Lesson 4: What to Know About Drinks

A lot of people (mostly Australians) say the quality of a wedding can be judged by how good the drinks are. Alcohol often takes up a big portion of the wedding budget, so here are some tips to get the drinks you want without overspending

Alcohol Prices Vary by Location

Alcohol prices can differ widely around the world. According to a study by Expensivity in 2022, beer prices range from as low as $1.68 to as high as $11.26 for a 330ml bottle. Popular wedding destinations like Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico are quite affordable in comparison, with beer prices around $3 to $5 per bottle.

Planning Ahead Can Save You Money

Unlike spontaneously buying rounds at a bar, you can plan ahead for your wedding drinks to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Knowing what your guests are likely to drink and finding the right mix of drink packages can help you manage costs effectively.

Start with Free Flow Drink Packages

Free Flow drink packages offer unlimited drinks for a set period, making them a great base to cover your guests. Non-alcoholic Free Flow packages are usually affordable and cover everyone, while alcoholic packages can be more expensive but are good value if you have many big drinkers. You can often choose your own house wines, and some venues even let you taste wines beforehand to pick the ones you like.

Bar Tabs Offer Flexibility

If your guests aren’t big drinkers, or you want to offer a variety of cocktails and shots, a bar tab might be the best option. Bar tabs are usually paired with non-alcoholic Free Flow drinks throughout the event, allowing guests to order whatever they want from the bar. You can control costs by setting limits on the tab, like restricting spirits, but make sure to keep the fun going. Ask the venue coordinator to give you hourly updates on the bar tab balance to avoid surprises.

BYO Drinks Can Be Tricky

Some venues allow you to bring your own drinks (BYO) for a corkage fee, but this might not always be worth it. Coordinating BYO drinks can be challenging, especially with customs limits and potential leftovers. Most guests will likely continue their vacation after your wedding, so unless you’ve planned for excess drinks, it could be more trouble than it’s worth.

What We Did For Our Wedding

For Michelle and I, our wedding was all about celebrating hard with our 32 beloved guests, most of whom enjoyed a good drink. With the younger crowd especially keen to let loose, we decided to ensure the party was one to remember.

We chose a spectacular venue—a beach club at the serene Bang Tao Beach in Phuket. The setting was picturesque, with traditional long-tail boats dotting the horizon. Our celebration included everything from a massive bonfire and dazzling fireworks to floating lanterns, lively DJs, Thai dancers, and even projectors to enhance the ambience. It was truly a night filled with magic and festivity.

The beach club featured a stylish yet laid-back bar that invited our guests to indulge freely. We opted for an Alacarte Bar Tab with no limits, allowing everyone to choose from a full array of beverages including beers, spirits, cocktails, mocktails, and wines. Prior to the wedding, we conducted a wine tasting to select our favourite red and white wines that offered both great taste and value.

The night was a resounding success, filled with laughter, dancing, and rounds of celebratory drinks. Although we made the slight oversight of not announcing the special Heineken beer keg we ordered—resulting in most of it being left over—we gifted it to our wonderful venue staff as a token of our appreciation.

Despite the drinks comprising a significant portion of our budget, the overall cost was incredibly reasonable. Our wedding wasn’t just a day to remember; it was an exceptional value that highlighted what’s truly important—sharing joyous moments with loved ones in a beautiful setting.

Personal Tips for Your Own Wedding Night

1. Drink a Little Less: Even if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event, try not to overdo it on your wedding night. A clear mind will help you enjoy the special moments more. For example, I ended up needing a lot of “extra assistance” to get back to our hotel and missed out on some beautiful surprises they had prepared for us!
2. Announce Special Drinks: If you have something special like beer kegs, make sure to let your guests know early on. We forgot to tell the guests about the keg at our wedding, and it ended up going mostly untouched.
3. Avoid Checking Out the Next Morning: If possible, book an extra night at your hotel. You’ll want to relax and enjoy the place without rushing to pack up before 12pm and catching a flight with a headache. Trust me, it’s worth it!

The Easy Way – Using the Platform to See & Price a Venue’s Drink Options

Similar to Food, you can see the prices for each venue’s most popular drink packages on our site. Instead of giving you volumes of menus to sift through, we’ve gone ahead and simplified it for you into Non-alcoholic, Basic Bar, Standard Bar and Premium Bar. This quick summary also makes it easy for you to compare drink options at your favourite venues.

WHAT TO DO NOW

• Get familiar with the different drink package types and choose a few you like the most.
• Quickly see the drink packages at your favourite venues
• Play around with different drink package types and levels (i.e. basic, standard, premium) to see how it affects your price based on your total guest numbers.

STEP BY STEP

1. Compare how much drinks cost at your favourite venues
The easiest way to quickly compare drink costs at venues is by looking at price per person. Use Visit It.

2.  Work out your overall drink cost for all your guests
Now get an understanding of how much your drinks will cost at each venue, based on your preferred package type and guest numbers. Use Quote It.