Scale Down the Bar

Tip #2  
 
If budget is an issue… no need for a full bar

At your wedding reception, consider limiting the alcohol to wine and beer, choices that will satisfy most of your guests.

Sign up for newsletters or join mailing lists at wine shops. If you’re working with a caterer who allows you to purchase your own alcohol (in Santa Fe, all of the caterers that we work with allow this), when wines you want for your wedding go on sale, buy in bulk.

If you’re coming to Santa Fe, watch the specials on Gruet.com. Gruet, our very own New Mexican wine and sparkling wine producers, make a lovely champagne, desired by those with a very discriminating palate. No need to spend oodles on an expensive champagne when we have Gruet.

Buy Wholesale

Buy your own wine and beer wholesale. Buy from a winery or use a wholesale club membership. Ask if your caterer charges a corkage fee. In Santa Fe, ART & SOUL Weddings and Events works with caterers who do not charge a corkage fee. You will need to spring for a licensed bartender to pour, but that’s only commonsense. And we can help there too.

Most merchants offer a 10 percent discount for buying wine by the case, and they may be open to increasing the discount if you purchase several cases at once.

Check into wine that's available in magnums (bottles twice the size of regular ones); several quality wines are. Wine sold in a magnum costs less per ounce.

Eliminating a full bar at your wedding reception is going to save you significant dollars. Offer some great red and white wines, a selection of imported beers and some local favorites and your guests will never mess the hard stuff! If your wedding party insists they're going to want to do some shots, add some bottles of whiskey onto your alcohol budget, then at a pre-specified time during the reception, bring out a few bottles for a round of shots and party hardy without blowing your budget.

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