Alcohol?

[Sarns00]

Hey all...new here, so I apologize if this has been discussed elsewhere already. Looking to plan a Wishes wedding for about 100 people....April or September 2011 wedding at the Pavilion with a reception at the GF. The cost calculator on Disneyweddings.com gives a pretty broad range on cost, so it's tough to nail down the different things that affect that range. In particular, I'd like to know what the added cost is for an open bar? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lurkyloo]

This website has a ton of Disney Fairy Tale Weddings menus and bar packages, most of them up-to-date.

http://www.magicalkingdoms.com/ftw/wdw/menus.html

By looking at the bar packages, you will see Disney's price per drink for the various kinds of alcohol and also the price per person for a package. When you pay a flat rate per person, Disney calculates it based on a certain number of drinks to start and for each hour thereafter. Most people find that their guests drink far less than Disney estimates, so usually the most cost-effective option is to Bill On Consumption (be charged for exactly what people drink) rather than to buy a package. Even if you have a few heavy drinkers, these will be balanced out by the people who only have 1 or 2 drinks all night.

 

[twiu]

I had over 100 people at my wedding and I would say 75% were heavy drinkers. Our wedding was also at night at ADH (we like to party, what can I say?). My wedding was over a year ago but I believe we paid about $28.00++ for alcohol. This was the lowest of the open bars.

It basically had all the basics - vodka, rum, tequila, gin, beer & wine.. and none were generic brands. Just the lower end. So basically they had Smirnoff vodka as opposed to Grey Goose. Cuervo instead of patron. In my opinion, you're getting free drinks, no one's going to care that it wasn't Grey Goose

Anyway, if your guests are anything like mine.. there was no way we could've done a BOC. No way! I personally had at least 8 - 12 drinks... at $8.00 - $12.00 a pop.. yeah, no way.

As for money, you can have your open bar count toward your f&b minimum. Since my wedding was so late at night, I didn't mind having the fanciest food in the world. So, it evened out with my liquor cost. I had to spend $100 a head... and did so perfectly. My menu had pastas and steak.. but it was a buffet. No added extras - but people had plenty to drink.

So, estimate how much drinking your guests will do. I think it depends on the atmosphere of your wedding. Mine was not a typical wedding reception - I literally had a party so there was no option when it came to open bar.

 

[twiu]

Oh another thing to think about...

When you have open bar (even if it's bill on consumption) your guests just assume it's free so they will grab a drink, set it down, forget it, grab another drink...
not good.

Also, you can take an hour out of your bar but shutting it for 1/2 hour while people are eating.. and open it up again. And then calling last call 1/2 hour before your reception ends.

HTH>

 

[Sarns00]

Oh another thing to think about...

When you have open bar (even if it's bill on consumption) your guests just assume it's free so they will grab a drink, set it down, forget it, grab another drink...
not good.

Also, you can take an hour out of your bar but shutting it for 1/2 hour while people are eating.. and open it up again. And then calling last call 1/2 hour before your reception ends.

HTH>

Thanks to everyone for the help...Twiu, you make some very good points that I hadn't thought of. My friends are all heavy drinkers so I think the pay per head option will work the best for us.