A friend who's a florist is fantastic! You'll be in good hands there.

One of my concerns is your mention of an open bar all night long - that can get really, really expensive! Buy big bottles - the half-gallon (1.75 liter) size - for least cost per ounce. (See my Bigger Bottle, Better Buy article for details http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art69104.asp

Buy 'well' liquors, too. That's the cheap stuff on the bottom shelf, not the premium brands you'd ask for in a bar by name because of their expensive advertising campaigns. I'll write an article later about different classes of liquor. Today's my Bella day anyway so you've given me a useful topic to write about

Will your open bar include a bartender? (Please, please say yes!) If guests pour their own, they make really strong drinks and they make them often. Your bar supplies will disappear quick. A bartender will keep the pour consistent and s/he'll know some tricks to stall guests who need to slow it down a bit - good for you and for them.

If you don't hire a pro bartender, ask a couple of friends to man that station. They can work together or trade off during the course of the evening so each gets a chance to mingle and party. Many people think of this as a privilege and are happy to do the honors.

My formula for estimating booze quantities is one drink per guest per hour. Some guests probably won't drink at all but others will drink more than the formula; they'll balance each other out. You know your guests, though, so adjust accordingly. If there are more teetotalers than drinkers, adjust quantities downward; if you're planning on a room full of party animals, adjust upward.

You'll be surprised at how much ice you'll need. If the party's indoors, plan on using 1.5 pounds of ice per person. If it's outdoors, have at least 2 pounds per person. Some ice will go into drinks both alcoholic and otherwise, some will chill beer and/or wine (depending on what you serve, of course). If you marry during a heat wave, have extra ice on hand. With our weather lately, 9-10-11 could be a blizzard or a scorcher but no worries. Ice will be one of the very last things you'll want to acquire and you'll know what the weather will be like by then. If you have an ice sales / delivery service in your area, call ahead and see if you can get a discount for quantity.

I don't know what New York liquor laws are like but here in Texas, liquor stores usually offer case discounts. That means a case of booze (6 of the biggest ones and 12 of the smaller liquor bottles and wine) is usually sold at a discount - 10% to 20% depending on the place. The booze can usually be mixed brands or kinds (2 rum, 1 bourbon, etc.), too, which helps a lot when hosting a big event like a wedding. There's a liquor store here I used to use because of the nice people, the discounts, and, if I bought the beer or wine at their store, they'd put the beer - the mead! - and white wine in their walk-in cooler the day before, so it'd be good and cold by the time I picked it up or it was delivered to the venue. Shop around for that if New York laws allow it. Any leftover booze keeps for consumption later, too, so excess won't go to waste.

There might be some cost-saving tricks to the drinks you offer, too. I still need to find you some suitable recipe ideas, along with that Guinness cake recipe!

Debra, find the article on well liquors here:

Well, Call, Premium Classes of Liquor


and let me know if you have any questions.

Glad to give you your topic for the day

Yea, believe me, I was concerned about the open bar all night, too! We're actually doing the ceremony and reception at an Irish hall/pub in Buffalo, so they have a bar built in. They do all the catering and bar-tending right there, which I think is going to end up being a bonus and a down side. We need to sit down and figure out quantities for sure, those numbers will give us some good guidelines. I think it's going to end up being more on the party animal side, lol -- our friends and my family certainly can drink, so I think we're going to have to plan accordingly. We're doing a buffet, too, so at least there will be food out all night for people to pick at. That was the other idea behind the cupcakes -- people will be more likely to grab another cupcake than a whole slice of cake.

We're thinking offering Guinness and Bass on tap, a 'generic' American beer of some sort, then just the basic well drinks when it comes to liquors -- a rum, a vodka, etc. One red wine and one white -- then if people want anything else, they can pay for it. (I do have to add that there's an absolutely amazing New York red wine that I've gotten so hooked on -- called Red Cat. I was never much of a wine drinker until a friend brought a bottle of that to a party!) That article sums it up perfectly -- as much as I want people to have fun, I don't want to have to have half the bill for the wedding go back into the alcohol. Cost-saving drinks would definitely be helpful! We're going to have a couple bartenders, and it would be nice to give them some affordable ideas to push toward people who might come up not knowing what they want.

We need to check with the place and see if we can bring in some of our own alcohol, which I'm not sure if they'll let us do. We have another friend (my fiance is a Mason and knows everyone, lol) who owns a liquor store, and gives us a deal on whatever we get from him. I really would have liked to go to him for everything... but if we wanted the hall, we had to go through them. But they're letting us in a day early to decorate and set up as well as letting us stay until at least 4am Sat night/Sunday morning, so I can't complain too much.

We're going to need at least 2 days recovery time, lol.

Sounds like you're in good hands with the Irish pub/hall. They'll know what to do to keep the party rolling smoothly all night long. I am amazed and impressed you get the hall the day before the event! I'm used to having two measly hours to decorate and set up and two more to tear down and clean up afterward - crazed madness but a crazed madness I used to love. Two days recovery time sounds like a very good plan!

I've worked with some event centers that allow food and beverages from outside sources and others that don't. Ask about this soon, so you'll know if you need to come up with the numbers or if it's something they'll figure out as a standard part of their service. If they're going to do it all, you can save your time and energies for other aspects of the wedding. There are lots of details to fret over.

I like the idea that some of the drinks will be provided free to guests but not all of them. People who must live on beer budgets (most of us, I bet) often indulge their champagne tastes when somebody else is picking up the tab.

Party animals at an Irish wedding? I expected that. Hoped so, even! My friends and family would fit right in so I'd certainly plan to round numbers up instead of down.

I'm going to look for that Red Cat wine you mentioned. I love wine but I'm not that familiar with New York wines. It's time to try something new. Thanks for the mention.

I'll have some cocktail ideas a little later. Speaking of crazed madness, that's what's happening in my little world right now so I got behind schedule yesterday. More soon!

I've got your cake recipe ready for you but I included lots of notes and suggestions - it's long. Too long for this forum. I'm not sure if I can send it as a .pdf attachment via Bella's pages. Do you?

I can't imagine trying to do everything in a few hours -- yikes!! Letting us in early made it ok that they wanted us to go through them for catering and the alcohol, lol - anything to make it less stress-free is fine by me!

That was our thinking -- if we offer some things on the open bar but people still have the option to pay for what they want, they can get exactly what they want if it's a dealbreaker, or they might settle for something a little more affordable.

Definitely planning on the party animals, we even have a friend who is a local police officer that's going to be the bouncer for us - really!

Red Cat is amazing -- the winery is Hazlitt, and they do a really good Brambleberry wine that's made out of all kinds of dark berries. It's more of a dessert wine, though, it's really, really sweet. Bully Hill is also an excellent NY winery. Anything by them will be good, (Grower's Red is a good place to start) and they have such a laid-back atmosphere. You'll know what I mean when you see the labels

So psyched about the cake recipe!! I'll send you my real email address so you can attach it. I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow!!

Love the idea of a police officer as bouncer. There is a growing movement for 'social consciousness' laws that hold the host of a party responsible (partly, anyway) if someone drives away from a party after drinking and causes an accident. Where it isn't law yet, there's often public pressure to prosecute the host as well as the drunk driver. I quit bartending when this trend started.

I don't want this info to be a buzz kill but you won't have anything to worry about. Your policeman friend will add a degree of social responsibility / legal protection just by being there. He'll know how to handle every situation flawlessly, I'm sure!

Exactly -- we're booking a block of rooms at a hotel about a 5 minute walk away, but there's always going to be someone that insists they're okay to drive when they're totally not. Especially with the open bar, this was really bothering me... having him there to keep an eye on things is going to make it much, much easier to relax.

Maybe we should give out breath-alyzers as wedding favors, lol.

Love the idea of breath-alyzer wedding favors! What a cute idea. You'll be in good hands. Let the bouncer handle the worries so you can just enjoy being the belle of the ball!

I'm dreading being the center of attention!!