If you ever work with a restaurant venue directly; preferably one that has their banquet and liquor costs laid out for you will save you a lot of worry and headaches. The venue I have chosen does not which again know I am taking a huge risk but at the same my tough negotiation skills kind of leaves the venue and myself both at a 50/50 balance.
Sometimes I feel like I am somewhat related to the man am dealing with at the venue as we have insulted each other a few times, misunderstood (or what we said when did not hear what wanted) and made up!
The almighty question is how open will my bar be? I remember my cousin had not only open bars around her venue as well a tequila fountain. That was not a good thing for those who just could not realize the reality of free+alcohol= You better know your limit or YA NEVER KNOW WHERE OR WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YA!
And most recently saw at a wedding with an open bar a few, well all of the bride's college mates partook heavily of the open bar to later running around on the grass in their mini dresses, falling, legs up in air and well let your imagination tell ya! Another not knowing me from Adam came up to me sloppily slurring. "Where you from? GET THE F--K OUT OF HERE, I LUVVVVV SAN FRANCISCO!"
Well I my friends are a bit older than your 20's, married with children. And they could get a bit tipsy but not out of control. There is my cousin whom gets her vodka martini drink on and proceeds to walk around hugging everyone, "I love you cuzz. I love you aunty." I am not worried about the potential open bar liabilities with my attendees. However I am worried about being presented with an outrageous bill. Call me paranoid. I am going on faith but will be questioning a too high bill in my little ole home town in Colorado.
The vendor emailed me with a cost on a signature drink and I flipped a bit as mentioned that I could get the same here at a venue in San Francisco. Which had to really educate myself and bite my tongue on it all as alcohol costs are higher in the State of Colorado due to the high alcohol taxes. So a sane and reasonable request to your venue without a surprise bill at the end of the night is the following.
Tell your venue or ask if they would consider a number of bottles option. Tell them you want three of Crown Royal, Five Johnny Walker Black, Two Centenario Anejo..... whatever it is you want and let him give you a 'bottle cost'. The venue would or should be willing to work with you as long as they are making some profit on booze that they have just sold to you outright for your event. They do not have to guess expectations as you know your guests beverage likes for the most part. Your guests get their drinks, you don't have any unexpected costs and you pre negotiated the per bottle price. We had already priced out the champagne and beer but the alcohol part was a challenge until we understood why the costs seemed high and how we still got a great deal. For those of us who have to really budget, this is the way to go.
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