Alcohol and Wedding Receptions?Everything You Will Need to Know

Home
>
Marriage & Wedding
>
Alcohol and Wedding Receptions?Everything You Will Need to Know

Alcohol and Wedding Receptions?Everything You Will Need to Know

Sure you want your guests to enjoy themselves at your wedding reception, but if you don't want to break the bank or the law here's what you will need to know, including how to calculate how much to buy.

Unquestionably, one of the hottest topics that must be dealt with when planning a wedding reception is whether to have an open bar or a cash bar. Why does this particular topic tend to be so controversial?

Well, for one thing, some people will tell you that it would be rude to invite guests to your reception, then ask them to pay for their own drinks. On the other hand, an open bar-at which your guests drink for free, perhaps into the wee hours of the morning if they last that long-could leave you with a bill that will forever remain etched in your memory.

Both points of view are well taken. It's true that one wouldn't ordinarily invite people to dinner or a party with the expectation that they will pay for what you serve. But it is equally true that people tend to be overly indulgent, not to mention downright wasteful, with alcohol they aren't paying for. They will take a sip or two, set their glass down and begin talking, then walk away. Later, instead of returning for their glass, they will head for the bar to order yet another drink. So, what's the answer?

Options, Anyone

There really isn't a correct answer, but there are options. You could:

*Serve free champagne punch. Since it is relatively light in terms of alcohol content, your guests aren't as likely to become obnoxious, even if they've had more than their fair share.

*Have an open bar for the first hour or two. This approach will prevent you from feeling, and looking, like a cheapskate but will allow you to keep your bank account in the black.

*Have each table set to include the allocated bottles of wine or champagne. For example, a table seating six to eight people might be decked with two bottles of wine or champagne. Since you can expect each bottle to hold between 4 and six glassfuls, everyone will have one to two glasses for dinner and the toast. (Obviously, you will want to have the toast as early as possible to avoid an embarrassing situation in which guests will be forced to hold up empty glasses.)

*Use the open-and-shut-case approach. This requires purchasing beer kegs or cases of good-quality beer, plus several cases of good-quality wine. Since you have purchased the supply in advance, you will determine just how much is being spent on drinks.

For guests who insist upon drinking until the cows come home or would like something stronger, make a cash bar available.

*Have waiters and waitresses serve drinks from a tray. This approach is not only stylish, it is also quite cost effective because you remain in control of how much is consumed.

Choose a few different drinks to be served, including beer and wine. Then have the staff circulate throughout the reception area at pre-scheduled intervals. Perhaps the waiters and waitresses might offer drinks when the reception starts, then just before or during dinner, then a few times later in the evening but not throughout the night. With tray service, you guest will not pay for their drinks, but this will still be a lot cheaper than having an open bar.

At-home Receptions

If you are planning to have your reception in a home or backyard and you will not be using a caterer, here is what you will need to know.

In this situation, a cash bar is simply not one of the available choices. It is against the law to sell alcohol without a liquor license. (You wouldn't want to spend your honeymoon in the pokey.)

If the home is not equipped with one, you will need a rented bar (or a sturdy table or two, dressed to the floor or ground with linen). Plan to stock the bar or table(s) with beer, vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, cordials (liqueur), brandy, gin, wine, sparkling juice, and possibly punch.

Offering a sparkling white wine is also nice. If you are planning to serve champagne (Although only a sparkling white wine made in the Champagne region of France can be truly called champagne, people often refer to any bubbly by that name.), expect to pay more. A decent bottle (You will only disappoint the true connoisseur, and they are a dying breed.) will cost between $10 and $12 and will serve seven to eight glasses. Even at these prices per bottle, you may want to reserve it for the toast.

Borrow or shop for a bartender's guide (Mr. Boston Deluxe Official Bartender's Guide, for example). For your mixologist, you might also stock such things as lemons, limes, celery, maraschino cherries, and olives. You'll also want to have soda water, tonic water, sparkling water, coke, ginger ale, and a few other soft drinks, plus swizzle sticks and cocktail napkins. Last, but not least, remember to have an ample supply of ice (crushed and cubed) on hand.

Standard Guidelines for Consumption

Expect each guest to have four to five drinks at the reception. You'll get twenty-five drinks from a fifth of liquor, providing you're using a one-ounce pony to make them with one ounce of alcohol each. Using one and a half ounces of alcohol (that is, a one-and-a-half-ounce jigger), you'll get eighteen drinks per fifth of alcohol. A single case of alcohol contains twelve bottles. Assuming that you're using one ounce of alcohol to make every drink, then one case will yield 300 drinks.

If you would like to serve beer on tap, half a keg will yield 260 eight-ounce glasses of beer. Seven cases of beer will yield the same amount.

With regard to unopened bottles of alcohol, don't be too concerned about over stocking. It is better to have too much, rather than not enough. Besides, unopened bottles of alcohol can usually be returned to the store.

The Law and Your Liability

Needless to say, it is against the law to serve alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age. The sobering fact is that courts have consistently ruled that restaurants, caterers, and hosts are financially liable when minors who are served alcohol are injured, become involved in a car accident, or break the law.

You can also be held liable for an adult who suffers an injury, become involved in a car accident, or step outside of the law after drinking too much in your home. Caterers and restaurants are subject to the same liability.

Your best protection against legal liability involving alcohol is to plan ahead and react sensibly. If your reception is to be catered, discuss a plan of action with the caterer before hand. He or she undoubtedly will cooperate.

Avoid serving salty foods since they make people thirsty. Foods high in protein-such as meat, fish, eggs, and cheese-will help to keep your guests sober.

Once a person is drunk, it's too late to reach for the pot of coffee. Giving your happy drunk coffee will only make him or her hyper and jittery. If you need to sober someone up, try to get the person to drink water, which will dilute the alcohol in their system and flush it out.

By no means, let that person drive-no matter what they say. Instead, call for a taxi or find another driver to take the person home.

About the Author

Jean Bachcroft is a former public relations director, founder of Bachcroft and Aloha Labels, and the publisher and editor-in-chief of Town and Country Shopping Bargains Magazine. For designer wedding, holiday, and year-round mailing and return address labels, visit Bachcroft Mailing and Return Address Labels and Aloha Return Address Labels

For bargains and bargain shopping articles, visit Town and Country Shopping Bargains.

In The News:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Eloping to Vegas? Why Not Lower Manhattan?
New York Times, United States - Jan 7, 2009
â€œWith these new digs, there might just be a new world wedding capital.â€ The city clerkâ€™s office issued 66600 marriage licenses 2007 and performed about ...
Manhattan's new Marriage Bureau earns wows as a place to say your vows New York Daily News
NY hears wedding bells, aims to compete with Vegas The Associated Press
Wedding Bells Ring In NYC Marriage Bureau WNYC
Downtown Express - Gothamistall 254 news articles

Seattle Post Intelligencer
â€˜Bride Warsâ€™ is a failed marriage | 1 Â½ stars
Kansas City Star, MO - 11 hours ago
And their mutual friends will have to decide which wedding to attend. All would be well if only one of them would cancel (or if they would agree to a double ...
Video: Ann Hathaway's Stellar Year CBS
Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are funny allies Los Angeles Times
Two Weddings and a Furor New York Times
Tampa Tribune - Washington Postall 711 news articles

New York Times
Movie review: Cliches nag 'Not Easily Broken'
San Francisco Chronicle, USA - 3 hours ago
The opening wedding scene in the new Bill Duke film, "Not Easily Broken" is so overwrought and cliched, it's akin to sitting down with a promising novel, ...
Not Easily Broken ( ** ) AHN
Movie Review: â€˜Not Easily Brokenâ€™ is a romantic soap opera that ... Providence Journal
Â» Inspirational drama anything but 'Broken' Chicago Daily Herald
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Kansas City Starall 63 news articles

FOR FAMILIES: A guide for parents to Jan. 9 and earlier releases
Chicago Tribune, United States - 8 hours ago
By Roger Moore | Tribune Newspapers What it's about: Best friends become dueling brides when they both book the wedding they've always dreamed of in the ...

Wedding war: Las Vegas versus New York
KVBC, NV - 6 hours ago
The city has renovated it marriage bureau and even built a 24000-square-foot wedding complex with the hope of becoming the most popular wedding site. ...

Wearing white and eating cake, Brides magazine turns 75
The Canadian Press, NEW YORK - 18 hours ago
"The magazine is realistic about how people's lives are today, but still the focus is how to have a successful wedding and start a healthy marriage," says ...

New York Magazine
City to Make Your Shotgun Marriage Just That Much Nicer
New York Magazine, USA - Jan 7, 2009
Photo: Getty Images Perhaps sensing the economic downturn (and having eventually watched the Sex and the City movie), the city spruced up its civil-wedding ...

MLive.com
Bay County gets older, refrains from marriage, likes guns ...
MLive.com, MI - 16 hours ago
Luczak said economics could be partly to blame, as young couples struggling to get a foothold in life may be putting off the expense of a wedding.

MSNBC
Couple goes from divorce to 'I Do Again'
MSNBC - 10 hours ago
Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs, founders of Hope Marriage Ministries, recount the slow destruction of their relationship, which ended in divorce. ...

KHOU
Houston wedding show could help brides on a budget
KHOU, TX - Jan 7, 2009
â€œI refuse to go into this marriage in debt, â€œ says Ashley. â€œThat's no way to start out.â€ -- Watch the flowers. All those arrangements can quickly add up. ...

marriage wedding - Google News

Your Ad Here

Alcohol and Wedding Receptions?Everything You Will Need to Know

Marriage & Wedding Marriage & Wedding