Weddingbee Blog

I am pretty darn frugal and am proud to say we’ve saved beaucoup bucks by being able to bring in our own alcohol. I am talking half the price of what the caterer would have charged! Here’s what we did:

1. Our kind caterer sent a list of the packages they offered, so we had a starting point of what to buy.
2. We used drink calculators from Evite, Party Source, and Perfect Party Planning to estimate amounts. (Note: our caterer is supplying insured bartenders and the mixers/garnishes.)
3. Mr. Potato Head and I visited the websites of the (tax-free!) New Hampshire state liquor stores we planned on buying from to gauge prices.
4. I compared prices at my local liquor stores here in Tax-a-chusetts. New Hampshire won.
5. I wanted $3 Trader Joe’s wine, but my wine-savvy Dad put his foot down and suggested some decent table wine brands instead.
6. Armed with a meticulous spreadsheet with amounts, prices, and name brands that Mr. Potato Head drafted, SistahChips and I headed forty-five minutes up the road to the Granite State.
7. Hilarity ensued.

We stood flummoxed in front of the wines for about ten minutes until a nice old man (who didn’t even work there) took us under his wing and suggested what to buy.

Just a quiet evening in with a couple bottles of wine!

Since our cart was full of wine bottles, we paid for them and put them in my car to make room for the hard alcohol. I wrote down everything we bought and hilariously attempted to add it up before paying. Despite using a calculator, I was $100 over the actual retail price.

Time for the Showcase Showdown. We will have 120 adult guests and will be serving alcohol for 4.5 hours.

Wine:

• 10 750 ml. bottles Cabernet (Mondavi Private Selection and Woodbridge)
• 10 750 ml. bottles Pinot Noir (Mondavi and Blackstone)
• 10 750 ml. bottles Chardonnay (Kendall Jackson and Clos du Bois)
• 10 750 ml. bottles Pinot Grigio (Beringer and Mirassou)
• 2 750 ml. bottles rose (La Vieille and Jaboulet)

Total: $386.39

Liquor:

• 3 1.75 liter Jose Cuervo tequila (for Groom’s Choice signature drink: margarita)
• 5 750 ml. bottles Pimm’s No. 1 (for Bride’s Choice signature drink: Pimm’s Cup)
• 2 1.75L . Skyy Vodka
• 1 750 ml. Three Olives Vanilla Vodka
• 1 750 ml. Three Olives Berry Vodka
• 1 1.75L Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1 1.75L Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 1 1.75L Dewars White Label
• 1 1.75L Bacardi rum
• 1 1.75 Captain Morgan rum
• 1 1.75L Seagrams
• 1 1.75L Kahlua
• 1 375ml. Grand Marnier

Total: $424.80

Not bad!

We plan on picking up a few bottles of champagne (we are not doing a champagne toast, but it’ll be nice to have on-hand). I’d also like to get a couple extra bottles of Pimm’s, just in case. We wiped the store out of their Pimm’s supply.

The beer we will pick up in Rhode Island so it doesn’t go skunk in this rapidly-fluctuating New England hot and cold spring we’re having. We plan on offering four kinds:

• Corona
• Sam Adams
• homebrew
• Narragansett Ale (cheap, light, and local!)

Providing our own booze took some time and effort, but we’ll end up saving over $2000! Totally worth the leg-work, even for this lazy bride.

Are you providing your own alcohol for your wedding? How did you decide how much you’d need?