Did you have a free bar?

[Laineymc7]

Hello all
We want to have a free bar at our wedding. This will be for about 60 people. Evening bar opens about 7/8 and night goes on until 1am
Did any of you have a free bar? What was the damage? We are trying to budget for it. People are travelling for the wedding and having to stay overnight so we would love to offer this.
Many thanks

I know a free bar seems the norm on mumsnet but I’ve rarely seen at happen at work (different venues). Occasionally someone will put a couple of hundred quid behind the bar —at wakes—. How much it’ll cost for 70 can vary hugely, some spend a few hundred but some do still manage to spend thousands. If you do put on a free bar just say no bottles of wines, only single measures etc .

Agree with PP, most weddings i've been to (as long as you're happy to drink prosecco/cava/champagne, wine or soft drinks) you don't actually need to buy your own drink until after the meal. As a result, it's around 7pm-9pm before you need to put your hand in your pocket. To me that's the same as going on a night out from around that time and being somewhere where a bar shuts between 12am-2am. Which i'm more than happy with.

I've been to weddings with friends who don't drink wine and aren't fans of fizz, but would have a sip for the toast, who happily come prepared to buy their own spirits/beers or whatever all day and night. It definitely doesn't make or break a wedding, it's a nice bonus for guests but I couldn't picture anyone turning their nose up at a pay bar if they've been fed and watered for a good few hours at the expense of the B+G/their family/whoever is footing the bill.

It also depends very much on the type of venue you have and their rules about BYOB. Low/no corkage for any booze (not just wine and fizz) = great but remember to factor in people to serve it and glassware hire. Normal bar prices = £ behind the bar would go quick.

I went to a wedding where at the very end of the speeches and champagne toast the waiting staff went round and took a drink order from everyone, whatever they wanted - most just ordered a spirit + mixer or a pint; and that was how they ensured everyone got one drink of their choice on the B+G. This was a castle venue wedding with 200 adult guests however so i'd say that bill alone would have come close to £1,000.

Ours was around £2,250 for 64 guests from 4pm till midnight. This included full bar including malts, fizz, etc but not doubles and 'silly' shots which the venue would not allow with open bar.

The bulk of this cost was the preordered fizz for arrival and toasts and wine for tables. There was a lot of wine wastage.

Venue drinks prices were £16 for wine, £21 for prosecco, £2.50 for beer, and £4 for premium spirit mixer.

To answer further questions...

For 50-60 people maybe £500- £1000 max should more than cover it.
This is roughly what the evening part of our bar cost for the same number of guests. This was after 4 glasses of fizz pp and 4 bottles of wine on each table of 8.

Did you find that you guests got very drunk or no different to if they were buying it themselves?
If anything I think people were better behaved as perhaps they didn't want to look like they were taking the piss?

Did it feel different to weddings that didn’t have a free bar?
Yes, I think it makes for a more relaxed environment with quicker service. It also means that some guests don't have more fun than others because they can afford more drinks. And some guests at a cash bar could end up spending loads if they are generous with buying others drinks. I'm looking at you DH! That's not fair in my opinion, if your kind uncle or whoever is subsiding your party.

Any of you been a guest and had a free bar. What did you think?
I like them, not really because it's saving me money but because it shows the hosts are prioritising their guests. I totally side-eye events with £thousands spent on flowers etc but with cash bars. Sorry not sorry

Bitchywaitress That seems like a really good deal for that long! I think free bars often get a 'bad rep' in advance. At my sisters wedding so many people ahead of time were telling her with an open bar she was just encouraging people to waste drinks/drink excessively but everyone I saw was very graceful on the day.

One of our mutual friends went to the bar, ordered 2 pints and 2 chasers (of single malt) the bar staff simply said 'the draughts are on the tab, top shelf isn't, so it'll be £9 for the whiskey chasers' and he was fine with it, he was a little embarrassed I think - he's a nice guy and don't think he realised the bar was now 'open' or if he did, it was made clear to him there were restrictions. Also i'm sure others around him waiting to be served saw him hand over cash and looked at the order and put 2+2 together no shots/high-end spirits were included.

We did - I think it cost about 1k for 130 people including wine on tables with meals and champagne for toasts/pimms die welcome drink. Luckily DM runs a micro pub so we had kegs of real ale.

We didn't have a free bar. The way I think of it is everyone pays for their own drinks on a night out with no problem. Ours was local to most people and we had fed them and given them prosecco and wine in the afternoon. We'd allocated a certain amount of bottles of wine per table but had agreed with the venue that if more was needed that's fine. Think we had a bill of about £100 for extra wine.

You could put 1k behind the bar and when that runs out people have to pay?

I think the key to this is venue choice. If you start out prioritising an open bar it's fairly simple to select a venue that meets your budget. E.g. a diy venue, social club your bank garden.

Some couples however choose a lovely venue then later realise that corkage is not allowed (or extortionate)and drinks are £8+. I really don't understand all the complaints on the wedding forums from couples who pick venues that charge a fortune for drink and then start moaning. Unless your social circle consists of Meghan and Harry and the cast of MIC surely you would check this before booking???

With our guests?! No chance they would bankrupt us
Lager and strawberry Bellini reception drinks then free drinks on the table personalised to the guests not just wine xx

Not had our wedding yet, but we're not planning on having a free bar.

We're having a small wedding, but everyone will get a glass of champagne to toast, half a bottle of wine each and another glass of champagne later, so think this is ok. We might put a couple of hundred behind the bar, but it certainly won't be a free, unlimited bar.

I think unless you're filthy rich, it's a bit odd to pay for everyone's drinks, or for people to expect you to, especially when you're paying for everyone's meal.

We're deliberately having a small wedding, so we can have really nice food and a beautiful venue. I think our guests will be very happy to pay for a couple of drinks... I hope they will be

Plus, I remember (just about 🤕 ) going to a wedding with champagne on tap, all day, all night! I was 18. Need I say more? I seriously wish they hadn't

Yes, about 80 people at the wedding - free bar. It was only wine (the reception was a vineyard) and bottled beer, though.

No question for us - destination wedding for many people (my home country), so it was the least we could do.

Yes but within reason. We had free wine/beer/soft drinks all night with the addition of unlimited champagne/G&Ts during the cocktail hour only. The damage was pretty severe but we were in an expensive hotel and the champagne/wine weren’t the cheapest options available.

Every wedding I’ve been to has at the very least provided wine/beer/soft drinks but at the same time I’ve only been to one where there was a fully open bar (that was in America). Most seem to offer something between the two. And I’ve never seen anyone take the piss, even though to say that most of our friendship group enjoy a drink would be the understatement of the century!

@MrsGB2225
You know, it might be in some areas as the country is huge and there are considerable cultural variations from region to region, but my family there has always had a MAX of like 10-12 people to the dinners and, well, no dancing or music or celebrations really. So it could just be a regional thing. They still talk about our wedding as if it was the second coming, mouths and eyes agog and seeing people have a good old knees up and be still standing, and of course still get to church the next morning on Sunday without a hair out of place

tea - most of the Germans I know are from the South if that makes a difference?! The parties all seem to go on until 5am!!

We subsidised it. Had plenty of wine on the table and bought barrels of beer at the local brewery and charged a small amount per pint. If people wanted spirits, they were full price.