Wedding Times

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Bringing in your own drinks is a great way to save money on the bar at your wedding. Choose the right drinks and it can be not only economical but classy and elegant too. First find out caterer is going to charge you for bringing in your own drinks, the policies of the stores that you purchase the alcohol from and where to find the best deals. Work out these details to properly determine if bringing in your own alcohol is going to save you as much as you think.

Consider corkage

The caterer is going to be losing money by allowing you to bring in your alcohol. For this reason, they create corkage fees to cover those costs. Corkage fees are charged per bottle and can be as low as ten dollars per bottle or as high as fifty dollars per bottle. After the initial charge, the corkage fees will still be taxed and have a service charge added onto them, as will the rest of your catering services. The first thing you need to do is determine how many bottles you will need to bring in and then total up how much that will cost you. It may be more expensive than you think and you may opt just to have the caterer supply the drinks after all.

Benefit from bulk buying

Next look at how much those bottles are going to cost you. When buying wine shop around and see what kind of bulk discounts the retailers will give you. A great way to get a discount is to purchase the same brand of wine. This applies to any drinks you will be buying in bulk. While this doesn’t provide much variety, it will equate to bigger savings. Aim for a discount of fifteen to twenty percent, which can save you hundreds of dollars in the end.

When speaking with the store, ask about the store’s return policy. Most couples will buy more than they need to make sure that they have enough at the reception. Don’t only ask if you can return unopened bottles but also ask regarding the conditions that the bottles can be returned. For instance, many retailers won’t accept white wine that has already been refrigerated so you will need to discuss with your bartender what you can do to ensure that only what is needed is chilled.

Define your drinks menu

While wine and beer are both no-brainers, you may also want to provide some other drinks for those that prefer the hard stuff. There are generally eight different liquors that you should have available at your bar. These include: scotch, vodka, rum, triple sec, tequila, gin, and whiskey. These choices will allow you to have a bar that will please just about everyone.

Keep in mind you don’t need to have every drink under the sun. Those that want something obscure drinks (such as banana schnapps) will be just as happy choosing something else with this selection.

If you want to serve something that is very fruity, you don’t need to go to all the expense of buying wine coolers. Mixing white zinfandel with lemon-lime soda will make for a wonderful fruity cocktail and because white zinfandel is so cheap, it will save you money. When you are buying mixers such as lemon-lime soda, leave it up to your caterer. They are likely not to charge you an arm and a leg for these and it will save you the hassle of having to order and pick up dozens of bottles of mixer.