“How much will it cost to have a bar at my wedding?”
This is a question many couples find themselves wondering as they start planning their wedding. The short, and frustrating, answer about your wedding bar cost is that it depends. On a lot of factors. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Read on to learn what to consider when budgeting for the bar at your wedding.
There are 4 major elements that can have a dramatic impact on your overall wedding bar budget:
- Wedding size
- This one’s pretty self-explanatory. The more people at your wedding reception, the more expensive the whole thing will tend to be. You’ll need a bigger venue, more staff, more food, and more alcohol. If you’re looking for ways to keep costs down, limiting the guest count can be a great starting point. From a bar budget standpoint, you can usually assume you’ll need 1 bartender per 50-75 guests.
- Reception duration
- Decide how long you want the bar to be open. Do you want just a cocktail hour to kick things off, or do you want bar service during the entire reception to keep the party going? A happy middle ground could be closing down the bar an hour before the reception ends. Wedding guests tend to drink more during the first hour and then settle into a slower pace for the rest of the event. How long the bar is open will generally have a direct impact on your overall bar budget.
- Bar menu
- In most areas, you’ll have a huge range of brands at varying price points to choose from. It’s absolutely possible to create a budget-friendly wedding bar menu that will keep guests in good spirits. It’s also an option to splurge if you have the budget and want to impress your guests with a top-shelf selection. Most weddings tend to fall somewhere in the middle. Beer drinkers are loyal to brand or style, wine drinkers care most about varietal or style, and liquor drinkers will generally stick to their preferred spirit regardless of brand. For simplicity or budget reasons, you may consider just serving beer and wine. If you want to offer cocktails but don’t want to stock a full bar, signature drinks are a great choice. Avoiding anything that’s obviously bottom-shelf is a good idea, but otherwise the options are broad.
- Bar service provider
- The bar service you choose can make the single biggest difference, both to your budget and in terms of how much control you have on the menu. In some cases your venue may limit your options, but if you have the choice consider carefully. It could save you THOUSANDS. The two main types of bar service providers are full-service alcohol caterers and dry-hire bartending services. More information about differences between them is below.
A full-service alcohol caterer will provide all alcohol and mixers served at the event. This can be quite convenient, but you will pay a massive premium and have relatively little control over which specific brands will be served. Pricing through an alcohol caterer is generally either by the drink (ex: $10 per drink) or a flat hourly price per person regardless of how much they drink (ex: $20 per guest for the first hour, and $10 per guest for each additional hour). As you can imagine, this adds up very quickly. Let’s say you’re expecting 100 guests at your wedding, have decided to go through a full-service alcohol caterer with the flat hourly pricing from the previous example, and want to have bar service for 5 hours during your reception. You’d be looking at a bar bill of $7,000 BEFORE factoring in any tips, taxes, or additional service fees they may charge.
A dry-hire bartending service, on the other hand, can provide everything EXCEPT the alcohol for your bar. While this does mean that someone from your wedding party will need to bring the alcohol to the reception, this option is fantastic if you’re on a budget or want full control over the bar menu. A dry-hire bartending service will still help you figure out what to serve and how much to buy. But because you’re actually providing the alcohol, you don’t pay a markup on it as you would through a caterer and any alcohol left over at the end of the event is yours to take home. Dry-hire bartending service pricing varies by provider, wedding size, and what is included in the bartending package may differ. For example, North Georgia Bartending’s pricing starts at $750 for 5 hours of bar service with 1 bartender and includes all of the essentials such as cups, straws, napkins, garnishes, basic equipment, and insurance coverage. Once again assuming a 100 guest wedding and a 5 hour reception, expecting to spend around $1500 on alcohol and mixers is generally a pretty safe starting ballpark. Adding a second bartender is an additional $300, and let’s say the venue doesn’t have an ice machine so you have the bartending service bring ice for another $200. In this scenario, your total bar expenses would be roughly $2750 before adding any tips.
As you can see, you have several important choices to make when it comes to budgeting for your wedding bar cost. How many guests are drinking, how long the bar is open, what alcohol options you’re offering, and what type of bar service provider you hire all make a difference. At the end of the day though, the most important thing is that you and your guests enjoy your wedding celebration.
When you’re ready to hire a professional bartender for your north Georgia wedding or other event, our small team at North Georgia Bartending is here for you. Put us behind the bar, save thousands of dollars vs. traditional alcohol catering, and we’ll take great care of you and your guests!
call or text: 470-641-2581