Tip Of The Week: Beverages & Various Packages

Beverages

Corkage

This is not a charge to open a bottle of wine, this is a service charge that will cover the cost for the service staff, glassware, beverage chilling, ice and council liquor licensing. This cost could be per bottle or per person. It is a great option for an event where the venue allows BYO drinks however the cost will vary from venue to venue, caterer to caterer so the wise option would be to compare this cost vs the cost of a beverage package offered by the venue/caterer. 

Beverage Packages

Most people select to have this option at their events because it's easy! You know that drinks will be there and it may be cheaper than trying to outsource your own. First of all you need to figure out what drinks you would like at your event and then have your event planner (aka me) arrange a package with the venue/caterer. The cost will be based per person x the set amount of time. Things to consider here: will everyone have xxx amount of drinks per hour? Most elderly people will not! Also consider what types of drinks people will be drinking. If it's wine, then yes, a beverage package would work well as wine can  be quite expensive compared to juice or beer. If you think there will be a huge gap between the type of drinks then it would be wise to consider beverages charged by consumption.

Consumption

This means that you will have an account/ tab for all the drinks consumed during your event. This works quite well for corporate lunches, where the guests are most likely to go back to work and will not consume too much alcohol. You need to be aware of the cost of the beverages being provided and you may choose to only have a certain selection. Remember to limit your beverages to specific wines, champagnes, beers or juices so that you don't end up copping the bill for a few too many bottles of Moet when really all you can afford is sparkling wine! If the guests wish to purchase drinks that are not being offered, perhaps it is wise to have a cash bar option. Alternatively, you can have a tab with a set amount of money that you are prepared to spend so that the guests can have the option of whatever they like.