You are having a wedding reception or a milestone party (i.e. birthday, graduation, or retirement party) and all 50-150+ of your closest friends and family members will be there. You want to impress them and have the party they will never forget without having a cash bar BUT you don't want to take out a second mortgage on your house. Well you won't have to because after reading these tips you'll have a classy yet savvy event. No No No to a Cash Bar: Okay, you are probably wondering how paying for alcohol will save you money. Well trust me (and industry experts). You can still provide your guests with alcohol without having them reach into their wallets and without emptying yours. You can serve beer and: a) a signature drink, b) wine, c) one premium liquor or d) themed drink(s) only (no beer) By limiting the options, you are saving money without breaking the bank AND most importantly, you are still giving your guests what they are expecting (we know a little alcohol livens up the dance floor). a) Signature Drink: For instance, if you serve a signature drink and beer, most everyone will be happy. By having a signature drink, you won’t need to use top-shelf alcohol and your guests will never know. b) Wine: You can substitute the signature drink with wine and serve your favorite type or a variety of house wines. If your guests are wine enthusiasts (like my friends) then provide a variety of wines you know they would enjoy and not the house wine. c) Premium Liquor: You could also serve one premium liquor that can be used in a variety of ways. For example, if you serve gin, your guests could have a gin and tonic, a martini, or a gin daiquiri. d) Themed Drink: For a themed drink, you could serve something that holds a special meaning for you and your fiancĂ©. For instance, if your fiancĂ© proposed while you were on vacation in Cabo, you could serve Coronas and Tequila. Your guests could have margaritas (classic or frozen), a Tequila sunrise, a Conchita or a Caribbean Ice Tea. The possibilities are endless. To make a non-cash bar inexpensive you can do a few things:
- First, you can serve alcohol for the first two hours of your event (maybe for one hour at the cocktail hour and for the first hour of the reception). However, please ensure there are enough bartenders so your guests are not standing in line for the entire cocktail hour.
- Secondly, you can instruct the bar staff to tell guests that they can only have one glass at a time, however, they can come back as often as he or she would like. This would limit the amount your guests take at one time and will actually limit the number of times they return to the bar for a refill (well at least for some of your guests).
- You could also find out from your venue if you can provide the alcohol. If you are able to do so, you can get your alcohol from a wholesaler, which may accept the bottles you did not use and refund you the cost at the end of the event.
- If you are not allowed to provide your own alcohol, instruct the bartenders at the venue to serve one bottle at a time. They should not open another until the first is completely empty. This prevents you from having two or three half-empty bottles of the same thing at the end of the night.
Whatever tact you choose your guests will enjoy themselves and so will you and that is the ultimate goal of having your event. Happy Planning!
a K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple and Savvy) until next time~Kenesha
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