Tips for Stocking the Bar at Your Reception

If you are having your reception at a location where you have to hire an off-premise caterer, you may consider stocking your own bar in order to save money. If you do stock the bar yourself, don’t forget you will need to hire bartenders or ask your caterer to provide same.

What kind of bar should you have? Basically, there are three types: Open Bar, Limited Bar and Cash Bar. I am only going to address the Open Bar and Limited Bar. Because, you really wouldn’t think of having a cash bar, would you? Do you really want your guests to pay for their own drinks? I don’t think so.

Open Bar

In this type of bar, you pretty much are going to stock it with just about everything your guests love to drink. Obviously, this would be the more expensive option. To help pare down the cost, you could opt to close the bar about an hour before the reception ends.

Limited Bar

This type of bar would only serve beer, wine and maybe a signature cocktail. Thus, this would be a less expensive option.

When you begin planning for your bar, set a budget. Contact a good liquor wholesaler who will work with you to stay within your budget. There are such a wide variety of wines in different price ranges, that you will be able to find a good one to fit your budget. Additionally, you can choose between "top shelf" liquors and "house pour" liquors.

If the wholesaler is a good one, they should also be able to help you choose the right wines, champagne, etc. to go with your cocktail hour and menu.

For the toasts, you can save money on the champagne by having the caterer bring out the glasses already poured at the time of the toast. This way, the guests will not see the brand and you, therefore, could choose a less expensive champagne. Most people only sip it anyway for the toast and don’t touch it again. This will enable you to spend a little more on the wines you'll be serving with dinner, if that is more important to you.

Finally, and most importantly, make sure the liquor wholesaler will credit you for any unopened bottles.