corkage charge

Are you able to bring in your own alcohol? the reason I mention it is our venue where we are having our reception will not allow you to bring in outside alcohol so we have to get it via them. Wouldnt want you buying loads and unable to use it. Is it not in your contract he cost of corkage?

As Jen-Lou said, wouldn't this have been in your contract?

Hi, No its not in there. The woman at the hotel spoke to us and said we could bring in our own drink but pay the corkage, at the time we didn,t really think about it as it was so long ago when we booked it but now its a few months away I am starting to think more about this kind of stuff

I cant really comment on hotels, but some restaurants charge a couple of £ per bottle.

Can't you just email your venue and ask them?

It is essential you speak to the venue ASAP. The venue set the corkage charge - it could be anything from £5 to £15 a bottle.

You need to get it in writing from them - fee per bottle and a clarification question, eg "Is that £xx per container opened or does it work on the volume?"

We got around this at our son's Christening by buying Champagne in magnums!

Our venue allows us to bring our own wine/sparkling/champagne and charges us per bottle. It's in their price list, so I'd ask your venue. for an idea, our corkage costs are:

Still wine £9.50 per bottle

Sparkling wine £10.50 per bottle

Champagne £12.50 per bottle

It doesn't make sense for us to supply our own table wine since there's is only £15 a bottle, but we may do our our sparkling or champagne.

Paula - That's so clever buying the magnums to save per bottle! Never thought of that! Will definitely look into that.

What Paula said.

Its easily said with hindsight but don't sign up to anything without knowing exactly what it'll cost.

Hi

The corkage fees at our venue are £14 per bottle and the cheapest wine they provide is £17.80 so they have you by the b****ks really.

I'm sure they all vary greatly though so definitely inquire first.?

I too was going to suggest using larger bottles, or even casks behind the bar! You can actually get reasonable wine in a cask, and after a few drinks, guests wont notice! Several wines like wolfblast come in 1lt bottles or larger, but really depends whats in the fine print, if this is classed as 1x corkage charge, or per litre? Get it in writing whatever they say.

We provided the prosecco for both our 50 per bottle, the other £5. Many charge more for magnums overall it meant our fix was about half price and was one we knew we liked so it is worth looking at. Flat wine we didn't bother.

Glad this popped up!

big sis is allergic to alcohol, but doesnt want to feel left out with toasting. she has found a great alc free merlot called 'fre'. the venue want £8 pb for this. or they are looking to see if they can source it.

kind of think £8 is harsh, but sis is worth it! hoping they source and charge less....

We're paying £15 corkage per bottle of champagne at our venue. Considering they want £40 for their cheapest champagne which OH thinks is rubbish, and we are being bought the champers as a wedding gift - it works out better for us.

I paid £8 per bottle corkage for my daughters wedding at a Holiday Inn almost 3 years ago. I think its standard practice if you dont buy the wine from the venue.

My daughter wanted her favourite wine which incidentally came from Sainsburys on one of their 25% off 6 bottles or more, but even with the corkage it still worked out cheaper buying our own than the wine from the Hotel.

Linda

I have just been quoted corkage of £15 per bottle for Prosecco and £10 per bottle for still wine by my venue for my 70th Birthday celebration for just 2 drinks per guest, and was shocked by the quote. If the wine at the venue had been cheaper I would have used theirs but Prosecco was £26.50 per bottle and house wine £19.50 per bottle. I have already paid for room hire (albeit negotiating a lower fee, apparently it's free on a Friday night but due to guests unable to do this). A 6 item Buffet for 65 guests is also booked. I feel that as it is only a birthday celebration th3se prices ar very high.

I am still reeling from a conversation I had with our venue last month.

We are getting married in a National Trust property, we are literally only there for about an hour. They have chanrged us £1500 just to have the ceremony there, and it will still be open to the public.

We booked last May and asked about drinks and canapés packages for during our photos after the ceremony.

We were assured details would be forthcoming, never materialised.

Got an email early January to say that they can no longer offer the drinks and canapés packages, but “would I be happy to pay £9 per bottle corkage if we brought our own”!

What grates is that I used to be the Wedding Coordinator there, and it’s where we met. I never charged couples corkage as the drinks were only ever poured out and not formally served.

To top it off, the wedding coordinator is about to leave, and we have no contact details about who will be taking over, neither has anyone been in touch so far!

There are only 4 weddings booked in for the whole year, so it’s not like they haven’t for round to us yet.

I am waiting on their response. Will let you know how I get on.