Let's talk Alcohol...🍸🍺

Hi Bridal Diaries Gang,

It’s Nim. You’re probably wondering why I’m doing this week’s newsletter. It might be because this is the one thing I was in charge of for our wedding. It might also be because Priya’s forte does not lie in calculations. But it’s mainly because Priya told me I need to write a Bridal Diaries newsletter.

This entry is aimed at those having an open bar. If you’re having a paid bar, the majority of this won’t apply to you, as it will likely mean the venue has to supply the alcohol. So feel free to skip this newsletter if that’s the case and wait for the next Pristine/Pristeam newsletter about dresses or makeup or something (or if there’s no alcohol at your event!)

1) Who normally provides the alcohol?

There are typically 4 options for your alcohol service on your big day:

• The venue

  • The venue may have their own bar that is mandatory to use. They may give you the option to buy bottles of alcohol from them OR they may quote a per person figure for alcohol OR they may simply work out how much alcohol was used and bill you for it.

• The caterer

  • This is very similar to the venue providing the alcohol, with the options similar to those listed above.

• Independent bar team

  • A separate bar team can also provide alcohol. They will normally quote you for an option of them providing all of the alcohol OR one where you provide the alcohol± garnishes (for cocktails) and they simply provide the service

• The Couple

  • You can provide the alcohol for either the venue staff/catering staff/independent bar staff to use.

It’s important to note that not all venues will allow all of the above options. If alcohol is a big part of your day (such as having bespoke cocktails/ specific spirits), make sure this is one of your priorities when picking a venue.

2) Reasons to provide your own alcohol

Naturally the venue, caterer and independent bar team will be turning a profit on the alcohol, and so if you’re looking to try and save money and the option is available to you, its definitely something to consider. This is particularly useful if you have access to alcohol at low prices (ie via a Cash and Carry/Costco/ a dodgy relative). It also gives you the option to get a variety of alcohol or perhaps a niche spirit that means something special to you or your partner.

3) Downsides of providing your own alcohol

If you are providing your own alcohol you need to think about who is buying it, how you’re transporting it, when it will be transported, where it will be stored, and who will take home the excess. This is the what you avoid worrying about when you’re paying for one of your other suppliers to provide the alcohol. In addition, you also may not be able to return any excess alcohol to some sellers.

Top tip: Don’t try and save money by saying you will provide the ice. Whilst you can get away with storing alcohol in a room provided by the venue, there’s no guarantee they’ll have freezer space for your 200 Tesco Value ice bags. Ask if the caterer can provide this or if the venue has an ice machine so that you’re not responsible for the luke warm cocktails.

4) Calculations

One of the most common things we get asked is how much alcohol to buy. There’s no guaranteed formula, but the way we typically advise guests for a single event (ie reception) is as follows*:

• A drinks reception will usually be champagne/prosecco and beer. Work out how many guests actually drink and equate for 2 glasses and 2 bottles per drinker for a typical 60 minute drinks reception. So for a 200 person wedding with 150 drinkers, this would be 300 glasses of champagne (6×125mls glasses = 1 bottle ie 50 bottles) and 300 bottles of beer. Granted, not every person will drink 2 of each but this allows for those guests who drink 7 drinks to balance out those who drink 1, with most guests likely to drink 2-3. Any excess can then be used for the main bar.

• Next choose your main drinks. For the main bar, I usually split the alcohol into ‘Brown’ (ie whiskey/brandy), ‘White’ (ie vodka/gin), and ‘Other’ (ie rum/flavoured spirits). The ‘Brown’ and ‘White’ are usually the most popular, and there is absolutely no need to try to cater to everyones specific drink preference. Having 2 common ones ie Jameson/Courvoisier for ‘Brown’ and Ciroc/Hendricks for ‘White’ will likely please the masses.

• Next split your guests up by whether they are heavy or light drinkers. These are completely made up definitions and perhaps reflect my own circle of friends, but a heavy drinker will drink 8+ drinks, and a light drinker will drink 3 drinks. This is also because when there is an open bar, guests tend to lose track of where they left their drink and more often than not go back for another when they have their previous drink next to the sink in the toilet. So assuming the same 75% drink as shown above (150 out of the 200) and 50 are big drinkers and 100 are light drinkers, you will need 700 drinks worth ((50×8)+(100×3)). These will usually be doubles in the UK (50mls) so that’s 700×50mls = 35000mls ie 35× 1L bottles of alcohol. Depending on your crowd this can be split between ‘Brown’, ‘White’ and ‘Other’ as you like, but for reference, for a ‘typical’ crowd I would advise 12 ‘Brown’(8x whiskey and 4x brandy) , 20 ‘White’(14x vodka and 7x gin) and 3 ‘Other’( 3x rum).

• For wine, I would typically advise 1 x red and 1 x white per table + 10% of the total bought. So for a crowd of 300 with 10 per table, I would advise 30x red, 30x white + 6 extra (split equally) ie 10% of 60. This would equate to 33x red and 33x white. The extras can be either left behind the bar or replaced on tables if requested.

• For shots, I would advise sticking to 2 types only. Tequila, tequila rose, sambuca and coffee tequila (RIP Café patron) are very popular. I would advise having 1 shot of each per drinker. For the aforementioned 150 drinkers, I would advise the equivalent of 150 shots of one (ie Tequila) and 150 shots of another (ie Sambuca). For a 25ml UK shot, that would mean 300×25mls ie 7.5L. With most ‘shot’ bottles coming in 70cl bottles, this would equate to about 10 bottles in total (5 of each). You may not think that each drinker will have 1 of each shot, but remember that there is always one friend who goes into the kitchen, asks the caterer for a tray and then lines up 50×25ml shots in one go (ie almost 2 bottles). Coupled with your guests who may pretend to shot but actually just pour it on the dance floor (aka our very own Priya), you’d be surprised how quickly you get through it!

• Finally, the mixers. Once again, try not to have too much variety. Coke, Diet Coke, Lemonade, Soda Water, Ginger ale, Tonic and 1-2 juices are more than enough. Don’t worry that Sukhvinderjit from Colorado only drinks Diet Cherry Pepsi and your mum’s friend Sheila only drinks Vimto; they will survive. The ratio of mixer to alcohol in a typical drink is 3:1**. So if you’ve bought 35Litres of alcohol, you’ll need 105L of mixer. How you split the mixer depends on what spirits you’ve chosen, but assume most ‘Brown’ drinkers have an equal split of Coke to Diet Coke, vodka drinkers have a 2:1:1 split of lemonade to soda water to ginger ale and gin drinkers all drink tonic water. I would add 1.5L of juice for every table (10 guests) ie 45L of juice. This would allow for a 1L jug of juice on each table (30L) and then an additional 15×1L behind the bar/ for refills.

If you’re having an independent bar team who are making cocktails, make sure you ask them for any specific liquors they might require and if they’re able to guide you with how much alcohol to buy.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like more mildly entertaining diaries with GCSE style maths, please spam the Pristine DMs.

Love,

Nim

Team PristNime

*All estimations are exactly that, estimations. Only you know your crowd, so use this as a guide and not as a rule!

**NB the 3:1 is an overestimate and accounts for those inconsiderate non-drinkers who drink the mixers rather than their designated tap water.