For anyone who is a regular visitor to my blog you will know that I have previously shared my tips on  how to successfully run a DIY bar on your wedding day, which has been particularly helpful to couples planning their wedding within a marquee or a dry hire venue.

Today I am very excited to be sharing further guidance & tips for your wedding day bar, but this time I am discussing all things alcohol. When you should offer it to your guests and how much you are likely to require.

No couple wants their bar to run dry half way through the evening, but equally they do not want to be left with copious amounts of surplus alcohol after their wedding. Sadly, there is no exact formula to follow, but there are definitely a few helpful pointers and considerations which will help ensure your wedding bar is a huge success.

For me the best place to start is with your guest list. No-one knows your guests better than you. So grab yourselves a glass of wine and dedicate an evening to working through your RSVP’s, making note of anyone who you are expecting not to drink alcohol. This would normally be pregnant women, nursing mothers, guests with very young children, (who are also attending the wedding), any guests that you know to be teetotal and obviously children. This will then give you a clearer idea of how many guests will be drinking alcohol throughout your wedding day.

If you are providing transport for your guests then you could also use the passenger list as additional guidance as to who will be drinking alcohol, (generally guests who accept the offer of guest transport will be consuming alcohol throughout your wedding day).

Simple quantity information

In order to help you establish how much alcohol you should purchase, lets start with the maths:

• 1 75cl bottle of wine will provide 6 x 125ml glasses or 3 x 250ml glasses
• 1 bottle of prosecco or champagne will fill 6 x flutes
• 1 litre bottle of Pimms will provide 20 x 50ml measures (which should be mixed with 100ml lemonade)
• 1 litre bottle of spirit will provide 40 x 25ml measures (a standard pub measure)

When & how much

Assuming you are following a traditional wedding day structure, I would normally expect each guest to require the following:

• Three beverages throughout a canapé reception lasting an hour and a half
• Half a bottle of wine throughout wedding breakfast service (normally 2 hours)
• One glass of fizz for speeches
• Six – eight beverages throughout the evening reception (normally 4 hours)

Beverages to offer during a canapé reception

As mentioned above your canapé reception will last around one and a half hours, with most couples choosing to offer their guests prosecco or champagne as well as a light refreshing cocktail such as Pimm’s. I would normally work on the basis that half your guests will want Pimm’s with the other half choosing fizz. Although you should bear in mind the time of year, as in my experience on a hot summer’s day Pimm’s is often the more popular choice.

You shouldn’t forget your non drinking guests throughout your canapé reception. Consider offering them refreshing options such as elderflower fizz or pink lemonade, as well as still and sparkling water. These options are a great alternative to standard orange juice which can be somewhat limiting.

Some couples will also choose to offer guests bottled beer/lager throughout their canapé reception. If this is something you are considering then refer back to your guest list and try to establish which guests would prefer this option. This will allow you to amend your quantities of fizz and pimms accordingly.

Beverages to offer during wedding breakfast & speeches

Traditionally guests would be offered wine throughout your wedding breakfast. It can be tricky to establish the red and white split, so most couples go for 50/50. However, you can look to your menu for inspiration and also your guests preferences, (if you know which wine your guests prefer). You should also consider purchasing a small amount of rose wine just incase this is requested by any of your guests.

Guests will also require water throughout their meal, so ensure that there is still and sparkling options available for guests throughout dinner service.

It is perfectly acceptable to continue offering the same selection of non alcoholic beverages as was available throughout your canapé reception to guests that have chosen not to drink alcohol. Just remember to include the wedding breakfast allocation when deciding how much to buy to ensure there is enough to last into the evening.

Finally, if you are including speeches within your wedding day then guests will each require a glass of bubbles for the toasts.

Evening reception

This is where it becomes tricky as it is near on impossible to predict what guests will choose to drink as well as how many drinks they will require. However, as mentioned above as a general guide I would expect each guest to require 6-8 drinks throughout a four hour evening reception.

When choosing the beverages to offer your guests I always suggest offering a good selection whilst keeping it simple. It just isn’t practical to try and offer a fully stocked bar including each and every spirit, so I suggest the following as a good starting point

• Wine
• Beer/lager
• Prosecco/champagne
•  Vodka
• Gin
• Whisky
• Rum
• Coke
• Lemonade
• Soda water
• Tonic
• Fruit juices (such as pineapple & orange)
• Water

As previously mentioned nobody knows your guests like you, so if there is a particular spirit that you know a number of your guests enjoy, or some of your guests prefer cider to beer then add it to your shopping list.

I always suggest over ordering by 10-15% to allow for any miscalculations and where possible purchase alcohol on a sale or return basis, as this will allow you to return any unopened boxes.

I do hope this has been helpful and if you require further guidance and assistance with any aspect of planning your wedding, please do get in touch to discuss the planning services I offer.

Image Credits: Terri & Lori Fine Art Photography & Film

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Image Credit: Terri & Lori Fine Art Photography & Film

Typically, DIY bars are popular with couples who are hosting their wedding within a temporary structure, such as a marquee or a dry hire venue. However, due to the additional planning hours needed when organising a wedding of this style, ensuring a DIY bar is well stocked and well organised is a step too far for many couples who instead choose to hire the services of a professional bar company.

Whilst for some couples the organising of a DIY bar is a task they would rather not add to their never ending to do list, there are also couples that welcome the challenge and choose to offer this style of bar to their guests to enjoy on their wedding day.

If you are taking this route, then fuelling your guests with their preferred tipple is key to ensuring  that a fun time is had by all.

With so many things to remember whilst in the midst of planning what is probably the biggest day of your life, it’s easy to see how key factors which are essential in ensuring the beverages flow freely are often overlooked. So, to help you along the way and to hopefully keep any mishaps to a minimum, I have put together a selection of top tips and points to remember. Which, I hope will help ensure your DIY bar is remembered for all the right reasons.

Image Credit: Terri & Lori Fine Art Photography & Film 

Points to remember

• It’s often wrongly assumed that a DIY bar will run itself, which is definitely not the case.  If your budget allows, hiring professional bar staff via a bar company or your caterers will ensure that your bar runs smoothly.  If this is not an option then you will need to allocate someone to be in charge of replenishing the bar, collecting empty bottles and glasses as well as washing glasses once they have been used.
• Missing items such as fruit to garnish the drinks, knifes and chopping boards needed to prepare the fruit, bottle openers, corkscrews, optics and paper straws.  All of which are essential items needed to run a successful DIY bar.  However, these items are often missed off the packing list.
• A shortage of ice is probably the most common DIY bar disaster.  Never underestimate the amount of ice you need to ensure your guests drinks are served chilled.  Taking special care to take into account any ice you may require to fill ice buckets if you intend to offer bottles of alcohol to your guests from a beer bucket or similar.
• Lack of refrigeration is another common error associated with a DIY bar.  Ideally, you should have fridges within your bar unit which can be replenished as and when required with bottles taken from a fridge hidden away in a storage area. This will ensure that you have a constant flow of cold beverages available for your guests.
• Running dry is a big no no.  Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to ensure this doesn’t happen.  However, as a general guide, I advise couples to expect their guests to each have 2-3 drinks throughout their canapé reception, half a bottle of wine with wedding breakfast, a glass of bubbles for the toast drink and 4-6 drinks during the evening reception, (based on a 4 hour evening reception). It’s always best to over estimate and if possible purchase your alcohol on a sale or return basis, which allows you to return any unopened alcohol in exchange for a refund.
• Water and lots of it.  It’s often under estimated how many bottles of water your guests will request.  Always ensure that there is an abundance of chilled water available for your guests throughout the daytime and evening reception.

Image Credit: Terri & Lori Fine Art Photography & Film

Top tips

Hopefully my points to remember have set you on the right track to ensuring your DIY bar will be a roaring success. To help you further, I have listed below a small selection of my top tips which offers additional advice to help ensure all runs smoothly.

• If your guests are helping themselves to bottles from a beer bucket, attach a bottle opener to the bucket via a long piece of string.  This will ensure the bottle opener does not go missing half way through the evening.
• Offer iced water and a further soft drink alternative to guests via a kilner jar positioned on the bar.  Guests can then help themselves rather than having to wait to be served by your bartender.
• Try and position the bar area as close as possible to the storage area where the additional drinks are being refrigerated.  This saves valuable time for the person in charge of re-stocking the bar.

Image Credit: Terri & Lori Fine Art photography & Film

I hope that this blog post has given you a little guidance on how to ensure your DIY bar runs smoothly.  However, if you require further advice relating to any aspect of planning your wedding and your wedding is taking place within Essex, Suffolk, Kent, Hertfordshire or Cambridgeshire, then I would love to hear from you.

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