Wedding Bar Hire FAQs – All The Questions You Are Worried To Ask!
How much is an open bar at a wedding?
The cost of an open bar at a wedding can vary significantly based on several factors, including the location of the wedding, the number of guests, the duration of the reception, the types of drinks offered, and whether the service is provided by the wedding venue or an outside vendor. Here are some points to consider:
- Location: In larger cities or high-cost areas, prices may be higher due to increased overhead costs.
- Guest Count: More guests mean more consumption, which will increase the cost.
- Duration: The length of the reception can affect the total cost. A longer reception will require more alcohol and staff time.
- Selection of Alcohol: Offering premium spirits, imported beers, and a wide selection of wines will cost more than a limited selection of spirits.
- Service Type: Some open bars charge per person, while others charge based on consumption. Fixed per-person pricing is often easier to budget for.
As a rough estimate, open bar costs can range from:
- Basic Open Bar: £15 – £30 per person for a standard selection of beer, wine, and some spirits.
- Moderate Open Bar: £30 – £50 per person for a wider range of house cocktails, beer, wine, and premium spirits.
- Premium Open Bar: £50 – £100 or more per person for top-shelf spirits, extensive wine lists, and specialty cocktails.
These are general estimates, and prices can fluctuate.
How much does it cost to hire a bar in the UK?
Hiring a bar can cost from £600 – £20,000 depending on the size of the party.
There are a variety of factors that attribute to the cost of hiring a bar. If you are looking at hiring the bar can cost from £600- £20,000. The factors that vary the price on your package are:-
- Location – More remote locations will have added costs on transport and potentially overnight accomodation if the venue is over 150 miles from one of our bases or a late finish.
- Duration of the event – More stock is required the longer the bar is open
- Drinks selection – the selection of drinks will usually affect the cost of bar hire. Additional costs such as amount of glassware, dry ice, garnishes
How to do a free bar at a wedding?
You like the idea of a free bar but the budget is tight. As a rough guide, a free bar after dinner for 3-4 hours for 100 guests can cost in the region of £1,000-£2,000 with some limitations (not ‘top shelf’ spirits, single shots only, set amount of drinks for the period.) Ideas of how to cost this could be ask some generous relatives if they’d fancy picking up the tab as a wedding present, or asking for cash and no boxed gifts on the day of the wedding to cover the bill.
What is a paid bar at a wedding?
Free bar – this is done by an approximate spend per head, sometimes this is done by totaling up exactly what your guests spend at the end of the night, and billing you the extra.
In comparison, a paid bar – or a cash bar – is a bar that just operates like a normal pub, whereby your guests pay for their own drinks.
Should you do a free bar at a wedding?
As you can see, the answer to the question should you have a free bar at your wedding? is a personal choice – there’s more admin involved in providing your own alcohol and free bar, however ultimately the flexibility to serve personal favourites can often be the driving force behind this decision.
Do people expect an open bar at a wedding?
We have seen a decrease in guests expecting a full bar where you can order any single malt or top shelf liquor, and fewer couples are going that route. Full-service bars were much more prevalent in weddings before 2019. New trends tend to be cocktail/fizz receptions, wine on table and a more basic bar service post dinner.
How do you tell guests it’s a cash bar?
Place the information on your invite and on your wedding website, so guests quickly see it. A few examples of how to tactfully say cash bar are:-
- We can’t wait to celebrate with you and host you for dinner. Unfortunately, we have chosen a cash bar, so please bring cash or a credit card to enjoy the bar
- Dinner’s on us. Drinks are on you. So if you want to consume, bring a pound or two (or a credit card)
- We are hosting a drinks reception, if you would like more drinks, please bring cash or a credit card for our cash bar service
Do groom’s parents pay for bar?
Though parents paying for the whole wedding isn’t the norm in today’s weddings, this is where your families may want to make a contribution. They can cover part of the reception costs by paying for the decor, transport or put some money behind the bar for the guests to enjoy some drinks on the house.
How much does it cost to hire a bartender UK?
Prepare to pay an average of £150 for the standard cocktail bartender package for 3 hours and more for flair bartenders. Additional travel costs may be incurred depending on location.
What is the average price of a cocktail for weddings?
Basic cocktails come in at £4 per cocktail on bar hire packages. With dry ice and upgraded glassware £6
How much are drinks for a wedding?
If you are providing your own drinks, then a bottle of Prosecco ranges from £6-12 a bottle and a bottle of champagne ranges from £21-55. This means for the toasts, you are looking at anywhere between £1-9 per person.
A bottle of wine could be between £6-21 which works out to be between £3-10.50 per person for the table wine, and a champagne only drink reception would be around £7-18 per person for two drinks or £2-4 for Prosecco – all of these are excluding staff and glasses.
If you are hiring a venue that provides drinks in one of their packages, then expect to pay around £4-6 a glass for the drinks reception, £17 for house wine, £22 for house Prosecco and £37 for champagne. Obviously, some venues will charge more and some might be less. As a rough guide, I would budget around £20pp for the daytime drinks.
View More