What are some ways to keep booze costs down?

I am getting married at Whonnock Lake in Maple Ridge - I have big drinkers in my family but my fiances side doesnt really drink - We are bottling our own wine, both red and white (more red wine then anything due to that is the drink of choice from my families side but will have a bit of white for others.) 2 bottles on each table at dinner free of charge for the guests. We will not be putting wine on the tables before hand due to we dont want people getting drunk quick and then no wine for dinner. Bar will be open for them to purchase before dinner.
We are doing a very basic drink option - red & white wine, 2 types of beer, vodka, jack daniels, and scotch. We will have selective types of mix for drinks, and of course pop.
My fiance and I both agreed if for whatever reason we run out of a certain type of booze, it will be advertised by the bartender and the guest will have to select something else (which I truly doubt this will happen).
If we have booze unopened that is left over then we will return - downside to bottling wine is that you cant return it, but it's super cheap! Also I can give them as gifts later on & save money that way hahaha!
I recommend doing a Toonie bar to get some of the money back. Or you could do a punch card, spend 20 bucks and get 5 drinks.... some people might not get 5 drinks so you make a bit of money that way to!

View quoted message Great tips thank you!I love the idea of he bartender taking keys.

Ways to help keep cost down for your reception:

1. White and red wines 1 bottle each per table as it can be poured by anyone who wishes to drink their favorite.

2. Toonie bar for all guests to avoid over coverage of alcoholic drinks and juices/pop/non-alcoholic cocktails offered to those guests drunk.

3. Get the bartender to get the keys from the guests and put names on them so they can get alternative transportation home for the night. Have a family member collect the keys from the bartender at some point of the evening. If they are staying at the hotel booked, then its ok since their keys are in the room put aside safe.

Hope these tips do help and keep your guests safe and sober!

Beer, Wine, and signature cocktails!

Depending on your venue, you may be required to hire a bartender, so check with them.

View quoted message

This is such a great idea!! Thanks for this

We are having a open bar but we get to pick different packages so we are doing the standard liquor, domestic and imported beers. We found some advice online explaining that if you have an open bar but put a sign up showing your "signature cocktails" then most people will tend to order one of these. For ours we will have the "Mr" drink which will be Canadian beer (the cheapest beer) and the "Mrs" will be vodka and cranberry juice (one of the cheapest standard liquor) so we are hoping this will keep our costs down a bit

At our wedding, we are asking people on the RSVP what their drink of choice is. Then we only have to get the amount most people like. So far, we know we want wine, beer, and ONE signature cocktail. This keeps the cost down because you're only supplying one kind of wine, one kind of beer, and one cocktail. A toonie bar would definitely help with costs, but I would suggest only doing that if there is an ATM close by. Alternatively, you could have a little box that says something like "donations to help with alcohol cost" and folks can put in how much they have on them. I think a lot of folks don't carry cash/toonies with them much anymore.

We are having a DIY wedding at a hall in maple ridge.As long as we provide the liquor license and have insurance we can provide our own alcohol. I’m just not sure how much I would need and what would be the best bang for my buck.Is it tacky to have a stock the bar party before the wedding?Are pink solo cups going to take my wedding from classy to trashy?

At my dads wedding, they paid based on consumption. There was a price for hard liquor, beer and wine, then they paid afterwards.
I am not sure which one would be cheaper/ more beneficial.