Top 10 Wedding bar planning tips.

In planning your wedding, you have a thousand and one things to think about.  Here are my top 10 tips to help get through the bar planning phase a little easier.

1 - Be sure to account for all the guests in attendance to visit the bar.   Don't separate out the guests who drink alcohol and those who don't drink.   Why?  Because even the non drinkers will visit the bar.  I always have non drinks come to the bar to ask for a cup of ice, a cup of soda, or ice water, or straws, or napkins.    Never has their been and event where none of the non-drinkers showed up for something.   You may not have to account for them in the alcohol calculations, but I do buffer my cups, straws, napkins, ice, calculations to accommodate this.  Mixers like coke, juices need to be considered as well. 

2 - Keep communications going with your bartender.   If you need to cut back on alcohol, mixers, or anything that effects the bar, be sure to send your bartender a communication of some sort to keep them in the loop.   These changes are needed so your bartender can provide changes is service to match your needs.   If you purchase less alcohol, your bartender will need to pour less per drink to stretch out the supply available for the night.   

3 - Top shelf or well quality booze.  Here is my take on this.   If you are having cocktails that are straight alcohol then you want to have the best quality you can afford.   If you are going to have Johnny Walker scotch, you want to drink that straight.  It is high quality and expensive.  You want to taste the booze itself.   If you are going to have mixed cocktails such a a Whiskey Sour, Margarita, etc, you can buy the cheap stuff.  Since the taste is mostly from the mixers being used, you don't need the most expensive stuff.  Vodka like Svedka or Smirnoff are lower priced options that give a good level of quality which means they are a good value.   So you will spend less and most likely keep within your budget. If you want beer, wine and champagne you also need to decide on how many and the price point. 

4 - How  much should I budget for booze.    Over the years I have seen this number vary greatly.  I suggest a starting budget of $800 for a modest small event.   Around 60 - 80 guests for about 5 hours. This is for booze only, not the cost of the bartender labor or the juices you may need depending on your event menu. 

5 - The menu. You will want to have an idea of the cocktails you would like.  What kind, how many options, bride and groom signature drink, etc?  One of the ways I suggest saving costs is to set a cocktail menu.   Usually anywhere from 2-6 cocktails to choose from.   From those ingredients, your bartender can also create other drinks not on the menu, but use the same ingredients you already have.   If your bartender is creative and plans ahead as I do, they will bring along, or ask you to purchase, supplies such as mint, ginger, cucumber, or other herbs and vegetables.  With these additional items that are pretty cheap, they can create craft cocktails on the spot.     Not all bartenders are willing or able to do this, so you need to ask if they can do it.   

6 - Champagne toast or not? So this is a tough one.  This is more of an emotional decision.    In my experience I have seen most champagne go to waste. Either open bottles only partially used, or un-opened bottles that cannot be returned.  What I have seen is that most people now a days do not drink champagne. Even for the toast.   If you feel you must have a Champagne toast, consider cheaper Prossecco, sparkling wine or even sparkling cider. You can use real Champagne for the wedding party (groomsmen, and bridesmaids, parents) then provide cheaper options for the guests.   One option is to have a few bottles at the bar, then have the Emcee make an announcement for people to get what ever drink they want, for the upcoming toast.  I think most will get another cocktail.  

7- Hours of service.   How many hours do you want the bartender to be serving cocktails.   What time will the cocktails start?  Will you be having a cocktail hour before the ceremony? Is that part of the time your requesting the bartenders service.   Normally, I ask what time my client wants to start serving cocktails.  This is what I base my arrival time on.  I arrive 1-1.5 hours to do set up and prep.  What time will the drinks stop being served?   Normally the hours of service are 5-6.  I normally suggest to stop serving alcohol 1 hour before the end of the reception.  This sober hour time will help everyone to burn off the alcohol and lower the Blood Alcohol Content levels to prevent drunk/intoxicated driving.  

8 - Event schedule.  This is a big one with me.  As a bartender I provide the drinks to everyone.   It is pretty important for me to know when guests will show up, when they will be seated for the ceremony, when the ceremony will end, when dinner starts, when the toast will be, and when the dancing will start.    Why you may ask.   By knowing the schedule I can plan out times to do prep between the rushes at the bar.  I use fresh squeezed lemon juice and lime juice, so it is pretty important to know when I can squeeze more.    Cutting garnishes and prepping for the toast.    If I have to guess when to do this stuff, it makes my job harder.  I want to give above and beyond expectations, so any little advantage to help  me deliver this is always best.  

9 - Don't try to get all the supplies yourself.   Most people think they need to get everything themselves.  While I agree it is cheaper for you to buy the alcohol rather than have me bring it, I don't recommend you get all the supplies possible.    As part of my service I bring along club soda, tonic water, and ginger ale mixers.  I also bring along olives, onions, cherries, lemons, limes as garnishes.   I also bring with me fresh lemon and lime juices.  I do charge an event supplies fee for these, however I have found over the years that it is to the benefit of the client for me to bring these supplies rather than the client getting them.  Many time the client will forget to bring some supplies for different reasons.    So to prevent the bar from being shut down I bring theses basic items to start the drinks flowing while the remaining supplies are being purchase and delivered.   Several times I have been ready to go only to have to wait for supplies to be delivered, all the while guests are waiting for drinks.  This way I know I can start serving and making guests happy.

10 - Usually at the end of the night you will have left over supplies.  Left over bottles of wine, champagne, spirits, Coke, etc.   This is because no matter how much bartenders try to estimate the amount of supplies needed for the night.  It is only an educated guess.   No one can predict how much your guests will or will not consume in the course of the night.   Based on your knowledge of your guests consumption levels, the hours needed for the supplies to last, and the quantity of cocktails on the menu, it is a difficult calculation to get right on.  These estimate are ballpark figures to be confident most of the supplies will last the night.   In order to keep that budget from going out of control, I suggest purchasing from a location that is willing to accept non used supplies.   I know places such as Bevmo, and a few local shops are willing to take back non used, non damaged, non scratched supplies.   Do your home work to find those places.   You will save money at places like discount warehouses, however you are then stuck with the leftovers.    One option is to purchase supplies you want to take home because you know you will use them, then purchase other supplies that you can return because you don't use them at home.

Please feel free to comment on this post and provide information helpful as well.

What would you like me to post about?  Do you have any questions or requests, email me at weddings@bartendervince.com

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