Stocking own bar - any advice?

ballyargus

Hi guys, looking for some advice on how best to manage this.

We have Trudder Lodge as a venue. They provide a bar and staff to dispense drink but we must stock and supply the bar.

What is the most cost effective way to do this (we will have 120-140 guests and a sizeable chunk of them will be big drinkers who will take Guinness, Beer, Wine, Vodka, Whiskey, Bacardi.

Are we allowed to charge a fee or use a token system to recoup some of our costs?

Does anyone have experience of doing similar and have any insights or recommendations from that?

ontheditch2

Was at a wedding at a country lodge a few years ago and same craic as that.
The couple informed everyone on the invite that there would be a selection of drinks behind the bar e.g. wine, prosecco, 2 or 3 lagers, a few spirits and loads of mixers. Said that they won't be able cover everyone's tastes, so recommend that everyone brings along some drink for themselves if the generic stuff didn't suit.
I brought 8 cans of Coors, brought a shoulder of gin and bottle of prosecco for herself. Ended up not drinking half of it and had it for day 2 at the BBQ.
Spent €30 to buy that drink on the way to the wedding and didn't put the hand in the pocket for 2 days.

Spoke to the groom and they spent about €1800 stocking the bar with generic stuff, and if you ask me, it was money well spent.

aquinn

ballyargus wrote: »

Hi guys, looking for some advice on how best to manage this.

We have Trudder Lodge as a venue. They provide a bar and staff to dispense drink but we must stock and supply the bar.

What is the most cost effective way to do this (we will have 120-140 guests and a sizeable chunk of them will be big drinkers who will take Guinness, Beer, Wine, Vodka, Whiskey, Bacardi.

Are we allowed to charge a fee or use a token system to recoup some of our costs?

Does anyone have experience of doing similar and have any insights or recommendations from that?

We thought about supplying our bar so enquired a bit on this. Went to a decent off-licence and they have a sale and return policy so what you don't use they will buy back, I think it was. We went to Sweeney's but I think O'Brien's might do it too. Go on and talk to them as once you have numbers they would have a fair idea of cost and advice.

antix80

I don't think you can charge people you invited. Tricky situation to be in. Not everyone drinks a lot but over the course of an evening, dbl Jameson could get expensive and not everyone is happy to tip away on beer or cheap wine. Byo sounds a bit too informal and tokens sound a bit scabby.
Could it be run as a bar, €3 a drink with profits to charity (just brainstorming). Dunno if staff would be allowed to handle cash but you dont want queues at a ticket box or the appearance of rationing

awec

You can surely charge, once you're covering your costs and not trying to make yourself a bit of profit. Don't think anyone expects free booze at a wedding. Bring your own or tokens sounds daft.

Either buy a load of cans or buy some kegs. Cans will be cheaper, but cans are the beer version of wine from a box in that people only drink them if they've no other choice. Bottles are your other option but you'll need a load of them I'd guess.

When they say they provide a bar and people to stock the bar, does this mean they supply all glassware with equipment for mixing and measuring, and have experienced bar staff that actually know what they are doing? Or is it more they'll stick a table at the end of the room and put a few people there to take the lids off bottles? If it's the latter you'll be limited in your options.

antix80

I'd say if you could get cans at the right price and the staff pour them but don't hand them out, it wouldn't be a bad option.
Kegs could end up more expensive I'm guessing. And no point without proper barstaff and fresh glasswear.

Meauldsegosha

ballyargus wrote: »

Are we allowed to charge a fee or use a token system to recoup some of our costs?

You may need a liquor licence if you are charging a fee/using tokens. Your venue should be able to advice you on this.

NicsM

Trudder Lodge supply a barman, it's just the alcohol the OP needs to supply so no fuss over licences etc.

Have been to 2 weddings there and both charged for bar drinks, nobody expects a free bar all night! One wedding did a chip/token system, I can't remember how much each token was worth but it ran really smoothly. I've been at other venues where the couple stocked the bar and set a price – pints were €4, spirits and mixers were €5 etc. One thing to flag with guests ahead of time is that cards won't be accepted so they need to bring cash, nobody minds as long as they know ahead of time.

Trudder Lodge is a really fantastic venue OP, best of luck with the planning

antix80

Sounds like a good setup as you could provide better quality drinks, kegs, free mixers, etc. By the time the drinks and bar-staff are paid, there probably wouldn't be much of a profit. I like the idea of "profits to charity".. it wouldn't be a huge amount and you wouldn't have people saying you charged "€5 for a glass of wine from a bottle they bought for €8 in Tesco" or "temple bar prices for a pint" etc

Meauldsegosha

NicsM wrote: »

Trudder Lodge supply a barman, it's just the alcohol the OP needs to supply so no fuss over licences etc.

A liquor licence is required for the sale and supply of alcohol. So if the the OP is selling and supplying the alcohol, they should check what the requirements are.

ballyargus

Thank you for the suggestions so far folks. Much appreciated.

lazygal

Just a word of caution, my cousin had a similar setup and it worked really badly. The money side of things was a mess and created a lot of difficulty, it's the one thing I remember about their day. I'd just limit the drinks and try to cover the cost. We did a free bar and it wasn't crazy money. Had rules in place with the venue so no huge costs.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Instead of charging, why not just ask guests to bring their own? Worked really well at a wedding i went to recently. Apart from the kids stealing my 7up, the little rascals.

irish_goat

I'm going to a BYOB wedding this weekend but they are supplying wine as well. No idea how it will work but I can let you know. I'm planning on bringing craft beers and I don't want them going into some big communal pile that I might end up finding them all gone in no time and be stuck with cans of Heineken afterwards.

ballyargus

The more I hear about BYO, the more it seems like a total non-starter. People are travelling significant distances to be there, it doesn't seem right.

We do have bar staff, taps, proper bars and all the glassware required. All that's needed is the stock but I want to make sure I don't end up boracic through providing and paying for everything.

lazygal

I would hate BYO for a wedding. Smacks of a student party not a nice day out.

Meauldsegosha

Meauldsegosha wrote: »

You may need a liquor licence if you are charging a fee/using tokens. Your venue should be able to advice you on this.

A wedding i was at had to use tokens because the venue had no licence. B&G supplied the drink, tenner for ten tokens, 3 tokens for a pint, 4 for a spirit & mixer. Worked a charm. They had to limit the draught stuff, but nobody really cared when it was 3 quid a pint. Kegs of Guinness, Heineken, Bud and Bulmers. Bottles of jameson, powers, Jack Daniels, smirnoff, Hendricks, capt Morgan and a few 'shots' bottles (tequila, sambuca etc).

Twas a great night

antix80

lazygal wrote: »

I would hate BYO for a wedding. Smacks of a student party not a nice day out.

I can just imagine cans of tuborg on the tables

woodchuck

lazygal wrote: »

I would hate BYO for a wedding. Smacks of a student party not a nice day out.

Yeah I'd hate it too and I don't even drink! I wouldn't want to be carting a 2L bottle of coke around all day just so I can have a few room temperature drinks in the evening.

irish_goat

Was at a BYOB wedding on Saturday there. 80 guests attended and the venue had 2 large bar fridges and a freezer stocked with ice. The fridges were quickly filled with whatever booze people had brought but the venue also had 2 large buckets filled with icy water, one had bottles of water and the other had beers. There was a bottle of wine per couple on the table and they also had a bar with some spirits and plenty of mixers available as well as limes, lemons, grapefruits for gin. There was a barman originally but it turned out he was a relative so he wasn't manning the bar once the party kicked off. Everyone was able to just get themselves drinks anyway. Some people brought there own spirits and just kept them at their table.

I brought some cans of craft beer and found a few people helped themselves to them as they thought it was all communal. Wasn't too bothered as there was plenty of wine and spirits. Total spend on alcohol for me and the gf was £15, so it was a lot cheaper than a hotel wedding.

Milly33

we had the same style bar you are talking about.. We done a ticket system and nobody moaned about it.. Loved it, think twas like 10euro for five drink tickets something like that. All soft drinks, and wine for dinner and all that was free...

Best value for money was supervalue!! If you get in there on time you can get the 10 euro off 6 deal which makes a differance when buying in bulk...Just approach a manager and ask, after that a little trip to Musgraves has you sorted for the rest or if you know anyone who has a bar..

lazygal

No one's going to moan about it to the happy couple. Most people are polite. But I wouldn't be impressed if a wedding invite was byob or we had to use some sort of weird voucher system as some weddings we've been at did because they didn't want to cover the cost of drinks. It's the main thing I'll remember about that wedding.

BrokenArrows

There is nothing wrong with charging for drinks at a wedding.

Ive been to loads where win was supplied with the meal and free booze up until a certain time and after that it becomes a normal bar service. Perfectly reasonable to me.

Milly33

was just going to say sure every wedding you get charged for drinks! Normally you get wine at dinner and a toast drink, thats it after that it is up to you. People make to much of an issue with it once you say you have to stock the bar, its like ohhh so the bar is free to ye...

lazygal

My experience of a voucher type system wasn't good. It was done to save a few bob. I wouldn't recommend it. If you don't have an ordinary cash bar you have to take the hit for drinks. We don't have a voucher system for drinks when friends and family are coming to a celebration at home where there's no bar.

2ndcoming

This is the kind of nonsense people worry about, do whatever suits yourselves and your budget. No drinker will complain about buying tokens if it's only €2 or €3 a pint or short. As long as it covers your expense you're laughing.

Wine for the dinner and free soft drinks is a must though, after that no one will complain about not having to pay hotel prices.

GreeBo

We took a day trip to Newry when Tesco were having a deal and bought a few cases of Prosecco and wine for 25%. (when you bought a case)
Even before the sale/deal it was cheaper but with 25% off it was a no brainer.

Other than that you can throw in a few bottles of say vodka, whisky and gin, and a keg of guinness/carlsberg but I wouldnt be trying to cover all bases.

It also massively depends on the size of the wedding.
250 people need a lot more booze than 80!

chuckles30

I've been to a byo wedding and I don't see any issue - sure you have to buy your own drink at a regular hotel wedding and pay a fortune for it!! I brought along a bottle of Jameson that cost me €20 and I was sorted for the night. Plus, I was able to share with others as I was never going to drink it all. €20 goes nowhere in a hotel bar!! The couple provided the wine and champagne and some drinks and mixers too. There was tons of drink left over.