How much alcohol do we need for our wedding?
The rule we plan every wedding with is 1 to 1.5 drinks per guest, per hour the bar is open. The lower end fits a crowd that sips through dinner. The higher end fits a dance-floor crowd, or an open bar where nobody is paying at the counter.
Not every guest drinks, and pace drops after the first hour or two, so this range already builds in a sensible buffer.
Estimate your wedding
600 to 900 drinks over the night
An estimate to help you budget. With Golden Service you never buy or haul any of it: we supply the alcohol and plan the quantities for you.
Open bar, drink tickets or cash bar?
All three get the same bartenders, setup and cleanup. The only difference is who pays for the drinks, and that changes how predictable your budget is.
| Open bar | Drink tickets | Cash bar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who pays | You cover every drink | You cover a drink or two each, then guests pay | Guests buy their own |
| Your cost | Highest, set in advance | Middle, and you choose the number of tickets | Lowest |
| Guest experience | Nobody reaches for a wallet | Generous welcome, no open-ended tab | Debit on site, quick service |
| Best for | Smaller weddings, or when hosting every drink matters to you | A middle ground: generous without the open-ended bill | Larger weddings or tighter budgets |
Cash and drink-ticket bars usually carry a minimum spend at the bar, and drink tickets count toward it. Ask about it up front so it's in your budget from day one.
Do we need a liquor licence?
If your venue holds its own liquor licence, it usually runs the bar itself. Many of the most popular wedding spots in Nova Scotia don't: barns, farms, cottages, private estates, community halls and backyards. Serving alcohol there needs a special event liquor licence for the day.
A full-service bar company handles that application for you. Golden Service applies on your behalf at no extra charge, and supplies the alcohol, so there's nothing to buy, store or transport yourself.
What a full-service bar should cover
Doing the bar yourself looks cheaper until you add it all up. A proper bar service should take every item on this list off your plate:
- The alcohol, chosen and quantity-planned for your crowd
- The special event liquor licence, if your venue needs one
- Certified bartenders (in Nova Scotia, look for Serve Right certification)
- Mixers, garnishes, ice and glassware
- Debit machines for anything guests pay for
- Setup before guests arrive, and cleanup after last call
- Liability insurance, with a certificate your venue can keep on file
Responsible service matters at a wedding too. Trained bartenders pace the night, run a managed last call and know when to switch someone to water, so no one in your family has to.
When to book, and what happens next
- Up to about a year ahead. Golden Service opens each wedding season about a year out, and summer Saturdays fill first. Reach out once your date and venue are set.
- Get a quote. Share your date, venue and a rough guest count. You don't need a bar style picked yet.
- Hold the date. A non-refundable deposit secures it. For an open bar, the balance is due 60 days before the wedding.
- Final details. Confirm your guest count, bar hours and any signature cocktail.
- The day. The bar is set 45 to 60 minutes before guests arrive and cleared at the end of the night.
Questions to ask any bar company before you book
- Do you supply the alcohol, or do we?
- Who applies for the liquor licence, and does it cost extra?
- Are your bartenders Serve Right certified?
- How much liability insurance do you carry? Can you send a certificate to our venue?
- Are setup, cleanup, ice and glassware included?
- Is there a minimum spend, and do drink tickets count toward it?
- Do you charge for travel outside Halifax?
- Have you worked at our venue before?
Our answers: yes, we supply it. We apply, at no extra charge. Yes, every bartender. $5M, and yes. Yes, all included. Yes, and yes they do. One flat fee covers travel and accommodations. And there's a good chance we have: see the venues we've worked.