are used to having open bars at weddings.

We had 200 people for a sit-down dinner in the evening and although I didn't keep a strict eye on the total (as our parents ended up buying some of the booze whenever they saw it on offer in the supermarkets) we definitely spent under £800 and didn't run out at all. This included champagne for the champagne reception, then more champagne available all night; wine (red and white); beer (we went for Cobra to go with the Indian food); gin, vodka and whisky. The spirits were branded as I found them on an amazing offer one day which made them cheaper than Tesco own brand(!). Our caterers provided the soft drinks (water and various tropical juices) as part of our food package, and then we bought in some lemonade and coke too.

We had a fair amount left over afterwards. I think if people are used to the idea of a free bar then perhaps they don't feel the need to drink so much! It probably helped too that they arrived at 6:30pm, then dinner was served, and the venue closed at midnight so it didn't go on too late.

One of the venues we looked at had an inclusive drinks option in some of their packages or as an optional extra but it was not cheap.

https://altitudelondon.com/weddings.html

We didn't choose this venue anyway.

We are having the same dilemma as really would like a free bar for our evening guests but the bar prices at our venue are crazy expensive (£6 for bottled beer, £12 Spririt and mixer)

Our venue has a fixed price per head but we're getting married in Italy so it doesn't really help you! At a recent wedding I went to they had free wine, beer and soft drinks. The groom just let everybody know at the end of his speech which I thought was a good way of letting everyone know.

Yeah, I guess everything will be more expensive than I'm used to back home. I just need to suck it up and get used to it. I want the evening drinks to be free, so we'll probably just end up doing £**** on account and see how far that goes for beer, wine, and whiskey. I think we'll just have all the other spirits be available to paying guests. Wish I could provide them with everything, but honestly don't think it's worth the money it would cost! By that point most of the drinking guests will have already had 3 glasses champagne and 1/2 bottle of wine with dinner! It's just the evening guests I want to make sure are fed and watered properly.

We're doing the same. We're also using the buy back service that Majestic offer. So if there is any wine or beer left over we can return it to Majestic for a refund.

Unfortunately, not doable. I never thought I would use the word 'unfortunately' when talking about my venue, but it's a castle, and they have on-site caterers I must use, and charge an arm and a leg for booze. We've negotiated to provide some of our own beer for the night, though, as OH's best man works in Germany and will slowly be bringing over lots of local german beers to have on offer at the wedding. I think that should bring the price down a bit in the end.

Ah well, if you're going to do a good party, might as well do it right!