Wedding Budget Tip #41: Close the Bar Early to Cut Back on Alcohol Costs

This post is part of a recurring series here on BSB where we share wedding budget tips to help you save money on your wedding! You can access all the wedding budget tips on a single page for your convenience and future reference. This post examines how choosing to close the bar early can save you significantly on your alcohol bill.

Wedding Budget Tip #41:

Close the bar early and offer a coffee cart or hot chocolate station instead!

If you do opt to serve alcohol at your wedding, one way you can attempt to keep costs in check is by setting a limit on the amount of time you leave your bar open. You can always have the bartender close up shop an hour or so before the end of the reception in order to give people a bit of time to sober up prior to leaving your venue. Not only is it a good idea for the wallet, but probably a good idea for safety as well.

If you’re at a venue where you are offering a bartender to make drinks for your guests, you can ask the staff to leave the bar open as long as you’d like it, even if it’s just for cocktail hour and nothing more. It’s your day, your family and friends and your budget, so figure out what works best for you.

As an alternative to keeping the bar open until the very end, you could instead bring out a coffee cart with flavored coffees for your guests to create their favorite blend. You could even serve hot donuts as a sweet send-off treat to accompany the coffee. I’m betting that the booze wouldn’t be missed! If you’re interested in putting together a simple DIY coffee bar for your wedding, check out these fun finds below.