Help with reception!

[FutureMrs.Lunsford]

Hi everyone I am getting married at Cabo Azul in August. My question is... If I did open bar for half the reception would that be totally horrible? At this resort you pay per drink and that can get very expensive. Please give me your honest thoughts, ideas, or opinions on this! Thanks!!!!

[Yari]

I don't think it would be horrible. I've been to weddings that they only have the bar open during appetizers.

 

I say do what is within your budget. Are you able to bring alcohol in?

[nylalany]

Another option perhaps is to negotiate to have just Sangria and Margaritas or something like that during dinner, and then have open bar after dinner and during cocktail hour? Maybe because you are sticking to one type of drink they'd lower the price?

[1elephant]

please don't hate me, but to be completely honest, i know that dh and i would be disappointed - but that's b/c i enjoy the free drinks at weddings. i know that my guests would have been confused and possibly disappointed as well. but that's us....!

 

often at 'regular weddings', there is an option to just have wine and beer, or to be able to bring something in. i know around here, cutting down to just wine/beer would cut lots of costs!

[AllureEventDesign]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FutureMrs.Lunsford Hi everyone I am getting married at Cabo Azul in August. My question is... If I did open bar for half the reception would that be totally horrible? At this resort you pay per drink and that can get very expensive. Please give me your honest thoughts, ideas, or opinions on this! Thanks!!!!

This is always a hard question to answer... while I know that almost everyone is on a budget and one should do what their budget allows, I also know that wedding guests spend a lot of money to be a part of destination weddings and asking them to pay for their own drinks might put a damper on the festivities. Yes, most will make of the trip a vacation and they will have to pay for going out, activities, etc. but at the wedding, food and beverage should be covered by the couple. With that said, I think very few people will be dissapointed if you have a 'limited' open bar (beer, margaritas, and sodas for example) which should really help keep the costs down.

Please take a look at this post Open Bar and Bar on Consumption Explained in regards to bar on consumption. I included a simple equation that will help you determine a bar limit so you know you will not end up with a huge bar bill at the end of the evening.

I hope this helps.

[FutureMrs.Lunsford]

Thanks so much everyone.... Maybe I can figure out a way to negotiate beer, wine, and margaritas... I need to get in touch with the WC and wheel and deal a bit...

[destinationcabo]

FutureMrs.Lunsford - thank you for posting this question - I'm still trying to figure out what is best.

Vari - Thanks for your link to your past response! I'm not sure how I missed that one but that is a great way to break it down!

I'm leaning toward open limited bar (beer, margaritas, soda and water) for the first hour, then pay per consumption for the rest - of course I still need to talk with the hotel to make the deal, but this is what I'm shooting for.

[AllureEventDesign]

Quote:

Originally Posted by destinationcabo FutureMrs.Lunsford - thank you for posting this question - I'm still trying to figure out what is best. Vari - Thanks for your link to your past response! I'm not sure how I missed that one but that is a great way to break it down! I'm leaning toward open limited bar (beer, margaritas, soda and water) for the first hour, then pay per consumption for the rest - of course I still need to talk with the hotel to make the deal, but this is what I'm shooting for.

My pleasure! I am glad I can help...

[Alyssa]

i would say do a limited bar but not half open bar.

 

if you pay per drink, but regulate what kind of drinks.

 

i agree with Lauren, i would definitely not be happy as a guest, especially traveling all the way to Mexico!

[vinxy]

We are paying corkage fees for our wedding. It solved our problems of the cost of alcohol. Even though the fees sound high ($31 per bottle), this is actually much cheaper than paying for an open bar or consumption. You can bring in a lot of liquor in one bottle, it will make a lot of drinks. This definitely saved us a lot of money. You might think about asking your site if you can bring in your own, and then estimate how many drinks you think people will drink (we estimated that 1 bottle of liquor would make 30 drinks). Also, our hotel is providing mixers - those are included in the corkage fee.