Open Bar, Cash Bar, or Consumption: Choosing Bar Service for Your Rochester Wedding

The bar is usually the second largest line item in a wedding budget and the one couples understand the least. Open bar, cash bar, consumption bar, beer and wine, drink tickets: the words get used loosely and the price difference between them is thousands of dollars.

Here is what each one actually means, what it costs you, and how to pick based on your guest list rather than on what you think you are supposed to do.

Planning your bar? Call (585) 352-3300 or contact us and we will price the options side by side.

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The Four Structures

Open Bar

You pay a flat rate per person for a set number of hours and guests drink freely. Predictable for budgeting, and generous. It is the most expensive option if your crowd drinks lightly, because you pay the same whether they have one drink or six.

Consumption Bar

You pay for what is actually poured, tracked through the night. If your guest list skews older, includes a lot of children, or simply is not a heavy drinking crowd, this often comes in well under an open bar. The tradeoff is that you do not know the final number until the night is over.

Beer and Wine Only

Straightforward, noticeably cheaper than full liquor, and completely acceptable. Adding a single signature cocktail on top of beer and wine gives you most of the feel of a full bar at a fraction of the cost.

Cash Bar

Guests buy their own. It is the cheapest for you and the least popular with guests, particularly ones who traveled. A common middle path is hosting the first two hours and going cash after, which covers cocktail hour and dinner when it matters most.

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Read Your Actual Guest List

Before you choose, do this exercise. Go down your list and sort it roughly: heavy drinkers, light drinkers, and people who will have one glass of wine or none. Count children separately.

Couples are routinely surprised. A 200 person wedding with 30 kids, 40 guests over 70, and a large contingent who drive home early is not a 200 person bar. Pricing an open bar across the full headcount in that case means paying for a lot of drinks nobody has.

"The bar staff did a great job and I loved that they had a separate water station!" - Nancy S

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The Things That Quietly Raise the Bill

• Cocktail hour counts. A five hour open bar starting at the ceremony is a different price than one starting at dinner.
• Top shelf versus well. Ask what tier is included and what an upgrade costs.
• Champagne toasts poured for every guest are often billed separately, and most of it goes back to the kitchen untouched. Consider letting guests toast with what they are already drinking.
• Shots. Some venues allow them, some do not, and they change consumption patterns fast. Ask.
• Service charge and tax apply to bar, not just food.

Want the options priced for your headcount? Send us your numbers.

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Staffing Is the Part Nobody Asks About

A well-chosen bar package still fails if there is one bartender for 180 guests. The line forms during cocktail hour, never clears, and people spend your reception standing in it.

Ask how many bartenders are staffed at your guest count and whether a second service point is available. Our full-service bar is run by professional bartenders staffed to the size of the event, which is the difference between a bar that works and a bar that is technically present.

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How We Handle It

Because the bar and the kitchen are both ours, we can line up bar service with the rhythm of the meal instead of coordinating between two companies. Cocktail hour on the grounds near the gazebo and the deck, then service inside the banquet hall through dinner and dancing.

We will lay out open, consumption, and beer and wine pricing for your actual guest count so you can compare real numbers rather than guess. Nothing about that conversation is a hard sell, and plenty of our couples choose the cheaper option.

More on our weddings and receptions page.

Get in touch or call (585) 352-3300 to price your bar.