The catering quote arrives with the food priced per plate and the bar priced separately, and the second number is the one that moves. Open bar wedding cost is quoted per head, per drink, or against a minimum, and the three models produce different totals from the same room. Get the model wrong and a wedding of 117 guests turns a $2,300 line into a $6,000 one.
What a per-head open bar price actually buys
Wedding bars come in four shapes, and only one of them is what people mean by an open bar. A hosted or open bar means you pay for everything the room drinks. A limited bar hosts a named subset, usually beer, wine and one or two cocktails. A cash bar means guests buy their own, and a consumption bar is hosted but billed on what was actually poured rather than on the guest count.
The bar sits on its own line because it is stocked, staffed, licensed and taxed differently from the kitchen. That is why the per-plate figure on a catering quote stops at the food, and why two venues quoting the same $110 a head can end up $40 apart once the room starts drinking.
| Bar tier, four hours | Typical cost per guest |
|---|---|
| Beer and wine only | $15 – $30 |
| House spirits added | $30 – $50 |
| Premium brands | $50 – $70 |
| Top shelf | $70 – $90 |
Those are drink and service subtotals, before the service charge and before tax. They also assume the bar is quoted on its own at all. Venues that sell one all-inclusive per-head rate fold the bar, the food and the rentals into a single number, which makes the total easy to compare and the bar itself impossible to price separately.
Set against a national guest average of about 117, house spirits at $40 a head is $4,680. The Wedding Report puts the 2025 median US wedding spend at $18,231, so that bar is roughly a quarter of a median American wedding before the service charge lands. Beer and wine at $20 a head is $2,340, or about an eighth.
The quote is a subtotal
Two lines land on top of every hosted bar and neither is negotiable once the contract is signed. The first is the service charge, a percentage of the subtotal that goes to the house. The second is tax, and alcohol is frequently taxed at its own rate rather than the general sales rate.
Texas shows the structure clearly. The state Comptroller sets a mixed beverage sales tax of 8.25% on alcohol sold by a permittee, collected from the customer, and the permittee separately owes a gross receipts tax on the same sales. Rates and structures differ by state, and some counties add their own on top.
Run that on the $4,680 bar above. A 20% service charge adds $936. Mixed beverage sales tax on the drinks adds $386. A bar quoted at $4,680 settles near $6,000, and most couples find that out after signing rather than while comparing.
The service charge is not a tip, whatever the contract calls it. Ask in writing whether any part of it reaches the bartenders, because in most catering contracts it does not, and cash at the end of the night is a separate decision from the line on the invoice.
Package, consumption, or a minimum you already owe
The three billing models charge for different things. A package charges your headcount, so 117 guests at $40 is $4,680 whether the room drinks or not. A consumption bar charges per drink poured, at the venue's own bar menu price. A minimum charges you a floor and lets you drink toward it.
The break-even is arithmetic. Divide the package price by the per-drink price on the same venue's menu: a $40 package against $12 drinks pays off above 3.3 drinks a guest, and against $10 drinks it takes 4. Then count the room rather than the reception. Children, designated drivers and the guests who nurse one glass all count as heads in a package and as nothing on a consumption bill.
The minimum is the one that catches people out. Many venues write a food and beverage floor into the contract, and that floor is often already inside what reads as a site fee. If the minimum is $12,000 and the food comes to $9,000, the first $3,000 of bar is not an addition to your budget. It is money already committed, and switching to a cash bar does not get it back.
How much alcohol a wedding actually drinks
Stocking your own bar turns the question from price into volume, and volume has a fixed answer. The CDC counts a standard drink as 0.6 fluid ounces of pure alcohol, which is 12 ounces of 5% beer, 5 ounces of 12% wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits.
- A 750 ml bottle of wine holds five 5-ounce glasses, so a twelve-bottle case pours 60.
- A 750 ml bottle of 80-proof spirits holds about 16 pours at 1.5 ounces, before ice and spillage.
- A half barrel keg is 15.5 gallons, which is 165 servings at 12 ounces.
- A standard 750 ml bottle of sparkling wine pours six flutes at about 4 ounces, so a toast for 117 guests takes 20 bottles.
Apply it to a real room. A four-hour reception for 117 guests averaging 3 drinks a head needs about 350 servings. If half of those are wine, that is 175 glasses, 35 bottles, or three cases. Averaging is the point: some guests will drink six and some will drink nothing, and a room that size still lands near its own average.
Buying your own stock only works where it is legal. A venue that holds its own liquor license generally cannot allow outside alcohol to be served on the premises, because that license is what permits service there at all. Ask the venue and check your state alcohol control agency before you price a single case.
Hours cost more than shelves
Bar packages are priced by the hour, and the hours are not equal. Cocktail hour and the first hour after dinner service produce most of the night's drinks. During a plated dinner the bar is close to empty, and after the last dance nobody is ordering.
That makes the bar a timeline question before it is a budget question. The order the reception runs in decides when the room is standing up and free to order, and a five-hour package stretched across a long seated dinner is buying an hour that generates almost nothing.
Set last call against the music rather than against the contract. A band or DJ is booked for a fixed number of hours, and a bar still open 30 minutes past the final song is selling into a room that is putting on coats. Closing 30 minutes early moves people onto the dance floor instead of the bar line.
A package prices your guest list. A consumption bar prices your guests. Only one of those two numbers is known before the wedding.
Cash bars and the options in between
A cash bar removes the drinks from your budget, not the bar. Bartenders still have to be staffed and paid, venues commonly add a setup fee or a sales minimum when guests are buying, and selling drinks requires someone on site licensed to sell them, which not every venue or caterer is.
The options in between are where the real saving happens, because they cut the shelf rather than the hospitality.
- Beer, wine and one or two batched signature cocktails, which at $20 to $30 a head undercuts a full spirits bar by a third or more.
- Open bar for cocktail hour, then consumption billing afterward, so the peak is hosted and the tail is metered.
- Wine poured at the tables during dinner, which serves the room without adding to the bar line.
- Drink tickets, which cap the spend precisely and are the most visible of these options to guests.
- House spirits with no top shelf, which few guests notice inside a mixed drink.
Every one of those keeps the room hosted. A cash bar is the only structure that asks a guest for a card at a wedding they were invited to, which is why it reads differently from every other cut on the list.
Where the bar line gives
Against the rest of the budget, the bar is unusually elastic. The venue and the catering are both locked by contract months out, while the bar tier, the hours and the billing model all stay adjustable until the final headcount. That makes it the line with the most give left in it once the deposits are gone.
Sized properly the bar sits under the catering line rather than beside it. Catering typically runs 20% to 25% of a wedding at $70 to $150 a head before the bar, so a bar quote climbing toward the food quote means the tier is wrong, the hours are wrong, or a minimum is doing work you have not read.
- Ask for the same bar quoted three ways: package, consumption and minimum. Caterers will do it, and the spread is the whole decision.
- Get the service charge and the tax written as dollar figures, not percentages, on every quote you compare.
- Count the non-drinkers on your list before you agree to any per-head package.
Key takeaways
- Price the tier first: $15 to $30 a head for beer and wine, $30 to $50 with house spirits, $70 to $90 top shelf, for four hours.
- Add the service charge and the alcohol tax before comparing anything. Together they can move a $4,680 bar to roughly $6,000.
- Divide the package price by the venue's per-drink price. Below that many drinks a guest, consumption bills less.
- Check the food and beverage minimum before you cut the bar, because that money may already be committed.
- Cut the shelf and the hours before you cut the hosting, and close the bar 30 minutes before the music stops.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an open bar cost for 100 guests?
For 100 guests over four hours, beer and wine typically runs $1,500 to $3,000, house spirits $3,000 to $5,000, and top shelf $7,000 to $9,000. Those are subtotals for the drinks and the service, before the service charge and before alcohol tax, both of which are charged on top. A 20% service charge alone turns a $4,000 bar into $4,800.
How much does an open bar cost per person?
A hosted wedding bar typically falls between $15 and $90 per guest for four hours, and the shelf sets the position inside that band. Beer and wine sits at the bottom, house spirits in the $30 to $50 range, and top shelf at the top. Longer service and a major metro market push the same tier upward.
Is a cash bar cheaper than an open bar?
On drinks, yes. Overall, by less than most couples expect. The bartenders still have to be staffed and paid, and venues frequently add a setup fee or a sales minimum when guests are buying their own. If the contract carries a food and beverage minimum, a cash bar can leave you paying the shortfall and receiving nothing for it.
How much alcohol do I need for 100 wedding guests?
Plan on about 300 servings for a four-hour reception at 100 guests, which is three drinks a head. The CDC counts a standard drink as 12 ounces of 5% beer, 5 ounces of 12% wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits. A 750 ml wine bottle pours five glasses and a case pours 60, so 150 wine servings is 30 bottles.
What is a consumption bar at a wedding?
A consumption bar is hosted by the couple but billed on what is actually poured, at the venue's per-drink price, instead of a flat per-head rate. Guests never see a bill; the couple gets one at the end of the night. It costs less whenever the room drinks below what a package assumes, which is common when a real share of the guest list does not drink.
Does the bar package price include the bartenders?
Usually with a venue or caterer package, and often not with an independent bar service. Ask how many bartenders are staffed at your headcount, whether extra stations cost extra, and whether the count changes for cocktail hour, when the whole room orders inside the same ten minutes. Get the answer as a number on the contract rather than a reassurance in a meeting.
Do you tip bartenders if a service charge is already on the bill?
A service charge and a tip are different things in most catering contracts. The service charge is a percentage of the subtotal that goes to the house, and it frequently reaches no bartender at all. Ask in writing what it covers before the wedding, then decide on cash tips as a separate line in the budget.
Can we bring our own alcohol to the venue?
Only where the venue's license permits it, which is uncommon at venues holding their own liquor license. That license is what allows alcohol to be served on the premises, so outside stock cuts against it. Where it is allowed, expect a corkage fee per bottle and confirm whether the retailer accepts unopened cases back.
What percentage of the wedding budget should the bar be?
There is no fixed percentage, only arithmetic against your own total. House spirits at $40 a head for 117 guests is $4,680, roughly a quarter of the $18,231 median US wedding spend, while beer and wine at $20 a head is about an eighth of it. If the bar is heading past the catering line, the tier or the hours are wrong.
How long should the bar stay open at a wedding?
Four hours covers most receptions, and a fifth hour usually buys one that generates very little. Drinking peaks at cocktail hour and again in the first hour after dinner service, then falls away during a seated meal and after the final song. Close the bar around 30 minutes before the music stops rather than at the venue's own closing time.