Cocktails

I am not sure how pop-up bars work. Maybe speak to the company to see what different packages they offer? Out venue provided a fully stocked bar (3 different brands of each kind of liquor: whiskey, vodka, tequila, brandy, scotch, rum, etc.), and pretty much any kind of mixer you can think of, so guests can have pretty much any drink you could think of made. Our package also includes 3 domestic and 3 import beers, as well as 3 different choices of red and white wine and champagne.

A good standard is whiskey, rum, vodka, and tequila.

We're going for 2 different rums, 2 different whiskeys, a Smirnoff Vodka and Tequila.

Your basic sodas, coke, sprite, and dt. coke, and dr. pepper are good along with cranberry juice and orange juice. Maybe something for vodka tonic/vodka soda?

Getting some grenadine, margarita mix, sweet and sour, and maybe lemons or limes are always good too.

If you're offering shots fireball is a good one to go with too.

I don't know about others but I keep it simple at weddings, whiskey and coke, vodka and sprite, things like that. It's absolutely a little bit of know your crowd to get a better idea. Some weddings also do scotch, gin, amarettos.

We had one signature drink which was a red sangria and it only served during cocktail hour. We also had an open bar so guests could get beer, wine, etc.

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I agree with this and it covers all bases. You could even have a frozen drink machine.

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Yes! Tons of vendors now a days have frozen drink machines, and they don't have to necessarily be a margarita mix.

If you're unsure of any ideas, see if you have a bridal show/expo in your area before your wedding because most of them go to those (and offer discounts).

You could serve 2 favorite cocktails that, hopefully, can be batched mixed both for speed and ease. You can order edible flowers online to have the bartenders put on top of the cocktails if you want them to look a bit fancier. For everything else wine, champagne, beer, a few of the most popular liquors and mixers. There’s a few event size alcohol calculators you can find through google to help you figure out how much to buy. Then go to Costco and stuck up, it’ll be cheapest there if you can’t order it through your caterer. Hope that helps!

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This is a pretty good list, here. Thanks, Courtney! As a bartender, that's almost everything I would want for my setup. I would add ginger beer (for those Moscow Mules that I've served more times than I can count), lime juice (to add to margaritas), triple sec (WAY more useful than people ever think about), and gin (because some people definitely prefer this to vodka). If you've got some martini fiends, vermouth and olives/olive juice are a good idea as well.

I really want to do strawberry mojitos because mint and strawberries are grown in my area. But, the more I think about it.. it's probably going to be too complex. Mr Emerald made me a delicious cocktail this past week made with 1 shot of Jack Daniels and the rest apple juice on the rocks. It was very refreshing. So that might just be our specialty drink.

We are buying everything from Costco, except for our mixers. We have:

Malibu

Barcardi Rum

Kirklands Vodka

Kirklands Whiskey (similar to Jack Daniels)

Will also have cranberry juice, OJ, sparkling water or club soda (whatever's cheaper)

We will have Busch Light on a keg

One white wine (sweet) and one red wine (dry)