Corkage

Miss Fluff

Am currently talking to our wedding venue and going through menus etc. I'd rather not say where we're holding the wedding but it's a 5* venue and I wonder do any of my fellow brides know if proposing bringing our own booze (or at least bubbly) is the done thing? And then we pay corkage? Do most venues do this does anyone know? Thanks in advance!

Cathmandooo

Of course! Even if it wasn't the done thing you should always ask, it's your day and it costs a lot of money, if there's something you want then you should always say. Check out their packages, break them down to what you want, corkage doesnt necessarily work out cheaper. I thought we'd be providing our own booze but the package we got works out perfectly for us and is inclusive of wine.

Miss Fluff

Thanks so much Cath, appreciated! I am clueless Do you know what the average corkage fee is for most places, what would be acceptable?

toadfly

Miss Fluff wrote: »

Thanks so much Cath, appreciated! I am clueless Do you know what the average corkage fee is for most places, what would be acceptable?

Our hotel is free corkage but most charge between €4-12 a bottle. Madness IMO.

drBill

Did that for our wedding for the wine at dinner because we had a specific wine we liked and which wasn't very expensive. The hotel had no issue with it and I got the impression it was a regular enough occurrance. In fact I think it may even have been offered to us as an option up front. Think it was a fixed charge per bottle, rather than any sort of percentage (because I don't know if they could know the value of each bottle).

There were a couple of bottles left over which we collected the following day. However every bottle had been opened (and recorked) even those which were not brought to tables, so we were charged corkage on every bottle we provided which came as a surprise to us. Luckily for us it was only a handful of bottles so between ourselves and friends and family there were takers for the bottles to prevent it going to waste.

So I'd say it is a reasonably often done thing and see nothing wrong with it. But do be clear on the charges and what the procedure is with uncorking on the night. You don't want to be left with a couple of cases of flat bubbly the following day!

clint_silver

Miss Fluff wrote: »

Thanks so much Cath, appreciated! I am clueless Do you know what the average corkage fee is for most places, what would be acceptable?

they all differ, youll find variations on

1. wine included in package (ask about the quality of wine here if youre bothered by such a thing)
2. no corkage fee, bring as much as you want (rare as they need to make some money)
3. some corkage fee, this has come down an awful lot, used to be as high as 15e a bottle, Ive heard as low as 3-4e a bottle now.
4. some corkage fee ONLY over a certain amount of bottles OR no corkage fee over a certain amount of bottles.
5. no corkage fee as youre not allowed bring your own wine.

So always ask and no matter what they offer (unless it its 1 or 2 above) try to bargain them down. If corkage fee was the only thing stopping you having the wedding in a venue, it seems to me they dont need your business.

Gatica

we got ours reduced. It was the main point of contention for us as we loved the venue but corkage (and room cost) was bordering the ridiculous. Thankfully we got some of the prices down.
I think for a 5* venue you're looking at above 10 Euro, if you can negotiate it below that, then my hat off to you! Other regular hotels that specialize in weddings at average prices are probably around the 6 euro mark; or at least that's what we were quoted by some places and what we've heard from friends. Other very popular venues of the average standard have it a bit higher because they have the demand, so can ask for higher prices.
Whatever they offer you though, haggle it as much as you can.

si_guru

Just a thought..

We were told the corkage for the arrival drinks was a strict €15 per bottle... the hotel said afterwards they had never seen the 2 litre bottles of sherry we got from ASDA in the north..

bungaro79

got married abroad this year and when we were sussing out hotels for our reception they laughed when we were telling them about corkage here. i think corkage should be left behind in celtic tiger ireland, op tell the hotel straight up that you won't be paying for it and see the reaction, if they want your business they'll play ball.

clint_silver

bungaro79 wrote: »

got married abroad this year and when we were sussing out hotels for our reception they laughed when we were telling them about corkage here. i think corkage should be left behind in celtic tiger ireland, op tell the hotel straight up that you won't be paying for it and see the reaction, if they want your business they'll play ball.

I dunno*, a hotels business is food and drink and accomodation, this is where they make their money, you think its ok to just say "and by the way, youre not making any money on the drink?" if it was your business, what would you say? and why stop at wine, why not bring your own food?

* absolutely no connection with hotels at all other then seeing their side of charging corkage

Hotels abroad have different rates and costs.

bungaro79

clint_silver wrote: »

I dunno*, a hotels business is food and drink and accomodation, this is where they make their money, you think its ok to just say "and by the way, youre not making any money on the drink?" if it was your business, what would you say? and why stop at wine, why not bring your own food?

* absolutely no connection with hotels at all other then seeing their side of charging corkage

Hotels abroad have different rates and costs.

fair enough the hotel wants to make as much as they can but think people enquiring are thinking about how to stretch their budget and are probably paying enough with food, bar extension and all the rest that the hotel charges. my uncle works in a hotel and they'd stopped charging for corkage. when i heard friends of mine who were charged €15 a bottle i really think thats taking the p*ss. i suppose at the end of the day if people still pay it then the hotels will charge for it

Rew

Miss Fluff wrote: »

Am currently talking to our wedding venue and going through menus etc. I'd rather not say where we're holding the wedding but it's a 5* venue and I wonder do any of my fellow brides know if proposing bringing our own booze (or at least bubbly) is the done thing? And then we pay corkage? Do most venues do this does anyone know? Thanks in advance!

We negotiated a 5 star venue down on corkage, both price and volume discount. The 5* hotels are getting hit pretty hard these days and they need the business. Didn't go with them in the end though. Make it clear to them where you need to get to on line items for the deal to work.

Also go stay and eat there, in my experience they can be heavily over rated. Compare their restaurant prices to those offered for weddings, I was severely unimpressed to find I could eat in their restaurant with a lot more choice for less money than they were offering me per head for a wedding.

dylanchloe

Our hotel charges €5 corkage.
Still havent decided if we'll go with the house wine or bring in our own.
my other half and I are not really wine drinkers, could anyone recommend some for us?
Thanks

DoubleJoe7

Our hotel has corkage included - we're supplying the wine.

Where di you all get yours?