Free open bar cost calculator

How much does an open bar cost?

Venues and caterers price a bar three ways, and a quote often mixes them: a price per guest for the whole event, a price per guest per hour, or a price for each drink poured. On top of that come the lines people forget: a service charge on the drinks, sales tax, bartenders by the hour, sometimes a setup fee, and the champagne toast if it isn't in the package. In this page's example they take $50 a guest to $71.84.

The answer to "how much" is your quote, totalled, which is what the calculator does. Here is how the example night moves with the hours, at the example prices ($6 a beer, $8 a glass of wine and $10 a cocktail on consumption, $12 a guest an hour for the hourly open bar).

A flat per-guest price stays put as the night gets longer, while consumption and hourly prices climb with it. Bartenders climb too, which is why even the cash bar column grows.

Open bar cost per person

Divide the whole bill by the guests. The per-guest price on a quote is only the start: in the example, $50 a guest ends at $71.84 once the toast, 20% service charge, 8% tax and bartenders are in. If your quote charges every guest of drinking age, the guests who don't drink cost the same as those who do, which is why the calculator asks what share of your guests drink.

Service charge, tax and bartenders

The calculator charges the service charge on the drinks and the toast, then tax on the drinks and the toast, and on the service charge only if you tick that box, because states and venues differ on it. Bartenders and the bar fee are added untaxed. If your quote does it another way, the line totals tell you where it differs.

Bar types explained

The words overlap, and the same venue may use two of them for one thing. Two questions sort them out: who pays for the drinks, and how the price is worked out.

What is an open bar?

The host pays one price per guest, and guests order what they like from the bar's list without paying. The price is set before the night, either for the whole event or per hour, so the bill doesn't move if the crowd drinks more. "Full open bar" means spirits are on the list too; ask which brands are poured and whether a premium list costs more.

What is a hosted bar or consumption bar?

A hosted (or host) bar is any bar the host pays for. A consumption bar is the kind where the host pays for each drink actually poured, at a price per drink, counted from the register or the bottles at the end of the night. It's cheaper than a per-guest bar when the crowd drinks less than the break-even the calculator shows, and dearer when it drinks more. Some venues call a per-guest open bar a hosted bar too, so read the quote.

What is a cash bar or no host bar?

Guests buy their own drinks. The host's cost is the bar staff and any setup fee, and sometimes a bar minimum: if guests spend less than the minimum, the host pays the gap. Pricing a cash bar here shows what guests will spend at the bar at your per-drink prices, next to what the host pays.

What is a limited bar?

A shorter list, most often beer and wine only, sometimes with one signature cocktail. It's priced per guest like an open bar, and it needs fewer bartenders: about one per 75 guests instead of one per 50.

If the beer comes from kegs, the free keg calculator turns the pours into kegs to order.

How do drink tickets work?

Each guest gets a set number of tickets, each one a drink the host pays for; after that, the bar is cash. If the venue bills tickets redeemed, the most they can cost is tickets times guests and drink prices. Check whether it bills redeemed tickets or every ticket handed out before you print them.

Champagne toast

One pour of sparkling wine per guest for the toasts, priced per glass or by the bottle; a 750 ml bottle pours about 6 glasses. Check whether the bar package includes it; the calculator adds it to every bar type when the toast box is ticked.

Open bar vs cash bar vs hosted bar: which costs less?

A cash bar costs the host least, and a per-guest open bar is the easiest to budget. The real choice is usually between a per-guest open bar and paying on consumption, and that comes down to one number: how many drinks your guests will have. Divide the open bar's price by the average price of a drink and you get the break-even per guest who drinks. Below it, consumption is cheaper; above it, the per-guest price wins.

At the example prices the break-even is 6.6 drinks, and the drinks rule expects 5 over five hours, so consumption comes out $1,536 cheaper. Make the crowd lively in the calculator and see where it lands for yours. In between sit drink tickets, or beer and wine on the host with a cash bar for spirits.

Venues: the same comparison is a good way to show a couple why your package is priced the way it is. Put your own prices in, print it, and hand it over with the proposal.

How the calculator works

Drinks first: one drink per guest who drinks for each hour the bar is open, about half that after the first hour for a quiet crowd and one and a half for a lively one, with an optional extra drink in the first hour and about 20% less for a daytime event. These are the rules behind the free wedding alcohol calculator, which turns the same drinks into bottles and cases to buy. Consumption prices those drinks split 40% beer, 40% wine and 20% cocktails unless you pick another split; beer and wine only splits 40 and 60.

Then the money, in whole cents: the bar charge for the type you picked, the toast, the service charge, tax, bartenders (hours the bar is open times your rate) and the bar fee. Bartenders default to one per 50 guests, or one per 75 for beer and wine; type a number to override it.

Sources: one drink per guest per hour is the rule The Knot and Gratsi use; the bartender ratios are from eventplanning.com. The rest of the drinks rules are sourced on the alcohol calculator page. No price on this page is a market rate: every dollar figure is worked out from the example inputs, which you replace.

This prices a bar; it isn't advice on how much anyone should drink. Serve responsibly: food out the whole time, water at every bar, and a plan to get everyone home.

Save your bar as a BEO

Everything above is free, with no account. With a free MyVenueHQ account, Save it as a BEO turns the bar into a banquet event order: the guest count, a beverage row for beer, wine, cocktails and the toast with the drinks expected, and bar notes with the bar type, hours and bartenders. The prices aren't saved to the BEO, because its beverage rows have no price column; keep the CSV for those. You can edit the BEO as the count changes and print it as a PDF for the bar team. To turn the drinks into a shopping list with bottles and cases, use the free wedding alcohol calculator; the free BEO template shows what the rest of a BEO covers.

Add this open bar cost calculator to your website

Venues, planners and wedding blogs can put it on their own site for free. Paste this where you want it; it works in WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and plain HTML. Nothing is tracked about your visitors beyond page views.